The exercise is part of the national test day for the BE-Alert system, which takes place every quarter on the first Thursday of the month. The large-scale testing allows the capacity and speed of the system to be assessed and any areas for improvement to be identified. The National Crisis Center will analyze the results of the test in detail once it is completed.
According to the latest figures, there are currently more than 1.2 million (1,223,699) addresses registered on the platform, of which only 6 percent are from Brussels. For this reason, and in addition to Thursday’s test, safe.brussels has conducted a completely digital campaign for a month to raise awareness among Brussels residents.
Good reflex
“Although 95,000 Brussels residents have already registered with BE-Alert, the number is still relatively low,” explains Sophie Lavaux, Senior Official of the Brussels Agglomeration. “That is why we are participating in this test day, to remind people of the importance of emergency notification systems and adopting good reflexes.”
Registering with BE-Alert is free and makes it possible to receive messages from local, provincial and national authorities immediately and without delay in emergency situations. This is possible, for example, in the event of a power outage, drinking water contamination or an evacuation. The warning system strictly complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), according to safe.brussels.
