New warnings via Ströer city information displays in Stuttgart

In Stuttgart, around 300 digital city information displays from Ströer are now able to display level 1 to 3 warnings and the corresponding all-clear messages.. Previously, this was only possible at the highest warning level 1 (high). The warning messages are sent via the federal government's modular warning system ‘MoWaS’. The triggering centre for the city of Stuttgart is the Stuttgart Integrated Control Centre, which is operated by the fire brigade and the German Red Cross on the premises of Fire Station 3 in Bad Cannstatt. The fire department is responsible for disaster control in Stuttgart as the lower disaster control authority. Ströer provides the city with the use of the digital infrastructure free of charge.

In the event of an emergency, citizens are alerted to dangers and receive instructions on how to behave. This additional dissemination channel complements the existing warning media and warning multipliers such as warning apps, cell broadcast, radio and television.

‘Population warnings via the digital city information systems are a further and important component in our modular system with the various warning methods. The fact that we can now send out population warnings of all levels via the screens is good news for Stuttgart. Always in the hope that the warning messages will be needed as little as possible,’ says Dr Georg Belge, Head of Office and Fire Service Commander of Stuttgart.

‘Various events in recent years have shown how important it is to have an efficient, digital infrastructure in public spaces that is accessible to everyone in order to inform and warn citizens in a targeted manner and as quickly as possible. As an official warning multiplier, we are committed to the further expansion of our ‘Municipal City Information System’. That's why we are delighted that this cooperation means that, with immediate effect, level 1 to 3 warnings and all-clear warnings can be communicated to the population in Stuttgart in a timely and targeted manner via our screens at transport hubs such as railway stations, streets and suburban railway platforms,’ says Alexander Stotz, CEO of Ströer Media Deutschland GmbH.

Ströer has been listed as an official warning multiplier since 2018 and the digital city information displays are connected to the satellite-based Modular Warning System (MoWaS). This is regulated in a nationwide multiplier agreement from the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK), which every city and every federal state has been able to use since then with only a few modifications.

Photo credit: Stuttgart Fire Department - Martin Kohler. Dr Georg Belge and Evelyn Lerche, Regional Manager of Ströer, at the introduction of population warnings via the city information displays.