Nafas Application Ready to Monitor Air Quality in Jakarta

The DKI Provincial Government together with Bloomberg Philanthropies and Vital Strategies recently held a collaboration in the form of Action Towards Clean Air in Jakarta. Through a teleconference at that time, it was stated that air pollution was estimated to have contributed to the 5.5 million cases of respiratory tract infections each year in Jakarta.

In other words, there are 11 cases per minute. The DKI Provincial Government and Bloomberg Philanthropies also announced several initiatives, including the website and the document “Towards Clean Air in Jakarta”.

The first step presented in the document is Ambient Air Quality Monitoring and one of the initiatives taken is to improve the air quality monitoring network in Jakarta.

As a local air quality application launched this week, Nafas has installed 27 air quality sensors at various points in DKI Jakarta. Each of these sensors can report real-time air quality data. Apart from air quality data in DKI Jakarta, this application also provides air quality data in Bogor, Tangerang, South Tangerang, Bekasi, and Depok.

“Truly local data is essential for knowing the air quality around them. This is what made us design our Nafas application to connect to a total of 45 of our own PM2.5 sensor networks in Jabodetabek,” said Nathan Roestandy, co-founder & Chief Executive. Nafas officer, in a written statement.

Former CMO Gojek Piotr Jakubowski, who is also the co-founder & Chief Growth Officer of Nafas, said that Nafas sensors have been used in more than 400 local governments in the European region.

“The sensors we use are also used in more than 400 local governments across Europe including the UK, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Italy, Germany, Belgium, and others,” said Piotr.

The Importance of an Extensive Air Quality Monitoring Network

Armed with a total of 45 sensors, they hope that this air quality data can be used by the government and the public with an application that is easy to use and read. Meanwhile, Isabella Suarez, Southeast Asia Analyst at CREA (Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air) who conducts research on air pollution emphasizes the importance of a wide air quality monitoring network.

“The large monitoring network allows Jakartans not only to monitor the air they breathe in real-time but also to provide them with a powerful tool to ensure that this important initiative runs as promised,” said Isabella.

One example of a case study for installing a number of air quality monitoring sensors is Breathe London, an initiative of the city of London in England. With a network of 100 sensors, the project complements the lack of data on highly polluted areas.

Utilizing the extensive air quality monitoring network data, the city of London implemented several initiatives, which then resulted in a 36 percent reduction in pollutant concentrations within 6 months. Data mapping is also said to help reduce pollution levels and pollution control policies according to targets.

“The Breathe London project is an interesting example. We hope that access to air quality data from the Nafas application will be able to help the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government achieve its ‘Towards Clean Air Jakarta’ initiative,” Piotr concluded.

Nafas Target Sports Lovers

A healthy lifestyle is increasingly being echoed during the corona pandemic. Understanding this trend, the Nafas application developer has adopted sensor technology to monitor air quality. Therefore, Nafas provides air quality monitoring services through the application.

One of its features is the search for PM2.5 on the map. Users can change data from the Air Quality Index (AQI) to the PM2.5 indicator. There is also a notification feature to limit exercise time if the surrounding air quality is not good.

This special message appears on all data points, both maps and detail pages. In addition, it provides recommendations for a suitable time for outdoor exercise. It also features city rankings, a personalized homepage, and a knowledge portal with research and information on the basics of air quality.