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.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
RSS