A new app has been launched that will help people all around the globe provide a helping hand to charities and NGOs looking to rescue refugees from the Mediterranean Sea, as per a report on Mashable.
The app, dubbed I Sea, is the first crowd-sourcing project, which will allow people with a smartphone to scan satellite images of a particular part of the sea to find migrant boats in perilous situations.
According to the report, the app has been developed by Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) in collaboration with Singapore-based Grey for Good.
Grey’s Executive director Low Jun Jek explained that the app captures a satellite image of the sea and slices it up in to myriad smaller plots. Each plot is assigned to different users who can devote some amount of their time to help refugees in distress.
Once users identify boats in trouble, they can flag it to alert authorities who will analyse the image and will assign the bit of sea to a team from MOAS or other rescuers. Each plot consists of geo-location data and a specific set of coordinates.
MOAS head of operations Ian Rugger told Mashable that it is very important to make pragmatic use of technology in the right context and provide tools to people who want to be a part of life-saving mission.
He further pointed out that this app is more efficient than drones as it uses satellite images, which is much faster than the patrolling quad-copters. The app will also help in gathering data on locating the areas or route where refugees are more likely to use.
Over the two years, there have been numerous cases of migrant deaths while travelling and this app will definitely give everyone a chance to save their lives.
