It wasn’t long ago when people could only dream of AI and geospatial technology, yet it’s here. On top of that, it can do more than folks could have imagined. This technology could also reinvent disaster relief efforts.
Disasters happen always
Disasters happen all the time, and this reality makes it impossible to deny the need to address them faster. People have gotten good at predicting potential natural disasters, but dealing with the aftermath is another story. What is worse is that disasters seem to be happening more frequently.
Fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other things keep hitting different parts of the country. Climate change could be to blame for the rise in disasters, and hopefully, that is addressed, but the pressing matter is the disasters. These affect families in unimaginable ways.
Assessing damage is costly
The next thing that needs to be pointed out is how costly assessing the damage is. The number of people needed to figure out the extent of damage to an area affected by a natural disaster is incredible. These people cost money. On top of that, the equipment needed to record the damage so that local governments and the federal government can act accordingly can be costly, too.
Every government agency has a budget, and they all want to figure out a way to assess the damage without going over that budget. Funds are always limited, and that’s a big problem when the need is great. This is part of the reason people are looking towards AI and geospatial tech since these two represent a solution. Dealing with the disaster as a whole can be costly, too. This is the case not only for the people who were affected, but the town, city, state, and country.
AI and Geospatial Tech could help
AI and geospatial technology should be able to help in many ways. A long time ago, it would have been impossible to believe that these technologies could help assess the damage, but they can. Geospatial technology should be able to help identify the changes in an area after a disaster.
It won’t take a long time either, especially with today’s ability to outsource image annotation, which sometimes takes a long time. AI tech comes in and analyzes the data collected. Once all of this is complete, the governing bodies should be able to make important decisions regarding the disaster.
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Help could be deployed quicker
A lot of folks see how help is delayed during a disaster. It seems like it takes weeks or months before the government acts on behalf of those affected by the disaster. This is way too much time, and this technology should be able to address this problem.
You already know how it’s going to do it, and once the technology has gathered the information, governmental agencies should be able to send help to the places that need it the most. Agencies should also be able to send funds quicker. The amount of cash sent will likely be closer to what’s needed the first time around. The better the data these agencies have, the better the help they’ll provide. There’s no telling how much better this technology is going to get, which is exciting.
Efficiency might save money
If governing agencies can send the right amount of help, the right amount of money, and do all this quicker, this will save money. This is incredibly important right now, especially since disaster seems to be rising.
A big relief fund means governing agencies can act faster without debating whether or not to print out more cash to deal with the problem. If the country can save money, it might be able to stock up on disaster relief tools before the emergency even happens. This should help the government act faster, and that’s a good thing for the entire country.
Is this technology going to solve every problem? No, it won’t do that, but it’ll make a difference, and those differences are priceless, which is the reason many are excited to incorporate this tech into disaster relief efforts.
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