Integrating economic and innovation aspects for improved landslide risk mitigation

Since 2025, the EU’s Stability and Growth Pact ‘National Escape Clause’ (NEC) enables member states to temporarily exceed strict fiscal limits to support strategic spending. This significant economic flexibility supports, e.g., investments in innovative monitoring technologies for natural hazards. In slope engineering, distributed fiber optic sensors have advanced landslide monitoring by providing continuous, real-time data on soil deformation. The new smart hybrid transducer (NSHT), based on Brillouin scattering, offers significant advantages over traditional instruments by accurately measuring the strain of soil or structural elements to which it is connected. The smart extenso-inclinometer, based on NSHT, also offers significant advantages over traditional devices by accurately measuring both vertical and horizontal strains of subsoil, even under rapid or complex ground movements, such as shallow fast-moving or deep-seated landslides. Such precise monitoring enhances landslide risk management by enabling timely, targeted interventions to protect structures, infrastructure, and communities. The large-scale implementation of these sensors facilitates the acquisition of precise, real-time data. This vast dataset has the potential to serve as an essential 'oracle' for blockchain systems, enabling the integration of substantial data on real-world assets (e.g., real estate or infrastructure) that would otherwise remain inaccessible to blockchain environments, which are inherently isolated from external physical events.