NINA (app)

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NINA

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Basic data

Maintainer Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance
developer Materna
Current  version 3.0.0
(March 31, 2020)
operating system Android ,
iOS
License proprietary
German speaking Yes
bbk.bund.de

NINA ( Apronym for N otfall- I nformation and N achrichten- A pp ) is the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance Asked (BBK) available app for smart phones to send important or urgent warnings that serves the population. It is a warning device connected to the modular warning system of the federal MoWaS and the first app that was developed to warn the population across Germany.

concept

The civil and disaster control authorities use the app to distribute messages or warnings about impending or already existing disasters or dangerous situations such as major fires or hazardous substances that are spreading uncontrollably. In addition to subscribed locations, warning messages can also be subscribed to for warning messages at the current location, for which the activation of the smartphone's GPS service is required. Warning messages are transmitted to the smartphone via a push service when there is an internet connection so that the user is made aware of the presence of a warning message via the end device.

In addition to current alerts, the app also offers the opportunity to learn about general behaviors for unforeseen events and safety information relating to Civil Protection to inform.

The app also offers information about emergency supplies and a checklist for the medicine cabinet .

Additional functions were added in April 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic . Up to and including May 2020, the app had been downloaded about seven million times.

function

The app uses the following sources of information:

In addition to the tabular list, the app provides a map view on which current warnings are assigned to their geographical location within Germany. The general view of Germany is preset. By selecting a warning marked as red on the map, the view changes to the detailed warning.

It is also possible to set individual warning tones for each available warning category. With the help of the “subscription function” it is possible to only receive warning messages for places and areas that you have specifically selected.

Availability

The app is available for Android (from version 4.0 ) and iOS systems . In the event that a mobile device cannot display the app correctly, there is a website created by the BBK that shows the same information in a map and list view and can be displayed by any system that is able to display websites. It is also possible to subscribe to alerts as an RSS feed via this website.

Reviews

Crisis management expert Florian Roth from ETH Zurich praised the app's ability to forward warning messages to contacts via SMS and e-mail and thus enable the user to warn people in his circle of friends who do not have a smartphone. In July 2015, he complained that the app was unable to navigate the user to a shelter.

On the warning day in North Rhine-Westphalia on September 6, 2018, the system showed weaknesses: According to the BBK, the test alarm led to an "extraordinary load on the technical infrastructure" and not all users were warned as a result. The infrastructural bottlenecks have now been removed.

Technical implementation

The app is largely developed by the Europe-wide operating IT company Materna . Version 1.0 was available for download for the first time on June 1, 2015. T-Systems provides the technical infrastructure necessary to inform one million users within 30 seconds.

Language versions

Currently (as of April 2019) the app is only available in German . However, the BBK plans to issue alerts in English, French, Spanish, Turkish, Russian and Arabic during 2019. The voice output should refer to the system language set in the end device.

costs

The federal government pays the development costs and the operation of the software from the state budget ; 20 million euros had been invested by mid-2016. The download is free, but the data traffic may incur costs for the provider depending on the mobile phone tariff used. The app can also be used offline, for example the general behavior in emergencies can be read after they have been downloaded to the smartphone once.

Alternatives

A similar app called Katwarn can forward warning messages to users at local, state and federal levels; she was z. B. used by BASF in 2016 in a major accident. The warning app BIWAPP (Citizen Info & Warning App) shows the disaster warnings from the BBK and the severe weather reports from the German Weather Service. Since February 2019, the official warning messages of the three systems have been shared and distributed in parallel. Warning messages are alternately exchanged between the warning apps NINA and Katwarn as well as NINA and Biwapp. There is currently no exchange between Katwarn and Biwapp. The German Weather Service operates its own warning weather app for severe weather warnings.

Cell broadcast enables short messages with a maximum of 1395 characters to be sent to all mobile radio devices that are in the same radio cell . Cell broadcast is currently not offered by cell phone operators in Germany.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b NINA - The BBK's warning app. Google Play , accessed March 31, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b c Warning app NINA. Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance , accessed on December 8, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Disaster warning: App NINA warns of dangers nationwide. Bayerischer Rundfunk , accessed on July 24, 2016 .
  4. ↑ Disaster control: NINA warning app drilled out. In: Heise online . Retrieved July 23, 2016 .
  5. ↑ https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/themen/coronavirus/warn-app-nina-1749214
  6. ↑ Marcel Rosenbach, Christoph Hickmann, DER SPIEGEL: Federal Authority for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief: The Forgotten Office - DER SPIEGEL - Politics. Retrieved May 19, 2020 .
  7. ↑ a b Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance - functions at a glance. Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance, accessed on December 8, 2016 .
  8. ↑ warnung.bund.de - list view. Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance, accessed on December 8, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Federal Alarm App NINA: Warning in the event of a disaster. Der Spiegel , accessed on July 24, 2016 .
  10. ↑ BBK on Twitter . In: Twitter . ( twitter.com [accessed September 12, 2018]).
  11. ↑ Federal Office for Civil Protection - Warning tag reveals weaknesses in the Nina app . In: General-Anzeiger Bonn . September 11, 2018 ( general-anzeiger-bonn.de [accessed on September 12, 2018]).
  12. ↑ App NINA - The BBK's warning app APK for Windows Phone - Download Android APK GAMES & APPS for Windows phone. In: windowsphoneapk.com. Retrieved July 25, 2016 .
  13. ↑ partner. Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance, accessed on December 8, 2016 .
  14. ↑ dpa / Paul Miot-Paschke: App NINA should warn of sudden dangers . ( teltarif.de [accessed on April 6, 2017]).
  15. ↑ NINA warns of storms and rockets. WDR , archived from the original on June 6, 2017 ; Retrieved December 8, 2016 .
  16. ↑ Katwarn - Supported Places. Retrieved April 6, 2017 .
  17. ↑ FOCUS Online: Explosion at BASF in the ticker: Cloud of smoke over chemical giants moves to Mannheim . In: FOCUS Online . ( focus.de [accessed on April 6, 2017]).
  18. ↑ BIWAPP - Citizen Info & Warning App. Marktplatz GmbH, accessed on May 2, 2017 .
  19. ↑ Warnapp operators agree to exchange - Nina, Katwarn and Biwapp will be standardized. February 4, 2019, accessed February 5, 2019 .