The Executive Yuan has approved a NT$3.09 billion (US$94.1 million) plan to use artificial intelligence (AI) to manage flooding risks from typhoons and other weather events, the Water Resources Agency said yesterday.
The program, which is to run from next year to 2029, would utilize advances in AI, fifth-generation telecom networks, the Internet of Things and pattern recognition to upgrade disaster-response capabilities, including through risk spatialization and augmented decisionmaking, as well as by increasing the number of monitoring stations to 1,200 nationwide, the agency said.
The program would launch mobile apps to improve first-responder communications and coordination, and improve awareness of climate risks among the public, it said
Photo courtesy of the Water Resources Agency
Novel technologies introduced by the program’s previous iteration from 2020 to this year boosted the agency’s ability to detect flooding hazards six hours in advance, it said.
The agency uses an AI-based monitoring system that analyzes data from 2,072 flood detectors and 8,769 cameras, it said, adding that it has 1,676 mobile water pumps, 19,500 flood barrier sections, 544 community-based independent flood management units and 1,477 volunteers.
The government has created partnerships with private enterprises to create a joint natural disaster response capability, the agency said, adding that it has accomplished the government’s preliminary targets for smart disaster relief capability and infrastructure construction.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
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