The number of refugees is rising and the conflict and war is not letting up. Numerous organisations, NGOs and volunteer helpers are working tirelessly to help refugees and cope with the crisis. Google has released a new open source project to assist refugees on their journey – the Crisis Info Hub.
Google has started the Crisis Info Hub, a project that offers localised information to refugees and anyone seeking assistance, providing information that accurately applies to the location of the person thereby facilitating the search for nearby accommodation and medical assistance as well as information about the onward journey to a person’s destination.
One of the most important items that many refugees and asylum seekers now carry with them is a smartphone. It can be helpful in many situations: information can distributed, communicated, swapped, found or, in emergency cases, sold and bartered. RESET has previously written about projects that, through the use of smartphones and the internet, try to ease the situation for refugees, for example, First Contact.
As part of the project, Google is cooperating with NGO collective NetHope which looks for innovative and technological solutions to social problems in developing countries and conflict zones.
Currently the Crisis Info Hub provides details relevant to the Greek islands of Lesbos and Kos, but other places will follow soon, according to Google.
Google Translate Community is Seeking Translators for German and Arabic
Refugees and asylum seekers cross through many countries on their journey, often finding themselves in places where they do not speak the language. While the site already provides information in English, Arabic and Farsi, translators are always being sought, particularly to improve the German and Arabic sections of the Google Translate Community.
If you can speak German and/or Arabic, head to the Google Translate Community website and find out how you can help.
Translated from this article by Hanadi that originally appeared on our German platform.
