TEHRAN-- A conference for crisis management and protection of Iran's historical monuments will be held for studying the role of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in preventing and reducing the damages by the crises.

Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, Head of the Cultural Heritage Ministry’s Research Institute Mohammad Ebrahim Zarei said: “Iran is a disaster-prone country. We are in a land of unrest and we want to do something to prevent anything from happening to us. For the first time, a special department has been created to deal with the crises. Cultural heritage is the cultural and identity foundation of our Iran and it must be protected,” Mehr news agency reported.

None of the historical monuments are safe from earthquakes, he warned.

He said that parts of the conference's programs will be held at the National Museum of Iran, Malek Museum, and Niavaran Palace to unveil the link between knowledge and technology for everyone. 

“We hope this will be an opportunity for managers and technologists in the country. In fact, we need the support of these groups to implement the program so that we can take effective steps on the path of national resilience based on current knowledge and domestic capacities.”

He continued: “So far, we have identified more than a million artifacts. If we claim that all of them are safe from earthquakes, we are lying. We must take care of them. These conferences are held to prevent crises.”

Zarei added: “We have been indifferent to the knowledge of the past. Regarding subsidence, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage has instructed us to do what we should do with the help of the National Cartographic Center. We definitely want the talks presented at the conference to be transformed into guidelines for every agency and ministry to follow.”

Also, Mehdi Zare’, the scientific secretary of the conference and earthquake prediction chief of the International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology, said, “We are in Iran, which has a vast civilizational history. The Burnt City of Sistan-Baluchestan province, Bam Citadel of Kerman province and the destroyed city of Tabas are prime examples. The destruction of the city of Tabas is a reminder of the dangers facing the cultural heritage.”

He said: “If we look at the aerial photographs of the Varamin Grand Mosque 60 years ago, we see that it is a building from the Ilkhanid period and is a relic of the Varamin earthquake. In order to renovate and bring out historical heritage and protect it, we need to know what to do with these sites.”

“This scientific conference focuses on application, so it is dependent on specialized workshops and training courses. 190 papers have been received by the secretariat, of which 90 papers have been accepted, and there are 14 one-day workshops and various round tables.”

The comprehensive conference on crisis management and HSE (health, safety, environment), focusing on safety, protection and environment in the subject of crisis management and protection of the country's cultural heritage, was held at Parseh Hall of the Cultural Heritage Ministry’s Research Institute. The conference is scheduled to be held from November 10 to 12.  

KD