How Digital Maps Save Lives

Growing up in a digital age, the days of traveling by paper map seem far in the past. I still remember being a part of the experience—looking over my dad’s shoulder on road trips as he painstakingly marked exits and destinations with a pencil, helping read the map for him while he navigated unknown roads. But still, paper maps had their limits. They couldn’t mark detours, road changes, accidents, or disasters.

It’s a marvel how much cartography has evolved into the sophisticated, comprehensive digital maps of today. Far beyond merely giving me easy access to GPS capabilities or warning me about traffic, digital mapping can provide information on little-known places and, when disaster strikes, digital mapping can save lives.

In earthquake-prone areas, computer scientists have collaborated with humanitarian aid workers and locals to construct a comprehensive digital map during times of relative peace; when disaster hits, the map alters. Collapsed buildings and blocked roads are taken into account, and places where humans are trapped, or in need of rescue or supplies are marked on the updated map. This method was used by Kathmandu Living Labs, founded by Nepalese-American computer scientist Dr. Nama Budhathoki, after their 7.8 magnitude earthquake of April 2015. However, this concept of “crisis mapping” goes back even further, back when Patrick Meier, in the wake of the 2010 catastrophic Haiti earthquake, decided to compile everything from the internet—tweets, Facebook posts, images—to construct a “disaster map” of the area. Crowdsourcing the information allowed locals to inform Meier and his team of the areas in most critical need of rescue or supplies, which then helped enormously in directing humanitarian aid efforts. Meier marked big red dots on the digital map to indicate pharmacies that were still operating, or that needed help. After the Haiti earthquake, Meier has tried to bring digital mapping a step further, and his next project is using drone technology to put together an even more seamless and comprehensive 3-D model of areas prone to disaster.

Meier's map of pharmacies during the Haiti earthquake (source)

To me, this seems like an example of a way in which social media and digital technology has enormously benefited communities, especially in times of disaster. Digital technology opens up channels of connectivity and allows for quick, adaptive humanitarian responses that would not have been able to be accomplished if maps were still confined to paper. Still, digital mapping overall is a relatively new technology, and its wide-reaching capabilities can potentially cause privacy infringements. But is that a small risk that is outweighed by the life-saving power of maps? Or should that be a bigger concern?