Press Releases

ESRI technology utilised by MapAction in Haiti to save lives

19/01/2010

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MapAction, the specialist emergency mapping service, supported by ESRI (UK), has at the request of the UN sent (to Haiti) a team of mapping specialists. Using the power of Geographical Information Systems, MapAction is able to provide a dedicated, easy to understand real time mapping service to all other humanitarian aid missions in the disaster zone.

In the disaster zone MapAction team members, equipped with GPS units and satellite phones, survey the area, working with rapid assessment teams from United Nations and other relief agencies. As new information becomes available, maps made on laptops using ESRI’s ArcGIS Desktop software can be updated in minutes, printed for relief teams locally, and uploaded to online disaster information platforms. Their maps show what type of aid is needed, where it is needed and how to get it there. This service raises the level of decision taking, so increasing the deployment and speed of delivery of vital aid resources.

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