Governments, at least the Indian ones, are not well known for taking initiatives in finding solutions for its problems using technology. A venture called Mapunity in Banglore is helping the governments reverse such perceptions. It is working on several fronts Urban traffic, law & order, healthcare, public administration, etc.
Its system for management of traffic congestion uses inputs from various sources – teledensity data from mobile towers, videos from police cameras at traffic junctions, location information from GPS-fitted buses and cabs, etc. to help identify traffic jams / potential jams in a real-time situation, so as to help centralised traffic monitoring & management system take measures in real-time to manage the traffic. Efforts are also being made to modify the system to help ambulances to pass quickly even in heavy traffic.
In healthcare system Vaccidate, helps in sending SMSs for reminding parents about the vaccination due dates of their children. In UP a similar system developed by another agency helped it achieve excellent results in improving its immunisation drive. In another initiative it is working with Chennai Govt., the govt. hospitals and private hospitals report into a system on what patients are being treated for. This would help health officials track disease outbreaks early in the cycle.
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