Students of informatics at the University of Bremen have developed a system that provides early warning of a pending natural catastrophe – directly onto the smartphones of the people living in the location. The project called mobile4D is now ripe to be implemented in Laos. The students hope to raise the money they need for flights, accommodation and additional health insurance via crowdfunding. The online campaign started a week ago. Target: 2,860 euros. More than 750 euros have already been secured. They can only go ahead and book flights, though, once the target amount has actually come in. Student Denny Teuchert explains why it is a good idea to support and help fund the mobile4D project:

Mr Teuchert, What is mobile4D?

mobile4D is a Master’s project at the University of Bremen. Over the past two years a group of ten students and two supervisors in the Informatics Department have been working on developing a Catastrophe Early Warning System in Laos. The on-site software system works on the basis of crowdsourcing, which means it can be accessed by any number of individuals. That’s what makes the system so special: On the one hand, it enables the authorities to issue warnings directly to the threatened inhabitants of the region concerned. In turn, the inhabitants of an affected region can use their smartphones to directly notify the authorities of the occurrence of a natural catastrophe. In addition to this, the system incorporates the possibility to provide warning of catastrophes using GPS. In April 2013 we carried out comprehensive field tests of mobile4D in Luang Prabang (Laos).

What do you need the money for?

We want to send two students to Laos to install and adapt an advanced version of the software on the spot, and to train our partners at the Laotian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in its use. The development work and the hardware that goes with the software are funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research. We hope to raise the additional money we need for the journey to Laos from the crowdfunding campaign on the Indiegogo platform (www.m4d.la/support-mobile4d) . You see, it’s absolutely vital that at least two members of our team can be there to set the system up.

What will you do when you get there?

As soon as the system is installed and the local inhabitants have been trained, we will be able to make mobile4D operational and give early warnings of catastrophes. We want to give the Laotian people a reliable early warning system that will enable them to seek safety in the event of pending earthquakes, floods or fires.

You want to support the project?! Klick directly to the crowdfunding campaign

More information on the project: http://mobile4d.capacitylab.org/