Date: 16 April 2026
An international seminar entitled “Disaster Management with Digital Twins in Smart Infrastructures” was held on 16 April 2026 at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. The seminar was delivered by Prof. Dr. Mehmet Akşit and was partially supported by the Erasmus+ KA220 project SUDEM – Sustainable Disaster and Emergency Management Processes Digitalisation.
The seminar explored emerging approaches to the digital transformation of disaster and emergency management, with particular emphasis on the use of Digital Twins to improve situational awareness, decision support, and operational efficiency. Participants discussed how modern Disaster Management Centres increasingly rely on advanced technologies, including satellite systems, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), sensor networks, and data fusion platforms to support disaster monitoring and emergency response.
A central topic of the seminar was the application of descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive Digital Twins for disaster management. The proposed framework demonstrated how digital twins can continuously monitor disaster situations, simulate future scenarios, optimise resource allocation, and support adaptive decision-making during emergency response operations. The seminar also highlighted how these technologies can reduce manual intervention, minimise workflow bottlenecks, and improve the quality and reliability of operational data.
The presented concepts closely align with the objectives of the SUDEM project, which promotes the integration of modern digital technologies—including artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), digital twins, data-driven decision support, and systems engineering—into higher education and lifelong learning programmes for disaster and emergency management.
The seminar also provided an opportunity to exchange knowledge between European and North American researchers and to promote international collaboration in digital disaster management research. The event contributed to the dissemination of SUDEM project outcomes and demonstrated how the project’s educational concepts are relevant to current global research and innovation trends.
The seminar was organised with the support of Concordia University and was hosted following the invitation of Prof. Jun Yan and Prof. Yong Zeng. Through participation in international scientific events such as this seminar, the SUDEM project continues to strengthen its global visibility, disseminate project results, and foster collaboration with leading universities and research communities worldwide.
