Sicuro+ is online, the web platform to increase seismic risk knowledge

Sicuro+ (Sistema Informativo per la ComUnicazione del RischiO - Information System for Risk Communication) is now online and has been presented at the headquarters of the Department of Civil Protection. Among its objectives, it aims at making citizens more aware of the level of seismic risk in the municipality where they live, work or go on holiday, in order to raise their awareness and allow them to actively contribute to risk mitigation actions.

Sicuro+, created as part of an agreement between the Department and Eucentre (European Centre for Training and Research in Seismic Engineering), is an interactive web tool providing the user with the opportunity to view the latest seismic risk maps of Italian municipalities, with the assessment of possible negative consequences due to the occurrence of earthquakes, both on the resident population and buildings.
Professor Mauro Dolce from the Civil Protection Department underlined that it aims at providing a platform for citizens and administrators, "because the problem of seismic risk reduction in Italy is complex, especially when it comes to private buildings. It is not possible for the State to take full charge of the issue, even if it is trying to encourage the citizen's attention through the earthquake bonus. To mitigate the risks it is necessary to work a lot on the understanding of the risk itself and the awareness of the citizen".

"It is important to pool all our knowledge", concluded Dolce, "also through communication tools such as Sicuro+".

With this web platform the Civil Protection aims at giving increasing importance to risk communication and greater space to transparency of information, said Mr. Agostino Miozzo, Director of the Promotion and Integration Office of the Civil Protection Department's National Service, "transparency is the best tool for the institutions, because it becomes the most effective way to fight fake news".

"Sicuro+ will help citizens to be more informed, and in the most correct way possible", concluded Mr. Miozzo. 

It is a tool that will reach everyone, regardless of their cultural and training level on seismic risk and without the need of any particular technological skills. To make consultation easier and more pleasant there are graph and maps at disposal of tehe user. The logo recalls the concept of security, through the stylized shape of a house that acts as protection.

The browsing takes place in three phases, each of which is associated with a positioning of the navigation bar:

• choice of the municipality of interest;
• response on seismic risk, and its components: hazard, vulnerability and exposure;
• actions recommended to the citizen for the mitigation of their seismic risk.

Therefore, this is the most suitable operational tool to collect the latest contributions from the scientific community on seismic risk and to communicate its contents to citizens with the future objective of being extended to other natural risks.

Also, during the presentation a in-depth analysis of the contribution of behavioural sciences to the creation of the Sicuro+ platform has been covered, as a result of an agreement between the Presidency of the Council and the National School of Administration.