SIMEX successfully completed

SIMEX, the simulation exercise of INDIMA project, had the aim to prepare the participants for new rchallenges in disaster management and to integrate all relevant stakeholders. In addition to the organisations of Civil Protection, these include representatives of “critical infrastructure” and private companies such as bus companies, construction companies, and telecom- and logistics providers. The use of state-of-the-art simulation techniques such as XVR Virtual Reality for the presentation of situations and feeds made the exercise very realistic, up-to-date and at the same time cost-effective.

INDIMA project, funded by the European Union, General Directorate for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection and was conducted in close cooperation with the Romanian Ministry of the Interior, (DSU – Department for Emergency Situations, Romania), the Hungarian Red Cross, iHELP Institute from Poland and publiComm GmbH, Austria in Timișoara, Romania on March 23-25. Austrian Red Cross, GQ, was involved in this project with several experts. The SIMEX had 78 participants, 37 of whom were involved in conducting the exercise and 39 as participants. The project will continue with a workshop in May 2022.

During the exercise, I had the honour to manage the exercise with Dr Bogdan Pop as project director and an excellent and very experienced team from Poland, Romania and Hungary. The result has exceeded our expectations, especially the possible applications of virtual and augmented reality simulations in the operational and strategic area of ​​disaster management in the near future.