Technology Acts As a Boon In Japan’s Current Crisis

Had last week’s quake and tsunami happened in any other country, it would have definitely affected manifold in comparison to Japan. Keeping in mind the proactive approach, integration and readiness among Japanese, they have never knelt before any natural calamity earlier and have fought bravely against it.

Though electrical failures have been there and an undersea cable too was damaged, things are back to near to normal as far as internet connectivity is concerned within Japan and with outside world. Almost all nations have come out open-hearted to pump in as much effort and donations as possible to help Japan in such crisis. Most Countries, with their technological advancements, are joining in the task forces in Japan to get things back to normal at the earliest.

UK has sent a big team for search and rescue operations equipped with advanced handheld devices that work even if cellular coverage is not available in some areas. These devices will keep all team members in sync and connected throughout their operations. Amazon, on the other hand, has provided secured payment gateways labelling them as "Red Cross donation centres." Google also is offering similar kinds of services on their portal for collection of donations. Besides this, Google also has provided a database of people in Japan if anybody across the globe tries to search for them to discover their status.

Government has updated Google maps to pin-points exact locations of rescue and shelter centres. Similar kinds of mobile assistance is also being provided by different service providers to send free messages or making calls.

In my opinion, technology has advanced in recent years to an extent that the whole world has become too small and readily available in terms of communication. Compared to a similar kind of earthquake in Japan more than 15 years ago, there are many changes that are clearly visible. It was difficult to find out the whereabouts of near and dear ones at that time which now is readily available in electronic form and updated regularly. Previously, we only had manual lists. People easily can find out nearest spots for assistance with the help of mobile apps and the Internet in the current scenario.

Article first published as Technology Acts As a Boon In Japan’s Current Crisis on Technorati.

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