By Alice Chambers |
Representatives from Disaster Tech used Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) to demonstrate how advanced analytics and trusted AI can help cities predict risks, protect residents and accelerate recovery after major incidents.
Sean Griffin, CEO of Disaster Tech, outlined how the company’s six-year partnership with Microsoft underpins its disaster intelligence platform, which applies the OODA Loop framework (observe, orient, decide and act) to guide fast, data-driven decision-making during emergencies.
Griffin highlighted flooding and wildfires as two scenarios where Pratus, Disaster Tech’s crisis management software platform, is already delivering value for government agencies and critical infrastructure operators. For flooding events, the platform uses AI to model the likely effects on infrastructure and populations, including a five-day power-outage risk forecast. By showing how cascading failures can affect water systems, hospitals and communities, users gain a fuller picture of potential impact and can allocate resources more effectively.
The session also demonstrated similar capabilities for wildfire response, including the ability to predict ember spread, identify ignition sources and assess variables such as wind conditions and soil dryness. The system then generates community-level risk ratings, helping authorities understand which residents are most vulnerable on any given day.
Across both scenarios, Griffin emphasised that “trusted AI has to be at the forefront of everything that we do,” noting the importance of data provenance and robust security to maintain public confidence.
At the Disaster Tech booth, which was hosted by Microsoft, its team highlighted the broader applicability of its disaster technology beyond weather-driven events. Use cases included monitoring threats to offshore oil rigs, supporting naval operations by assessing regional risks, and orchestrating multi-agency response teams. Pratus can generate recommended actions and dispatch them directly to personnel, helping organisations coordinate resources and increase operational effectiveness.
The Disaster Tech booth was hosted by Microsoft at SCEWC 2025
Together, these demonstrations reinforced Pratus’s message that intelligent, secure and interoperable systems are essential to building resilient communities in an era of increasingly complex risks.