monochrom freut sich eine wunderbare Initiative von guten Freunden vorstellen zu können.
Safecast is a non-ideological, non-profit, volunteer-based organization created in the days immediately following the the Fukushima NPP disaster, which began three years ago on March 11, 2011. The release of radioactive material was accompanied by a disturbing lack of clear public information concerning radiation levels in the affected areas, and a series of missteps and misstatements by the Japanese government and by TEPCO damaged their credibility in the eyes of large segments of the population. Credible and independent data concerning the growing radiation risk was sought by many to fill the acute information vacuum.
SAFECAST quickly began to field mobile detectors of its own design, which leveraged open-source software and hardware and new-generation DIY tools such as laser cutters and custom PCB fabrication to dramatically accelerate development and deployment time. The group simultaneously developed an information management system that allows GPS-tagged radiation data points to be uploaded into a central database and displayed on an interactive web-based map. SAFECAST’s radiation information system has seen the rapid deployment no fewer than seven increasingly refined GPS-enabled mobile radiation detector designs, called “bGeigies,” the web-based “GeoSense” map, a free iOS-based map application, and other devices and software, all developed by volunteers and made freely available through Creative Commons licenses.The radiation data gathered by SAFECAST volunteers in Japan and abroad currently exceeds 15 million data points, arguably the most extensive public data set of its kind. It was soon hailed as a technically competent, credible, and objective source of radiation information for Japan by specialists on both sides of the nuclear power debate. SAFECAST has been invited to present it’s methodology and criticisms at the IAEA “International Experts’ Meeting on Radiation Protection after the Fukushima Daiichi Accident: Promoting Confidence and Understanding,” being held in Vienna from Feb. 17-21.
At Raum D, SAFECAST Volunteers Joe Moross and Azby Brown will show the group’s latest mobile radiation detector designs, talk about iterative design and the challenges of building a technically adept global volunteer organization, and discuss what the future holds in store.
Raum D, Museumsquartier, Wien.
21. Februar 2014 um 19 Uhr.