As part of our innovative Big Data road safety project, AI&Me: Jongeren sterker maken voor veiligere wegen, we are excited to launch the Youth Engagement App (YEA) pilot in Ho Chi Minh City, Pleiku City, and Yen Bai starting December 2022 to January 2023. The launch engages students from 18 project secondary schools and colleges in Vietnam on how to use the App.
Raise your voice: A Youth Engagement App for safer mobility
The YEA offers young people an efficient way to identify and report high-risk road conditions, providing them with a platform for their voices to be heard. Through the App, government officials will receive data as actionable recommendations to make effective and evidence-based road safety interventions. This will make it easier to identify blackspots for more in-depth analysis to determine the star ratings for school zones. Star Rating for Schools (SR4S) is an evidence-based tool for measuring, managing, and communicating the risks children are exposed to on a journey to school. It supports quick interventions that save lives and prevent serious injuries from day one.
iRAP is supporting the three-year AI&Me: Jongeren sterker maken voor veiligere wegen project being delivered by AIP Foundation with the support of Fondation Botnar – a Swiss philanthropic foundation working to improve the health and wellbeing of young people living in cities around the world – as well as the FIA Foundation En Anditi. The Traffic Safety Committees and the Department of Education and Training of all three provinces support the launch of the App in their areas.
“Today is the day that students will take charge in ensuring that their cities are safe. The YEA puts young voices at the heart of solving the global road safety crisis,” shares Hoang Na Huong, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at AIP Foundation.
Teachers empower students to raise their voices
Prior to the launch of the YEA, AIP Foundation hosted, together with iRAP and the Ministry of Transport (MOT) the first hands-on training of the YEA to key government stakeholders and teachers – in Ho Chi Minh City, Pleiku City, and Yen Bai. The main objective was to provide an introduction to the AI&Me programme as well as launch the YEA with instructions on how to use it and pass on the knowledge to their students.
The capacity-building course, conducted by the iRAP team, was the first milestone for teachers to be empowered and play an active role in providing training to 1800 students from 18 pilot schools to use the App. In turn, these students will raise their voices for safer #streetsforlife. It brings us closer to our vision of a world where all neighbourhood streets are liveable, safe, sustainable, and walkable.
iRAP AI&Me Project Manager Shanna Lucchesi and Star Rating for Schools Global Coordinator Rafaela Machado with YEA Training participants
“The launch of the YEA will make a big difference for our next generation in Ho Chi Minh City, Pleiku and Yen Bai. Our future belongs to the youth, so we need to hear their voices to find the best solutions to the issues they face. We can only achieve safer streets across Vietnam if we work together,” shares Colonel Pham Viet Cong, from the Deputy Office Chief of National Traffic Safety Committee.
AI for good: Using Big Data to save lives on the road in Vietnam
Verkeersongevallen zijn wereldwijd de belangrijkste doodsoorzaak voor kinderen en jongvolwassenen van 5 tot 29 jaar. In Vietnam schatte het Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation dat in 2019 meer dan 6.200 kinderen en jongeren van 5 tot 29 jaar omkwamen bij verkeersongevallen. Dit vormt een crisis in de volksgezondheid die onevenredig veel jongeren treft. Verbetering van de wegen, snelheidsbeperkingen en handhaving van gedragsrisicofactoren zijn nodig om deze crisis effectief aan te pakken.
De AI&Me project was launched and tested in Ho Chi Minh City, Gia Lai Province, and Yen Bai Province from August to March 2021, with the possibility of scaling up to other regions and countries following successful initial trials.
“Ik vind de YEA een fantastisch hulpmiddel om de straten in mijn buurt veiliger te maken. Met de app kan ik de lokale autoriteiten gemakkelijk waarschuwen en laten weten waar er gevaar dreigt. Deze app geeft me een veiliger gevoel. Het geeft me ook het gevoel dat ik deel uitmaak van de oplossing, waardoor ik de mogelijkheid heb om echt een verschil te maken”, aldus Dang Phan*, een lokale jongere van de Nguyen Hue High School, tijdens het recente YEA-lanceringsevenement in Yen Bai.
De afgelopen jaren is big data-technologie ingezet om mobiliteit en verkeersveiligheid te transformeren door middel van voorspellende analyses. Hierbij worden historische gegevens geëvalueerd om risicovolle gebieden in kaart te brengen. Deze kaarten stellen autoriteiten in staat preventieve maatregelen te nemen voordat er slachtoffers vallen. AI&Me programme revolutionizes road safety measures in Vietnam, paving the way for emerging technologies to address public health issues.
Nuttige links:
- To see more YEA App Launch photos, please click hier.
- To read the press release, click hier.
- To see TV coverage of the Launch (in Vietnamese), click hier.
- To read more on the YEA App training held in November, click hier.
Images credit: AIP Foundation