Lithuania to build new public alert system worth €5.5 million

Lithuania's Fire and Rescue Department, the state civil protection authority, has announced a tender for the creation, deployment and maintenance of a new multichannel system for warning and informing the public. The project is worth €5.5 million and is funded by the European Union. The system is expected to go live in 2028.

Once completed, Lithuania will have a single management platform for coordinated activation of various public warning tools. All main alert channels will be controlled from one system, and one or several of them can be switched on with a single action.

Faster alerts

Warning messages are to be activated considerably faster. Centralised management should shorten alert times, keep the information consistent and make it easier to monitor and control the alerting process.

During rollout of the platform, particular attention will go to cybersecurity, reliability and uninterrupted operation. Solutions will also be introduced to protect against cyber threats and unauthorised access, and to ensure control and traceability of actions carried out in the system.

Minister's explanation

Lithuanian Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas said that, given the changing security situation in the region, the state wants to significantly strengthen its resilience and ensure the greatest possible safety for the population. He noted that rapid technological progress in communications also encourages the use of modern and reliable technologies for alerts. The minister stressed that in any emergency information must reach residents in time, and that this is one of the most important elements of civil defence.

Earlier steps

In September Lithuania tested its public warning system, switching on sirens. Meanwhile, Finland has since the start of November operated the FI-Alert system, which can send danger warnings to the phones of all mobile operators in a given area.