ALGIERS — The Algerian project participating in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) 2025 contest in Geneva, Switzerland, won second place in the “ICT Applications” category, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications said Tuesday in a statement.

Developed by the Scientific and Technical Research Center on Arid Regions (CRSTRA), this project was distinguished in the presence of Post and Telecommunications Minister Sid Ali Zerrouki during the WSIS 2025 awards ceremony, which is organized annually by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Titled “Contribution to the Fight against the Drawdown of Groundwater in the Algerian Arid Regions by Geophysics, GIS and ICT,” the winning project competed in the “ICT Applications: Electronic Environment” category against hundreds of international projects, according to the same source.

This project aims to “combat the phenomenon of groundwater depletion in Algeria’s arid zones using advanced tools such as AI, GIS, geophysical methods and the installation of modern measurement devices, in addition to developing an intelligent early warning system to monitor groundwater in real time at both local and national levels,” according to the statement