Exchange between Tunisian medical and computer science researchers on the DAAD AirFit project with emergenCITY and DiReX at TU Darmstadt
As part of the AirFit project, Tunisian and German scientists from the fields of medicine and computer science met at the end of November for a joint workshop at TU Darmstadt. The project, funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) as part of the Ta’ziz Science Cooperation Program, brought together Tunisian researchers with scientists from emergenCITY and the DiReX (Digital Resilience Exchange) application and transfer center.
The aim of the collaboration is to develop an intelligent recommendation system that links individual health data with air quality values in order to provide tailored warnings and recommendations for action, especially for people with chronic illnesses.
To this end, stationary and mobile air quality sensors were installed in Sfax, one of the most polluted cities in Tunisia, while the medical parameters of the participants were continuously recorded via smartwatches. On this basis, a system will be developed that continuously evaluates pollutant levels, climate and health data, and the medical profiles of users, and alerts them to health-critical situations in good time via smartphone. The research approaches in Sfax are also of interest to scientists of emergenCITY and DiReX.
In the workshop, students, doctoral candidates, lecturers, and professors from the University of Sfax and the Digital Research Center Sfax joined forces with the teams of emergenCITY and DiReX to discuss how air quality affects various clinical pictures such as respiratory, heart, and skin diseases as well as mental and neurological disorders.
“The AirFit results clearly show that the close connection between health, environmental, and computer science expertise is crucial for gaining new insights and fully exploiting the potential of combined sensory data analysis with AI methods,” explained Bernd Freisleben, AirFit project manager in Germany, member of the emergenCITY board of directors, director of DiReX, and professor of computer science at the University in Marburg.
Afef Mdhaffar, associate professor of computer science at the University of Sfax and AirFit project manager in Tunisia, emphasized the importance of the workshop:
“In the southern Tunisian city of Gabès, many children in one local school have suffered from acute respiratory strokes in recent weeks and months, and many people suspect that these health issues may be linked to local air-quality conditions. Our AirFit workshop could provide valuable insights, shedding light on how different air-quality parameters interplay with local health conditions.”
Naji Abderraouf and Mariem Mabrouk, research assistants in the project, spent last month conducting research in Bernd Freisleben’s working group at the University of Marburg. Abderraouf and Mabrouk were also very positive about the workshop:
“We are both fascinated by the potential opportunities identified in the workshop for collecting and using medical data in Tunisia and analyzing it with AI methods.”
Since the workshop took place for the third time already, team members of emergenCITY and DiReX have already benefited from the exchange of experience with AirFit. In the “Digital Heinerblock” project, for example, sensor boxes are currently being installed that record environmental parameters such as air quality and environmental noise in the residential district and analyze their changes over longer periods of time.
“I am in contact with the teams of emergenCITY and DiReX, especially with Frank Hessel and Julian Euler. For example, my team members have developed AI methods for recognizing “urban sounds” in the residential district that run on the “Heinerboxes,” said Bernd Freisleben. “The AirFit results on air quality associated with diseases and the AI methods for data analysis developed in AirFit could also be of interest to emergenCITY and DiReX.”
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