November 18, 2023 marked a before and after in terms of the effects of the floods in Dominican Republicwhen accumulations of up to 431 millimeters of water were recorded in some areas of the country. The metric was described as historic by the Dominican authorities.
Twenty-four hours of rains caused an impact devastating: at least 21 people dead, thousands of homes destroyed, landslides, towns cut off from communication, more than 87,000 customers affected by power shortages, as well as damage to agriculture.
What happened revived the tragedy November 4, 2022. The floods They left nine dead, more than 600 vehicles damaged and damage to businesses, homes and crops, estimated at more than one billion.
Both disasters led to four youths Dominicans to devise the project called “Hydra Watcher“, which was a finalist at the Summit Seeds for the Future 2024, organized by the multinational Huawei in El Salvador, from August 25 to 31.
The group is made up of Erick Vincent GarcÃa Vicente, a student of Cybersecurity Engineering at the Santo Domingo Institute of Technology (Intec); Hamlet Tineo, who is studying the same degree at the University of the Caribbean; Axel Javier López, a student of Information and Communication Technology Engineering at the Ibero-American University (Unibe), and Gabriel Cepeda GarcÃa, a student of Computer Science Engineering at the Pontifical Catholic Mother and Teacher University (PUCMM), Santiago campus.
What does it consist of? project?
The proposal seeks to alert about areas prone to floods during meteorological events, allowing authorities to take preventive measures, such as uncovering the drains that require it.
The final product includes an infrared sensor to measure the speed of water flow in sewers; an ultrasonic sensor to calculate water accumulation and determine its capacity; and a night vision camera that will allow observation inside the pipe and detect obstructions.
The creation of each of the components of the project would require a investment of 14,000 dollars. “In total, to cover all the critical areas of the National District, we would need to install at least 20 deviceswhich would add up to a total of $280,000,” Axel López explained.
“To complement the actual functionality of this system and enable its continuous improvement, the use of Artificial Intelligence and cloud computing services is required,” he explained.
It should be remembered that, after the tragedy November 2023, the director of the Emergency Operations Center (COE), Juan Manuel Méndez, stated that the city collapsed “due to the inability of the drains to handle the amount of rain that fell.”
They are looking for investors
The creators of “Hydra Watcher“They call for the Government and the private sector to invest in this project.
They believe that allocating funds to solve the problem would be much more viable than spending millions on repairing damage and subsidizing those affected by disasters.
Another project of youths Dominicans
During the Seeds of the Future Summit, the Dominican Republic was also represented by: youths Melina López Vicente, from the Technological Institute of the Americas (ITLA); Carla Aquino, from the Technological Institute of Santo Domingo (INTEC); Laura Quiñones, from the Ibero-American University (UNIBE) and Camila de los Santos, from INTEC.
They presented the Sound Connect project, which aims to create community centres that use renewable energy to bring power to communities in the country where it currently does not arrive or arrives intermittently.
“The creation of the centers is intended to provide the community with energy 24 hours a day. During the day, energy would be generated with solar panels and when there is no sunlight, that is, at night, the energy remaining in the rechargeable batteries that this community center will have would be used,” explained Laura Quiñones.
The youths They say that their project is aimed at people living in vulnerable communities, specifically children who are part of the Digital Republic program, developed by the Dominican Government, so that they have access to connectivity and energy.
In addition to providing energy so that they can charge and connect their devices, citizens would also have access to the Internet, both within the community center and through access points in the community.
About investment
As for the costs to carry out this project, the youths They stipulate an investment of 30 thousand dollars, which would cover both the physical infrastructure and the solar panels necessary to provide energy. Included in this budget is the inverter and batteries to convert and store the energy produced by the solar panels.
The young Dominicans developed their project within the framework of the Latin American and Caribbean Summit Seeds for the Future 2024, which was won by representatives from Guatemala and Argentina, countries that will compete in the global competition to be held in China in 2025.
The program is part of Huawei’s corporate social responsibility initiative and provides university students with a platform for learning, innovation and creating sustainable technological solutions.
With the expansion of the program, Huawei is committed to investing US$150 million by 2026, to benefit more than 3 million young people.
