The Institute of Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science (INESC TEC) denied this Thursday in a statement sent to Lusa that this is related to the production of drones for Israeli military purposes in the Gaza Strip.
The Porto institute was one of two research units identified in an open letter sent on Wednesday by a student advocacy group for Palestine to the rector of the University of Porto as having partnerships with Israeli universities.
In a press release, INESC TEC states that it “has an important research area in the field of emergency response such as natural disasters or forest fires, in which work in the field of communications plays a prominent role” and that “it has been involved in this area since 2019 until 2022 in the European research project ResponDrone.”
The statement said the project had “21 participants from 13 countries” and was “led by the German space agency, focused on research and development in the field of integrated drone-based emergency response solutions, making contributions specifically to the field. The consortium included organizations from 11 countries in Europe, Israel and South Korea.”
“Designed to improve disaster response and, in the future, enable relief teams to quickly, efficiently and effectively provide assistance to the public in emergency situations,” the project, the institute emphasizes, “is not intended for military use.” .
INESC TEC points out that “the European Horizon 2020 programme, which financed the project, explicitly excluded projects aimed at military applications.”
Regarding its involvement in ResponDrone, the institute said it is at the “software level of research that enables the creation of emergency communications networks in disaster response locations, without any contribution to ‘hardware’ or ‘software’ specific to the drones. “
“These research results are the property of INESC TEC, they are not licensed by third parties, and the underlying scientific results are published in international scientific articles, bringing together a wider range of previous and subsequent publications and within other research projects and activities. “, the publication continues.
In the statement, the institution recalls that “the formal framework for the implementation of European projects is extremely strict” and that “INESC TEC complies with all its requirements (…) guided in its actions by “the highest ethical and deontological principles.”
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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