Cēsis resident’s drone reporting app needs funding to advance

A Cēsis resident has spent months developing AirAlert, an app that gathers information from people and sensors to help assess activity in Latvian airspace, LSM reports. Its creator, Kristaps Gertmanis, says the project is about halfway complete but needs funding and more powerful equipment to develop and test it further.

Users can submit video, photos, audio recordings or voice messages if they cannot film an object. They can reject a report, mark it as a possible threat or confirm it. A confirmed report turns the relevant region red on the map and triggers an alert. The person who submitted the report also receives a response on their phone.

Gertmanis said the idea came after drones entered Latvian airspace. He felt that information and feedback from the authorities had been inconsistent, making it difficult to understand what was happening. He said the system would need to process and share information effectively if several drones were involved.

Although Gertmanis has no professional IT background, he has been learning to use artificial intelligence tools. Representatives from Ukraine contacted him after information about the app was published. Wider testing and further development would require greater technical and financial resources, he said, as well as interest and support from state security and defence institutions.

Gertmanis said he had visited the Ministry of Defence twice. Major Kairišs supported the idea from the outset and told him a training range was available for testing.