Towards a new role for the Royal Meteorological Institute in Belgium's civil defence and emergency planning policies: The GIDS Project

Abstract

AbstractBelgium's Civil Protection organisation, like any other public service these days, has to reorganise itself because of changes m the socio‐economic climate. In a changed society where industrial and technological risks are perceived more sharply, this organisation, which was born in the Cold War era, is nowadays more concerned with fighting industrial accidents and coordinating emergency planning activities. In this context, a project for a digitalised emergency planner is being launched with the support of the European Community. In this so‐called GIDS system, a dispersion module is indispensable. Because of the urgency of the needs of risk management, the meteorological input for it will have to he provided very rapidly, frequently and m great detail. To meet these specific needs the meteorological services may have to consider offering new kinds or new formats of ‘nowcast’ calculations. The conclusion is that, with the various meteorological services rethinking their tasks, new‐technology projects such as the CIDS system may engender a new kind of collaboration.