The AIT Austrian Institute of Technology takes a leading position in the Austrian innovation system and a key role in Europe as the RTO focusing on the key infrastructure topics of the future.

AIT provides research and technological development to realize basic innovations for the next generation of infrastructure related technologies in the fields of Energy, Mobility Systems, Low-Emission Transport, Health & Bioresources, Digital Safety & Security, Vision, Automation & Control and Technology Experience. These technological research areas are supplemented by the competence in the area of Innovation Systems & Policy.

As a national and international network node at the interface of science and industry AIT enables innovation through its scientific-technological expertise, market experience, tight customer relationships and high-quality research infrastructure.

An in-depth understanding of the challenges of crisis and disaster situations represents an essential prerequisite in order to protect the citizens, the environment as well as public and private infrastructures. With the advent of new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the last decades, the domain of Crisis and Disaster Management (CDM) has gained the opportunity to greatly increase the efficiency and efficacy of its operations based on the real-time exchange and management of the relevant information.

AIT's CDM group in the Center for Digital Safety & Security has in recent years made substantial contributions to the evolution of ICT paradigms and solutions for crisis and disaster management both on the Austrian national and at the international level.

AIT's CDM activities and its portfolio of solutions is comprised of the following three areas:

• IoT - Sensor Network Management for fixed station environmental measurements, remote observations and measurements (satellites, drones) as well as hybrid application scenarios for the use cases of environmental protection, climate change, and the detection of hazardous substances.
• Command & Control Systems including the civil-civil and civil-military (civil CDM use cases) interoperability with the objective of creating a Common Operational Picture (COP).
• Community Interaction & Engagement, with a focus on systems for the management and self-organization of volunteers in the wake of crises and disasters.