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On Google Maps: Afghanistan, Brought to You by India
OCTOBER 7, 2011
Until a few hours ago, if you logged onto Google Maps and searched for Kabul, Afghanistan, all youd find were two major intersecting roads and some scattered neighborhood names.
Not much, really.
But thats all changed. Yesterday, Google unveiled its first detailed map of Afghanistan, drawing on the work of amateur cartographers to highlight a nation that has become one of the worlds major geopolitical flashpoints.
On the new map, Kabul is shown in great specificity, with roads demarcated down to neighborhood blocks and points of interest like parks, schools, hospitals, cafés and embassies.
The new map is the result of Wikipedia-style crowd-sourcing: Inputs came from a variety of ordinary Web users who used a tool called Google Map Maker to submit changes to the previous map. Every now and then, Google accepts a large batch of those changes in Google Maps. The Afghanistan update is part of a larger upload of 11 countries and territories.
Map-Maker was invented in Googles India offices and has since spread to 187 countries, making it one of the best examples of a multinational corporation using India as a laboratory to develop a product with worldwide applications.
Heres how it works: An aspiring digital-map maker who wants to make some changes to an existing map logs on to Google Map Maker and searches for a location. Using tools provided, the user can draw lines for roads, and shapes for various buildings and landmarks.
Often, especially in hard-to-reach or unstable places like many parts of Afghanistan, users make these edits based on satellite images provided by Google. Google largely relies on the group of cartographers to correct each other, but sometimes it has to intervene.
Some edits are too sensitive. Borders cant be tweaked. Super-contentious things arent on the table, says David Marx, Global Communications Manager, Asia-Pacific for Google.
Putting out detailed, Web-accessible maps of Afghanistan a country battered by insurgent violence raises a question: could this help the bad guys find targets more easily?
One of my Wall Street Journal colleagues, who covers Afghanistan and knows Kabul well, wrote to me that its a bit disconcerting to have a detailed map showing where various expat hangouts are located.
These places arent especially hidden, he noted, but its not that comforting to have them located on a Google map.
(He noted, also, that some popular cafés werent accurately pinpointed in the new map.)
In an emailed statement, Google said the benefits of tools like Google Earth and Google Maps far outweigh any negatives from potential misuse. Google Earth and Maps are built from information that is already available from both commercial and public sources. Google mapping products have been used for vital purposes ranging from fighting forest fires to emergency response to disaster relief.
Map-maker is responsible for some major additions to Google Maps elsewhere in the region. In India, Google has used the landmarks people enter in Map Maker to improve the driving directions it gives.
The theory is that Indians are much more likely to say, Take a left after the petrol pump than, Go two miles and take a left.
In Pakistan, users have marked 25,000 kilometers of previously uncharted roads a huge boon to the government in relief efforts, the company says.
For that part of the world, its been a particularly useful product, Mr. Marx says.
On Google Maps: Afghanistan, Brought to You by India - India Real Time - WSJ
OCTOBER 7, 2011
Until a few hours ago, if you logged onto Google Maps and searched for Kabul, Afghanistan, all youd find were two major intersecting roads and some scattered neighborhood names.
Not much, really.
But thats all changed. Yesterday, Google unveiled its first detailed map of Afghanistan, drawing on the work of amateur cartographers to highlight a nation that has become one of the worlds major geopolitical flashpoints.
On the new map, Kabul is shown in great specificity, with roads demarcated down to neighborhood blocks and points of interest like parks, schools, hospitals, cafés and embassies.
The new map is the result of Wikipedia-style crowd-sourcing: Inputs came from a variety of ordinary Web users who used a tool called Google Map Maker to submit changes to the previous map. Every now and then, Google accepts a large batch of those changes in Google Maps. The Afghanistan update is part of a larger upload of 11 countries and territories.
Map-Maker was invented in Googles India offices and has since spread to 187 countries, making it one of the best examples of a multinational corporation using India as a laboratory to develop a product with worldwide applications.
Heres how it works: An aspiring digital-map maker who wants to make some changes to an existing map logs on to Google Map Maker and searches for a location. Using tools provided, the user can draw lines for roads, and shapes for various buildings and landmarks.
Often, especially in hard-to-reach or unstable places like many parts of Afghanistan, users make these edits based on satellite images provided by Google. Google largely relies on the group of cartographers to correct each other, but sometimes it has to intervene.
Some edits are too sensitive. Borders cant be tweaked. Super-contentious things arent on the table, says David Marx, Global Communications Manager, Asia-Pacific for Google.
Putting out detailed, Web-accessible maps of Afghanistan a country battered by insurgent violence raises a question: could this help the bad guys find targets more easily?
One of my Wall Street Journal colleagues, who covers Afghanistan and knows Kabul well, wrote to me that its a bit disconcerting to have a detailed map showing where various expat hangouts are located.
These places arent especially hidden, he noted, but its not that comforting to have them located on a Google map.
(He noted, also, that some popular cafés werent accurately pinpointed in the new map.)
In an emailed statement, Google said the benefits of tools like Google Earth and Google Maps far outweigh any negatives from potential misuse. Google Earth and Maps are built from information that is already available from both commercial and public sources. Google mapping products have been used for vital purposes ranging from fighting forest fires to emergency response to disaster relief.
Map-maker is responsible for some major additions to Google Maps elsewhere in the region. In India, Google has used the landmarks people enter in Map Maker to improve the driving directions it gives.
The theory is that Indians are much more likely to say, Take a left after the petrol pump than, Go two miles and take a left.
In Pakistan, users have marked 25,000 kilometers of previously uncharted roads a huge boon to the government in relief efforts, the company says.
For that part of the world, its been a particularly useful product, Mr. Marx says.
On Google Maps: Afghanistan, Brought to You by India - India Real Time - WSJ
