Rescue services consider partly automated cell broadcast alerts
On the night of Tuesday, March 25, the Latvian Air Force identified a foreign unmanned aircraft entering Latvian airspace from Russia. The drone exploded approximately one kilometre from the centre of Svariņu Parish in Krāslava Municipality.
President Edgars Rinkēvičs stated that it was a Ukrainian drone that crashed on Latvian territory and was part of a coordinated Ukrainian operation against Russian targets. A similar incident also occurred in Estonia.
Following the incident in Latvia, there was a discussion about whether it was necessary in this case to activate cell broadcast to send notifications to residents about what had happened.
Options for automating the sending of alerts are being evaluated, with alerts being sent in certain cases when specific conditions arise. Automation is planned to reduce human involvement. However, human oversight is planned to be maintained to prevent misunderstandings, Nakurts told Morning Panorama.
Nakurts noted that training on sending out warning notifications is planned for April.
Nakurts explained that the institution responsible for the specific threat can initiate the alert system. In the recent drone incident, when a Ukrainian drone crashed in Latvian territory, in this case, the decision had to be made by the National Armed Forces, Nakurts noted. "National Armed Forces already commented that based on sensor and analysis information, the drone had already fallen, so there was no reason to activate cell broadcasting – it would have been post factum," Nakurts said.
"Last year, cell alerts in real situations were sent out seven times. [..] It is activated in the specific territory at risk," Nakurts added.
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