Vulnerable communities in India have been facing simultaneous crises from both the COVID-19 pandemic and the recurring cycle of natural disasters like cyclones and floods, challenging the capacities of frontline workers and disaster agencies.

Technology has proven to be a lifeline this year across the world, and it is no different for these communities. To help address both the immediate and longer-term needs for disaster and climate resilience, the TechEmerge Resilience India challenge, part of the Global Tech Challenge launched at CES® 2020 through a partnership with the World Bank and the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)®, called for tech innovations in both tracks.

Harnessing the power of technologies such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), drones, digital platforms and more, visionary tech thinkers brought forth revolutionary solutions that pave the way for smart and resilient cities and communities across India.

Learn more about three of the 10 winners of the TechEmerge Resilience India Challenge. These winners will go on to deploy their solutions on the ground shortly, working alongside local Indian State Disaster Management Authorities.

Nelen & Schuurmans

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Nelen & Schuurmans is a water management consultancy and information technology company aiming to develop a flood modeling system for early flood warning and prevention. The software solutions will be useful for both immediate emergency management and long-term preventive maintenance and planning and will be piloted in Kerala.

Interfaces in the system allow users to see and follow a simulated water flow. Users can also interact with the simulation so that they may better understand the impact of storms, elevation, levees and more and adjust community infrastructures.

Pragathi Foundation

Pragathi Foundation founder Vedanthi Girish spends time traveling to remote villages across Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in a rental minivan to motivate local communities to build a communications system that is eventually run by the communities themselves.

Pragathi Foundation is set to pilot a WiFi based two-way local radio for the information needs of rural communities. The radio aims to be scalable in signal-dark areas to provide better portable transmission and receiving devices using open source technology.

Seismic AI

The core of Seismic AI’s Earthquake Early Warning System is a real-time algorithm that leverages Array Seismology to locate the earthquake epicenter and understand the speed of seismic waves to filter non-seismic noise. The system can also estimate the magnitude of an impending earthquake and how much ground shaking will occur.

The company aims to provide end-to-end management of the warning system, designing, deploying, maintaining, monitoring and continually improving the performance of the network so that communities can remain prepared through the system.