OFIDIAPlus aims to develop innovative AI-based solutions with sensors, drones, and mobile Apps to improve wildfire prevention and management in Puglia, Calabria, Basilicata, and Epirus (Greece).

Building on OFIDIA and OFIDIA2, the project strengthens forest protection and ecosystem safety. Its goal is to foster sustainable behaviors, quality of life, and resilient economies in cross-border regions.

The new phase of the project aims to improve the fire prevention and management system created in the past editions through:

• Expanded Coverage: Deployment of new wireless sensor networks, video cameras, vehicles, and drones to monitor larger forested areas.
• AI and Physics Algorithms Integration: Use of artificial intelligence to enhance monitoring and physics-based algorithms to predict fire propagation.
• Enhanced Decision Support System (DSS): Upgrading the existing DSS with new joint services and mobile apps for fire monitoring, fleet management, and stakeholder coordination.
• Establishment of Best Practices and Policies: Developing shared guidelines and best practices among cross-border stakeholders to ensure effective fire response and recovery.

CMCC role
CMCC Foundation will be committed to:

• Creating an adaptation to Climate Change action portfolio to improve the public institutions’ capacity to jointly prevent and manage fires.
• Developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms for fire danger and fire behavior.
• Setting up the Decision Support System (DSS) that will be used by stakeholders for fire prevention and monitoring.
• Designing specific data management software.
• Integrating weather, fire danger and fire behavior models in the DSS
• Developing mobile Apps for citizen engagement in wildfire detection and enhanced fleet management service for the Civil Protection and Fire Corps involved in the project.

Activities
Organized into five interconnected Work Packages, OFIDIAPlus ensures strong coordination (WP1), effective communication and stakeholder engagement (WP2), deployment of IoT infrastructure (WP3), AI-based fire prediction and climate risk assessment (WP4), and integration into a centralized DSS (WP5). Key partners contribute specialized expertise, from system administration and AI modeling (CMCC) to field sensor deployment (PB2), algorithm development (PB3), forest adaptation (PB4), and operational center upgrades in Greece (PB5).

With milestone-driven deployment—prototype by month 12, pre-operational system by month 18, and full rollout by month 24—the project supports safer, more sustainable, and resilient cross-border communities vulnerable to climate-induced wildfires.

Expected results
The project will expand coverage across more wooded areas through new sensor networks, cameras, vehicles and drones. It will also integrate advanced AI tools to improve prevention and monitoring, along with physics-based models to forecast fire behavior and fire risk.

The Decision Support System will be upgraded with new joint services and mobile apps to support monitoring, coordination and fleet management. Finally, the project will promote shared best practices and common policies to enhance cross-border response and recovery.

Partners
– Puglia Region – Civil Protection and Emergency Management Department
– University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro
– Ministry of Environment and Energy – Inspection Directorate for Forest Policy Implementation of Epirus – W. Macedonia
– Hellenic Fire Corps/Regional Fire Administration of Epirus