Google provides Indians with a way to develop world class maps

The O'Reily Radar site has a great post about Google's efforts to improve the quality of maps in under developed and developing countries. You can read the article here

Google is providing GPS 'care packages' to volunteers who then walk/drive the streets in their area and upload the data to Google, who then produce far more detailed maps.

I love this idea! Google is empowering people to close the digital divide, if they believe it is important to them. This seems like an excellent approach, at least in part, because it doesn't require drawn out government negotiations and substantial capital investment appraisals. It simply allows people to solve the problem themselves.

I have a particular interest in methods of reducing rural poverty, and this story really motivates me to explore ways in which similar sorts of 'crowdsourcing' could help towards the elimination of rural poverty.

Lot's to think about!