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Tag: lat long blog

  • Google, World Bank To Improve Disaster Preparedness In Developing Countries

    Within a generation, we will no longer leave the house. We won’t need to. Mobility will become obsolete. Similar to our regard to the appendix and nipples on males, feet will become lumpy appendages whose purpose we no longer remember. We will not be mobile but, rather, we shall be rollerblobby Twinkie sapiens who can travel every inch of Earth and beyond without so much as lifting our thumbs thanks to the efforts of Google to literally map everything.

    But that’s neither here nor there. For now, at least.

    For now, Google is still doing some pretty awesome stuff with their Maps technology in order to improve the quality of life for many, many people. Their Flu Trends is helping hospitals stay better prepared for influenza outbreaks and today Google announced that they are partnering with World Bank to collaborate on ways to make Google Maps an effective tool for developing countries to prepare for disasters. The announcement from Google’s Lat Long blog offers up the goods:

    Under this agreement, the World Bank will act as a conduit to make Google Map Maker source data more widely and easily available to government organizations in the event of major disasters, and also for improved planning, management, and monitoring of public services provision.

    The free, web-based mapping tool called Google Map Maker enables citizens to directly participate in the creation of maps by contributing their local knowledge. Once approved, those additions are then reflected on Google Maps and Google Earth for others around the world to see.

    The Google Map Maker data includes detailed maps of more than 150 countries and regions, and identifies locations like schools, hospitals, roads, settlements and water points that are critical for relief workers to know about in times of crisis. The data will also be useful for planning purposes, as governments and their development partners can use the information to monitor public services, infrastructure and development projects; make them more transparent for NGOs, researchers, and individual citizens; and more effectively identify areas that might be in need of assistance before a disaster strikes.

    The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery will helm the project, Google says, and will build upon prior mapping efforts to “create comprehensive maps of schools, hospitals, and other social infrastructure” in new, developing countries via Map Maker technology.

  • Google Maps Reflections Of 2011

    I’m starting to believe that the people who work for Google’s Maps division are the busiest people at the Googleplex. Today’s evidence is in a post from Google’s Lat Long Blog that reflects on the changes made to Google Maps and Google Earth throughout 2011.

    The post includes updates to Google’s mapping satellites as well as several upgrades to existing services:

    we’ve continued to add new satellite and 45 degree imagery on Google Maps and Google Earth, which reached 1B downloads last year, as well as expand our imagery coverage of Street View to Belgium, business interiors, partner locations like parks and even museums with the Art Project. If you want to follow these imagery updates, we expanded Follow Your World so you can get notifications about locations that interest you.

    The post also points out the aesthetic improvements to the existing maps thanks to the introduction of Google Maps GL. Through the use of WebGL, they say, buildings and imagery appear much better and have a sharper 3D quality to them as you duck between city blocks and wander to your next class.

    One sobering update Google made this past year was to their maps of northern Japan, which was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami last March. Because of their timely updates, Google said, “relief and aid organizations were able to access imagery after the earthquake and tsunami hit.”

    As for 2012, Google says that they’re going to continue to make the “physical world morem accessible and tailored” to our needs. I dunno if they were aware, but my world was pretty accessible with feet before they came along, but then again I suppose I can’t stretch my feet across the Gulf of Mexico and visit Cuba (hell, even if I could, I probably wouldn’t be allowed to stretch my feet to Cuba). Hopefully Google won’t unintentionally shut down anymore major highways as they continue to build upon their 3D model of Earth.