Latest news with #Wissing
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Natural Hazards Portal launched in Germany
Germans seeking information and advice about extreme weather events or any other natural disasters can turn to a new centralized website. The Natural Hazards Portal (NGP) will help citizens answer the urgent question: Is my house or the place where I am located at risk? said Digital Minister Volker Wissing on Friday. "This makes life in Germany safer," Wissing said at the launch of the portal in the city of Offenbach. The website brings together current warnings, scientific analyses and forecasts in a clearly understandable way, said Sarah Jones, who heads the German Weather Service. The portal contains information in German and English for preparing for imminent dangers such as flooding or extreme cold, and tips in the event that citizens find themselves affected by extreme weather. Germany already has a nationwide system of warnings sent to mobile phones in the event of an imminent emergency. The NGP was developed by the weather service together with Germany's 16 federal states and the Office of Civil Protection. The site currently focusses on hydrological hazards such as flooding and storm surges. However, the portal is set to gradually be expanded to include other natural hazards such as ozone pollution, forest fires, drought, avalanches and earthquakes.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
German minister: German AI can also prosper after DeepSeek's rise
The success of Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek shows that German firms can also prosper in the industry, German Digital Minister Volker Wissing said on Tuesday. DeepSeek, only launched a week ago, has threatened US dominance in AI and Wissing said it demonstrates how quickly and cost-effectively new models can be rolled out. "The good news is that we in Germany are doing particularly well in this area," Wissing told Deutschlandfunk public radio on Tuesday. "We are one of the leading countries in the field of AI research and development." The AI strength of the US lies in the ability to mobilize a great deal of venture capital to bring developments to market quickly. German needs to work on this, Wissing added, but believes Europe has an advantage in competition with China. "We can capitalize on the fact that our artificial intelligence is trustworthy. The world has confidence in the European community of values," he said. That is why it was right for the EU to introduce regulation to make the industry trustworthy and safe, Wissing added. "If I don't know whether I'm getting the right answers, whether the algorithm is being manipulated, then I'm very reluctant to use that AI," he said.
