Technology aids and adds to our lives in many different ways. But saving lives has to be the best use of technology there is. And that’s the aim of a new bushfire prediction and warning system being rolled out in Victoria.
Black Saturday will remain etched into the memories of people across Australia and the world for a long time to come. Around 400 fires burned their way across the Australian state, with 173 people losing their lives and another 414 being injured. In all, 1.1 million acres is thought to have burned, with the authorities and firefighters struggling to prevent a tragedy.
While all the agencies involved did a good job under extremely difficult circumstances, their efforts were somewhat hindered by the technology (or lack of it) at their disposal. With no computerized system in place, pencil, paper, and fax machines were the order of the day. And mistakes were made; mistakes that no one wants to see happen again.
Hopefully the newly-announced bushfire prediction and warning system being put in place should help. According to The Australian, Victorian Premier John Brumby announced that AUS$21.5 million has been set aside over the next four years to improve and upgrade the systems.
From this year, authorities across Victoria will have instant access to the digital fire mapping information, with the public being given access online from next year.
The combined prediction and warning system will forge FireWeb and PhoenixWeb, the latter being newly-developed at the University of Melbourne. Weather, topography, and fuel loads will all be combined to give a constantly-updated prediction as to when bushfires will occur, which direction they are likely to travel, and how fast they will arrive in different locations.
The National Broadband Network (NBN) argument has once again reared its ugly head, with broadband access all-important to get this information out to the public in a timely fashion. So saving lives is another plus point in favor of investing in a broadband network across the country.
