People who work in the security industry can be proud that they are part of an industry that makes our world safer and more secure.
And following last week’s controversy over the Defence and Security Equipment International conference, it would be easy for members of the general public to confuse security with defence. But the fundamental difference between those two industries is, for me, quite simple: Security is about making technology that makes people safer, generally in a passive manner. Defence is about equipment that provides a deterrent, and, when called upon, active enforcement.
That’s why I feel like Google’s latest effort to prove they live up to their “Don’t be evil” motto actually comes under the broad umbrella of security.
The Halo Trust — a UK-based, not-for-profit that is dedicated to landmine clearance and famous for its association with Princess Diana and now her son Prince Harry — has revealed how it uses Google Earth to map areas that have been effected by landmines.
In an entry on Google’s official blog, the founder of the Halo Trust, Guy Willoughby, explains how the organization uses the application to map detailed areas that have been identified as “at-risk,” or those which have already been cleared. The latter enables people to begin reclaiming land for farming or other activities, while the benefit of the former is relatively self-evident.
What Google Earth enables goes to the heart of what all good security technology should do: Make it easier for people to keep their staff/population/family safer from malicious threats. Willoughby explains:
Google Earth Pro makes it easier for the HALO team to do the dangerous and detailed work of finding and mapping at-risk areas. Because it’s based on the same technology as Google Maps and Earth, it’s easy for our teams to use and create maps without IT or GIS expertise. It’s a tool that is familiar to our employees and something they use in their daily lives, so we can start mapping right away.
It is a simple enough concept, but incredibly effective, supporting families who live near mines, crews who clear them, and donors that support the charity — the HALO Trust also use the maps to show supporters how close the sites they have cleared are to buildings such as schools, underlining how important their work is.
Is Google Earth really a piece of security technology? No, obviously not. But a story such as this underlines how technology is making our world safer, and anyone who works in the security industry can be proud of that.
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