Making Maps To Fight Disaster & Build Economies

Did you know that as of 2005, only 15 percent of the world was mapped? Google’s Lalitesh Katragadda thinks we can do better. Not having detailed maps in the developing world slows the delivery of aid after a disaster and hides the economic potential of unused lands and unknown roads. Said another way, access to better information yields better results and vice versa, especially when the timeliness of that information is critical. In the short talk below, Lalitesh demos Map Maker, a group map-making tool that people around the globe are using to map their world. Inspiring stuff that highlights just one more instance where individuals can use technology to better the world and make a difference.

Also, for those of you interested, Fast company wrote a great piece a few days ago on how critical Google Maps were to the aid effort in Haiti last week and put up a slide show of how Google maps could be used to gather information in the midst of the crisis.