EdgeCase Launches Gulfcoastspill.com to Help BP Oil Spill Recovery
Gulf Coast Spill Coalition to speed recovery operation through crowd sourcing of images, videos
and reports.
(PRWEB) May 16, 2010 -- Scottish web-developers are playing their part in the clean-up effort around The Gulf
of Mexico. A social media powered website for the public to collect and share oil spill data has been developed
by EdgeCase: gulfcoastspill.com.
The site’s main function is to collect images, videos and reports from people impacted by the spill and to make
them available to the public. People can upload images of oil on beaches, injured wildlife and volunteer activities
among other things.
The goal of the project is to speed recovery by crowd sourcing information and making this information readily
available to recovery teams. It is expected that Gulfcoastspill.com’s data will be used by emergency response
teams, wildlife organisations, educational institutions and volunteer groups.
In addition to gathering and displaying reports, Gulfcoastspill.com will also provide information on the spill and
recovery tools such as a business income loss calculator.
Paul Wilson, of EdgeCase Scotland and one of the lead developers on the site explains:
“The potential of social media to aid the oil spill recovery effort by giving the public a platform to share images
and the location of damaged wildlife is amazing.
“Ruby on Rails, the technology behind this website, allowed us to build a powerful social media site and get it
live very quickly, so people can start using it. I am extremely excited about the potential of this technology to be
rapidly deployed in response to emergency relief operations.”
“Over the coming weeks, we will be adding more and more functionality to the website” he continues. “The site
that was launched today is just the first version of what we believe will grow and become a dynamic recovery
tool. We hope that people will visit the site frequently to find the latest features and tools.”
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