The fires that struck Grrece in August and the unprecedented images we watched in Evia and the Peloponnese, have opened a public debate regarding the means that can prevent such a natural disaster and also how technology can contribute towards this. In this framework, emeastartups.com contacted teams and companies that provide interesting solutions to prevent and handle such incidents.
One of these companies is MSB Technologies, startup and member of Elevate Greece, based in Thessaloniki.The company implements advanced methodologies for automated data analysis and then trains AI models for high accuracy data detection and classification.So far it has successfully run projects that leverage big data volume and AI algorithms in the fields of industrial production, agro-food and e-commerce.Recently though, due to discussions regarding waste management and the phenomenon of illegal waste disposal to unsuitable areas, the team proceeded to another implementation that can be particularly useful for the cases we have been discussing.
Thinking that illegal landfills can possibly cause fires and contribute to environmental pollution, MSB’s team started a geographic data collection through the crowdsourcing method.So it created #Pin2Clean, a platform that enables each citizen record online an illegal landfill, including other problems such as withered trees, piles of branches or any other flammable organic matter, as well as sparks in electricity poles.
MSB’s aim, according to its co-founder, Vasilis Miliotis, is- after geographic data collection and process- to create a dataset, that will be available to every volunteer or state body that want to help solve the problem.Then, the team will leverage the dataset that will have been created to train an AI model that it has been developing, so that they can detect in an automated way other geographic spots with similar problems, leveraging available satellite data.
As Mr Miliotis states, “The use of technology for the protection of the environment as well as for civil protection, can make Greece stronger concerning prevention and handling similar situations like the ones we have been experiencing.Their implementation though demands strategic planning, maturity and technology testing, since any inaccuracy can lead to wrong leverage of the already limited resources.”
For this reason, MSB’s team aims to achieve maximum accuracy/efficiency for the AI models that it has been developing and is ambitious that the conditions for the adoption of similar solutions will mature soon enough to serve citizens and the environment.
