M-ITI research on low-cost community platforms for communication -- called Civic Media -- has won a coveted H2020 grant. It will investigate the implementation of a low-power radio network in rural Ireland, Romania and Portugal, with particular emphasis on the remote and rural areas of these countries. In Madeira and mainland Portugal, this type of innovation, once rooted in the communities, could represent an immediate alternative in the improvement of communications in the event of emergencies and catastrophes such as the last fires, in which the adequacy and unfortunately, with devastating consequences.
“Local radio is a voice of the community, an important lifeline in case of emergencies. Around the world it has shown its continuing relevance in emergency situations, when other media fail, as in the case of the recent fires on the mainland in last year in Madeira” says Prof. Simone Ashby of M-ITI.
This project is funded by the European Commission in the scope of the Research & Innovation Horizon 2020 Community Framework Programme. It will launch in 2018 and have a duration of three years with a total budget of 2M€.
More information here.
