RAFAEL – Risk forecasting and management system for critical infrastructures in Southern Italy

ITA | ENG

Project
“RAFAEL – Risk forecasting and management system for critical infrastructures in Southern Italy" aims to integrate innovative technologies into the CIPCast platform which provides services to companies and the Public Administration. CIPCast is an advanced Decision Support System (DSS) for predicting natural or man-made hazardous events and their impact on Critical Infrastructures and on operators of essential services: as well as predicting the likelihood of individual elements being damaged, the platform evaluates the impact on services and the consequences on the population and on the industrial system. In addition to capturing real-time data by providing a 24/7 operational forecasting system, CIPCast can generate synthetic scenarios (earthquakes, heavy rains, terrorist or malicious activities) and assess perturbations induced by such scenarios.  

The aim is to improve the platform’s current capabilities:

- remote sensing data analysis (SAR and multispectral data);

- development of environmental sensors (radon, CO2, NOx and toxic gases);

- analysis of seismic and geodynamic sensors (for roads, railways, etc.), integrated with SAR data;

- development of bacteriological sensors;

- development and integration of sensors in networks for access to “functional” data;

- development of new tools for Emergency Management (based on Augmented Reality and for transferring information to/from the field).

Financial Resources
The 42-month project was funded by the NOP Research and Innovation 2014-2020 under Axis II “Thematic Projects”, Action “Clusters”, which finances industrial research and experimental development projects in the 12 specialization areas identified by the National Research Programme (NRP) 2015-2020, in particular in the “Smart, Secure and Inclusive Communities” specialization area. 
For the implementation of this initiative, a budget of 4,489,426.45 euro was allocated to the following beneficiaries forming the public-private partnership:

• National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development
• ANAS S.p.A.
• National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology
• GEO-K Srl
• Himet Srl
• University of L’AQUILA
• R.E.O. Consortium Electro-Optical Research Centre
• G&A Engineering Srl
• GORI S.p.A.
• NUVAP S.p.A
• Tointech Srl
• University of FERRARA
• Ylichron Srl
• CUEIM University Consortium for Industrial and Managerial Economics
• MEDISDIH Soc. Cons. a.r.l. – Regional Mechatronic District and Digital Innovation Hub of Apulia
• Telecom Italia S.p.A
• Campus Bio-Medico University of ROME
• e-distribuzione S.p.A

Impact on the territory
The project aims to provide the southern and central regions of the country, in particular those areas that are most exposed to extreme natural events, with an efficient, reliable and innovative risk analysis and forecasting system for the protection of Critical Infrastructures (CIs) and Strategic Assets (SAs). CIs comprise all the technological networks used to transport energy products, water and wastewater, roads and railways, telecommunications networks and all the other systems that provide services to citizens and rely on these networks (health system, financial system, air traffic control system, Galileo GPS system, etc.). SAs comprise all production facilities deemed to be important for the national interest, those at high environmental risk, other areas subject to restrictions, etc.
The RAFAEL project will implement pilot cases in 4 distinct areas:

• city of Naples and the Vesuvius area
• cities of Catania and Messina
• city of Bari
• site chosen for the possible installation of the National Depot of SOGIN SpA.

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07/04/2023