EWOKS
Enabling EWS/GalileO MarKet Uptake in widespread PWS Solutions
Background & Objectives
In 2023, the European Commission will launch the Galileo Emergency Warning service (EWS).
EWS is a worldwide service to broadcast emergency warnings linked to natural or man-made disasters, with the major advantage to remain operational when all terrestrial communication networks are down, and in places where they do not exist at all.
Final recipients of EWS messages are primarily citizens equipped with Galileo enabled smartphones, but another category of end-users exists: the Public Warning Systems (PWS) stakeholders. For this latter, a specific GNSS equipment is needed to receive and process the EWS messages, this equipment being integrated in fixed devices which alert citizens via audio, video and text alert messages (such as Long-Range Acoustic Devices or Digital Panels) or adequate digital messages flows within IT systems.
The purpose of the EWOKS project is to develop this specific GNSS equipment, also secured by the OS-NMA feature. EWOKS will also prepare the adoption of EWS by European Civil Protection Authorities by performing activities in support to EUSPA and EC for the service deployment, dissemination activities aiming at building the EWOKS ecosystem within the PWS B2B and B2G markets. The EWOKS consortium gathers all the necessary competencies ensuring the success of the project with SYRLINKS as GNSS receiver manufacturer, Telespazio and EENA with experience on the design and deployment of public safety services (GRALLE, HELP112), CNES as operator of Toulouse SAR/Galileo Service Centre, where the EWS service centre will be hosted. End to End demonstrations will be performed with JCDecaux and Genasys, PWS equipment providers and solution integrators, and will involve customers such as the Slovenian Civil Protection Authority. The bridge between Galileo EWS and Copernicus EMS will also be showcased by UNISTRA.
The draft business plan demonstrates the consortium commitment to go to the market and the high probability of a quick R.o.I.
