The contract for the supply of 30 new state-of-the-art automatic weather stations was signed, as part of the implementation of the ‘AEGIS’ program
As the Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection said: ‘We have managed, in just 12 calendar months, to activate ‘AEGIS’, the most important civil protection program in Greek history, which is worth €2.1 billion and includes —in addition to Canadair aircraft, medium-size aircraft, helicopters, fire engines and sensors— digitization tools, equipment and other means that are important, obviously, for Civil Protection, as well as other relevant ministries. The urgent need to procure new, state-of-the-art meteorological equipment has been discussed extensively among scientists and has been brought to the attention of the general public recently by meteorologists of the Hellenic National Meteorological Service (EMY) and of the Observatory, as well as by private individuals. Please, remember you that the last attempt in this respect at the time of the 2004 Olympics was unsuccessful. So, I am very proud that 20 years later and within just 12 months —please, don’t forget that, unfortunately, such programs take more than 10 years to complete in Greece— a very important tender was conducted successfully by the Recovery Fund, the Ministry of Civil Protection and its hard-working officials, the NSRF Executive Structure and, of course, ‘Information Society’, and therefore we are now signing the relevant contract in order to have in place 30 weather stations in Greece in 16 months. Modernizing Greece and the Hellenic State means exactly this: To have new equipment and tools, obviously in the service of science, but above all in the service of our fellow citizens. Why are we doing all this? In order to have in place the equipment needed to protect human lives. There is a tremendous need, which supersedes any petty political or partisan objectives, to have all this state-of-the-art equipment in place in order to protect our fellow citizens.’
‘The weather stations are a start, as they will also be able to cooperate with the radars to be installed. This will provide us with a better understanding of flood risks, thus allowing the Scientific Committee of the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection to carry out its work more effectively. And I believe that in the future —also thanks to machine learning and smart solutions utilizing data from the weather stations and surveillance tools in general— we will have better forecast tools at our disposal to generate reliable weather forecasts and thus properly warn citizens of severe weather phenomena,’ said Mr. Thodoris Kolydas, Director of the EMY Meteorological Center and member of the Risk Assessment Committee of the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection.
‘Having served with the EMY for 20 years as Head of Forecast Department, Forecast Manager and Director of the EMY National Meteorological Center, as well as with Civil Protection for 3 years as a Committee member, I can say with certainty that EMY is entering a wholly new phase.
This is so not just due to the equipment, but also due to the structural reorganization of the Service. And I believe, and I am certain, that this will benefit Greek citizens,’ said Mr. Dimitris Ziakopoulos, former Director of the EMY Meteorological Center and member of the Risk Assessment Committee.
‘Confronted with this challenge that is unfolding rapidly, it is imperative to provide Greece with state-of-the-art infrastructure and digital technology and ensure the digital upgrading of prevention and early preparation for extreme weather events. In this context, the timely implementation of the projects entrusted to ‘Information Society’ by the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection is not only its obligation, but also its top priority. Thanks to the project for the procurement of weather stations and the early warning for natural disasters, as financed by the Recovery Fund, which is now entering its implementation phase by having the relevant contract signed, the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection is further strengthened to carry out its difficult task. ‘Information Society’, for its part, will keep working closely together with, and assisting, the Ministry with its difficult task and will stay focused on the timely implementation of all the projects entrusted to it. I am speaking as a citizen, not as a CEO, when saying a huge ‘thanks’ to Minister Vasilis Kikilias, for his constant monitoring of the projects. I think you are the Minister with whom I’ve been talking more than any other minister in the government recently, since you took office. The results are now clearly seen. Indeed, as a citizen, I want to thank you very much for the fact that from now on all the tools and infrastructures will be there to allow the Hellenic State and the Civil Protection to provide citizens with assistance where they most need it,’ said Mr. Stavros Asthenidis, CEO of ‘Information Society’.
‘Space Hellas has accumulated extensive experience in systems that are relevant to the meteorological service for almost 20 years. We have often worked together successfully with EMY officials in the past. We have a lot of qualified staff in this area, so we will be able to implement this contract successfully. The contribution of ‘Information Society’ in the implementation of the contract is also important. It is our honor to be able to make a contribution in an area that is crucial for Greece,’ said Mr. Spyridon Manolopoulos, Executive Chairman of Space Hellas.
The automatic weather stations will be installed in various areas of Greece, as indicated by Hellenic National Meteorological Service. These include Ymmitos, Aigina, Kythira, Thessaloniki, Larisa, Kavala, Preveza, Andravida, Kalamata, Chania, Skyros, etc., thus setting up an integrated network that will capture weather conditions all over Greece. This will improve decisively the quality of weather forecasts, which will no longer be based on theoretically calculated values, but on actual data provided by the stations every 10 minutes.
You can read the Press Release here:
