Google Inc launched an open data platform yesterday to share information on natural disasters in Taiwan such as typhoons and floods, with the aim of building the country into a model area for the cloud computing-based system.
Taiwan is the second Asian country to adopt the platform in partnership with government authorities after a similar launch in Japan in March this year, Google Taiwan managing director Chien Lee-feng (簡立峰) said.
“This represents Google’s commitment to Taiwanese users and shows the government’s efforts to release open data and build a more localized crisis response system,” Chien said at a press conference to announce the platform.
Photo: CNA
For example, when a typhoon strikes Taiwan, people will be able to access the platform through Google Maps or Google Search services on computers or mobile devices to find information such as the typhoon path, affected areas and nearby places of refuge.
Users can also share disaster information on social network sites such as Facebook or Google Plus, Google said.
“As Taiwan heads into another typhoon season, the need for reliable and easily accessible information about where the next storm will hit and how to stay safe has never been more important. That’s why we’re launching Google Public Alerts and a dedicated Google Crisis Map for Taiwan,” the global search engine giant said in a blog. “Starting today, relevant severe weather alerts for typhoons and flood-related events in Taiwan will appear on the Google Public Alerts page as well as on Google Search, Google Maps and Google Now.”
The data will be provided by government agencies including the Central Weather Bureau, the Water Resources Agency, the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau, the Directorate General of Highways and the National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction.
Minister Without Portfolio Simon Chang (張善政), a former Google executive, said at the press conference that with this crisis response platform, the government expects to help more people avoid the upheaval brought by natural disasters.
He said that Google and the government are also working on an open data system for earthquake information that will be integrated into the crisis alert platform in the future.
Taichung reported the steepest fall in completed home prices among the six special municipalities in the first quarter of this year, data compiled by Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) showed yesterday. From January through last month, the average transaction price for completed homes in Taichung fell 8 percent from a year earlier to NT$299,000 (US$9,483) per ping (3.3m²), said Taiwan Realty, which compiled the data based on the government’s price registration platform. The decline could be attributed to many home buyers choosing relatively affordable used homes to live in themselves, instead of newly built homes in the city’s prime property market, Taiwan Realty
The government yesterday approved applications by Alphabet Inc’s Google to invest NT$27.08 billion (US$859.98 million) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. The Department of Investment Review approved two investments proposed by Google, with much of the funds to be used for data processing and electronic information supply services, as well as inventory procurement businesses in the semiconductor field, the ministry said. It marks the second consecutive year that Google has applied to increase its investment in Taiwan. Google plans to infuse NT$25.34 billion into Charter Investments Ltd (特許投資顧問) through its Singapore-based subsidiary Fructan Holdings Singapore Pte Ltd, and
JET JUICE: The war on Iran’s secondary effects have seen fuel prices skyrocket, knocking flight schedules down to earth in return as airlines struggle with costs Airline passengers should brace for more irritation in the next few months as carriers worldwide cancel flights and ground planes to cope with stratospheric increases in jet-fuel prices. Dutch flag carrier KLM is the latest company to cut its schedule, saying on Thursday that it would scrap 80 return flights at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in the coming month. That puts it in the same league as United Airlines Holdings Inc, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, which have all pruned itineraries to mitigate costs. Global capacity for next month has been reduced by about 3 percentage points, with all
Micron Technology Inc is a driving force pushing the US Congress to pass legislation that would put new export restrictions on equipment its Chinese competitors use to make their chips, according to people familiar with the matter. A US House of Representatives panel yesterday was to vote on the “MATCH Act,” a bill designed to close gaps in restrictions on chipmaking equipment. It would also pressure foreign companies that sell equipment to Chinese chipmaking facilities to align with export curbs on US companies like Lam Research Corp and Applied Materials Inc. The bill targets facilities operated by China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc
RSS