CRIDR

The Center for Research on IOT, Data Science, and Resiliency (CRIDR)

was founded as an initiative of the Decision Engineering Analysis Laboratory (DEAL) and The International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural (UNESCO) Category 1 Institute.

Throughout the years, CRIDR has supported a variety of international efforts, regional efforts, state partnerships, Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) partnerships, and Public Private Partnership Initiatives (P3I). Its ongoing goal is to explore the applications of the Internet of Things (IOT) for the purpose of advancing data evidence-based resiliency initiatives as well as the discipline of data science so as to contribute to society-at-large.

International Efforts

Forests and agricultural land fires across Indonesia have blanketed much of Southeast Asia in a dangerous haze, leading to one of the most severe regional (e.g. Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN) problems in years. The effects of these blazes are having widespread public health impacts, contributing to respiratory ailments and premature deaths throughout Southeast Asia. To further aggravate the situation, in many cases, the fires persist underground and are not able to be stopped with water bombing and conventional methods. CRIDR agreed to provide assistance to the South Sumatra Provincial Government, and a Letter of Agreement (LOA) was completed for the deployment of various sensors and the investigation into advanced subsurface sensors to better detect and track underground fires.

Regional Efforts

Traditionally, to meet energy demands, the focus has been on increasing generation (i.e. more power plants). This trend began to shift in 2019, when various ASEAN Member States (AMS) began to articulate the fact that “additional power supply will not come in the form of new power plants, but in savings from energy efficiency and conservation.” Accordingly, efficiencies at the Transmission and Distribution (T&D) level are being more closely examined. This trend has cascaded across the ASEAN, particularly as various power plant accidents have invoked public concern and resulted in a desire to change the prevailing energy paradigm. The CRIDR Team has been privileged to collaborate with a variety of AMS Ministries and organizations to further study efficiency optimization at the T&D level.

State Partnership

CRIDR serves as an advisor to and assists state partnership projects. For example, on 5 August 2015, the Offices of the Governor for the Bali and Hawaii Coordinating Committees signed and initiated a Bali Hawaii Sister State Initiative. As part of the agreed upon mandate, the partners would support community-based disaster prevention by collaborating on and developing a Bali Hazard Awareness and Resiliency Program. As part of the ongoing efforts, CRIDR has supported the efforts of a Board Member of the Hawaii Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, which has recently signed an agreement with the Bali Government to "help with waste to energy, flood control, and taking care of its ocean environment." The CRIDR Team supported various sessions, which include those of 23-26 December 2016 and 20-25 February 2016.

International Partnership

CRIDR supports international events. For example, the 2018 Asian Games (AG) (a.k.a. XVIII Asiad, 18th Asian Games, Jakarta Palembang 2018) (Indonesian: Pesta Olahraga Musim Panas Asia 2018) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and is the second largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games. The AG are held every four years during the even years between the Olympic Games. The 2018 AG, the 18th iteration of the games, officially took place from 18 August 2018 through 2 September 2018. In preparation for the games, the CRIDR Team organized and taught a 3D-printed weather sensor workshop on 3-7 April 2017 that resulted in fabrication, coding, assembly, and deployment of the sensors as well as collection of data and analysis of that data.

Public Private Partnership Initiative (P3I)

Resiliency within a Smart City rubric has long been on the mind of the City and County of Honolulu. Its Chief Information Officer (CIO) has been working on numerous projects even prior to the City of Honolulu being named one of Rockefeller Foundation's 100 Resilient Cities and being awarded funding and resources to hire a Chief Resilience Officer. On 2 April 2017, the CRIDR Team met with the Honolulu CIO and the Chairman of the Board of the Hawaii Exemplary State Foundation to discuss a City of Honolulu smart city project involving acoustic sensors and light sensors to help mitigate against vegetation overgrowth, rodent impact, and other unanticipated natural phenomenon so as to enhance resiliency. Since that time, the CRIDR Team has engaged in sensor research and presented at a number of conference proceedings.

Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Partnership

Between 31 October 2017 and 1 November 2017, the CRIDR Team prepared for a trip to explore Kupang City for the purposes of determining whether it is a likely candidate to bridge into CRIDR's & R3ADY's "waste to energy efforts." The current efforts and the associated sensor project stemmed from an Australia-Indonesia project. CRIDR Team members have been active with the Short Term Awards, which are a new feature of Australia Awards in Indonesia. Short Term Awards are "offered each year to senior Indonesian decision makers and influencers who want to develop new skills and increase their networks and potential." The CRIDR Team has engaged with Australian researchers at venues throughout the years (with the COVID year of 2020 being an exception).

CRIDR Testimonials

"The Center has served with honor as well as distinction and has my unqualified recommendation."- Chairman of the Board of the Hawaii Exemplarly State Foundation
"We are grateful to ... the Center for Research on IOT, Data Science, and Resiliency ... for serving as an Advisor to the 2018 Asian Games as well as the South Sumatra Provincial Government."- Governor of South Sumatra
"Thank you for helping us ensure a successful 2018 Asian Games."- General Secretary of the Regional Asian Games Committee

CRIDR Conference Proceedings

"Fast Training of Support Vector Machine for Forest Fire Prediction"- NexTech 2019 Congress, Porto, Portugal, 22-26 September 2019
"Context-Referenced Telemetry Data for Distribution Utilities: Quality Assurance/Quality Control by Lateral Sensors"- NexTech 2019 Congress, Porto, Portugal, 22-26 September 2019
"Surveying and Enhancing Grid Resilience Sensor Communications: An Amalgam of Narrowband, Broadband, and Hybridizing Spread Spectrum"- NexTech 2019 Congress, Porto, Portugal, 22-26 September 2019

CRIDR Workshops & Talks

CRIDR holds and attends several workshops, retreats, and conferences every year. Among others, some notable exemplar workshops and talks include:
Internet of Things for Citizen Science Weather Stations to support Grid Resiliency and the 2018 Asian Games and Research in IoT"- CRIDR co-sponsored workshop with the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) Wireless Telecommunications/Information and Communications Technology for Development (T/ICT4D) Laboratory and South Sumatra Provincial Government, Palembang, Indonesia, 3-7 April 2017.
"Quantitative Exactitude and Trust in Measurements: Sensor Telemetry Data for Development and Resiliency" - CRIDR talk at the Joint ICTP-International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Workshop on Environmental Mapping: Mobilising Trust in Measurements and Engaging Scientific Citizenry, ICTP, Trieste, Italy, 6-24 March 2017.

Societal Responsibility

The CRIDR Team is dedicated in its pursuit to advance data evidence-based resiliency initiatives as well as the discipline of data science so as to contribute to society-at-large. The CRIDR Team believes in teamwork, constant learning and improvement, collaborating with the community-at-large, the notion of community resiliency, and societal responsibility.

Please Contact Us

The CRIDR Team looks forward to hearing from you and answering any questions. Please email us at info@cridr.org.

For information about available workshop offerings, please visit our workshop website. Alternatively, please email admissions@cridr.org to inquire about prerequisites or admission requirements.