Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Tuesday 18 sepTember 2018

Can apps like Waze steer you clear of disaster? Maybe not

By MATT O'BRIEN provide a better picture of
AP Technology Writer what's happening on the
Navigation apps like Waze ground, both for emergen-
are trying to help motorists cy responders and the trav-
avoid hurricane flooding. elers themselves.
But can people really rely "Individuals themselves will
on their smartphones to always collectively have
steer themselves out of a more information than
disaster zone? governments will," he said.
Amid heavy rain from Flor- "They'll have more informa-
ence, some smartphone tion but less well organized."
or in-car map directions in After a bridge collapsed
recent days have sent peo- last month in Genoa, Ita-
ple in North Carolina onto ly, map providers such as
flooded roads and others Google were swift in updat-
closed to traffic. ing their road maps, said
Google-owned Waze said Sam Hind, a researcher
Monday it's worked with at the University of Siegen
local governments and its in Germany who studies
own community of volun- navigation technology. But
teer map editors to mark disasters like Florence are
closures of more than 1,300 In this Monday, Sept. 17, 2018, file photo flooded vehicles sit on a closed section of Interstate 95 trickier, Hind said.
roads in North Carolina and in Lumberton, N.C., where the Lumber river overflowed following flooding from Hurricane Florence. "A single incident is obvi-
hundreds more in South Associated Press ously far easier to render
Carolina and Virginia. and change than a gen-
But the North Carolina De- systems have come a long his stalled car on a service smith, a professor who di- eral area that is under
partment of Transporta- way since updating an in- road parallel to flooded In- rects Harvard University's floodwaters," Hind said. "If
tion warned in a tweet on car navigation system re- terstate 95. Data-Smart City Solutions it's a large area with many
Sunday night that Waze quired loading a compact "The GPS brought me here. project. roads, there has to be some
and other travel apps are disc with the latest geo- It's stupid, and it's really Goldsmith, a former mayor form of labor involved in se-
unable to keep up with graphic data. More cars bad. I'm in trouble," said of Indianapolis and former lecting all those roads and
Florence-caused road clos- now come with navigation the Raleigh resident, who deputy mayor of New York, those junctions that are
ings. systems that are updated was parked in a dry spot of said the good news is that impassable." Google said
"It is not safe now to trust remotely and automati- road. the flourishing of map apps in a statement Monday
them with your life," the cally. Other drivers rely on State officials had warned has "unlocked the ability that it uses both algorith-
agency warned after an- apps like Waze, Google in previous days that GPS of people to post informa- mic and manual methods
other Twitter user credited Maps or Apple Maps. was taking people down tion in real time and help to account for emergency
Waze for helping her avoid It can still be hard to keep routes where roads had their neighbors." Waze, in road closures on Google
floodwaters during Hurri- up with Mother Nature. flooded and urged people particular, relies on a large Maps and Waze. And the
cane Matthew in 2016. "This Miguel Melo, 22, said he to check a list of road clo- community of users input- company said it's working
storm, this flooding, these was trying to drive from sures before driving. ting data about the latest with local authorities on the
road closings are worse North Carolina to Florida "A map in a catastrophe is road conditions. Goldsmith ground, including the South
than Matthew, and they'll to get to a friend's house only so good as its ability to said more government Carolina and North Caro-
get even worse. Please when his SUV stalled out capture real-time informa- agencies are also entering lina transportation agen-
stay safe!" in high water in Lumber- tion either from sensors or two-way information shar- cies and several county
GPS-powered mapping ton. He was waiting with people," said Steve Gold- ing arrangements that help governments.q

Report: Machines to handle over half workplace tasks by 2025

By JAMEY KEATEN be lost, but that could be Fourth Industrial Revolu- reskilling for employees. their full-time workforces
Associated Press more than offset by the tion." However, the report found to shrink by 2022, while
GENEVA (AP) — More than creation of 133 million new The "Future of Jobs 2018" that only one in three re- nearly two in five expect
half of all workplace tasks jobs. report, the second of its spondents planned to to extend their workforce
will be carried out by ma- A major challenge, howev- kind, is based on a survey reskill at-risk workers. generally, and over one-
chines by 2025, organizers er, will be training and re- of executives representing Despite net positive job quarter expect automa-
of the Davos economic training employees for that 15 million employees in 20 growth, the WEF antici- tion to create new roles in
forum said in a report new world of work. economies. pates a "significant shift in their enterprises.
released Monday that "By 2025, the majority of Its authors say the outlook the quality, location, for- Germany's powerful DGB
highlights the speed with workplace tasks in exis- for job creation has be- mat and permanency of trade union association
which the labor market will tence today will be per- come more positive since new roles. Businesses are to warned against too rapid
change in coming years. formed by machines or al- the last report in 2016 be- expand use of contractors change in the world of
The World Economic Forum gorithms. At the same time cause businesses have a for task-specialized work, work.
estimates that machines a greater number of new better sense of the oppor- engage workers in more "People, whether they're
will be responsible for 52 jobs will be created," said tunities made possible by flexible arrangements, uti- workers or consumers, will
percent of the division of Saadia Zahidi, a WEF board technology. lize remote staffing, and only accept and tolerate
labor as share of hours with- member. "Our research The WEF said challenges change up locations to the consequences if tech-
in seven years, up from just suggests that neither busi- for employers include en- get access to the right tal- nology serves them — and
29 percent today. By 2022, nesses nor governments abling remote work, build- ent. not they it," Reiner Hoff-
the report says, roughly 75 have fully grasped the size ing safety nets to protect The report said nearly half mann told daily Welt in re-
million jobs worldwide will of this key challenge of the workers, and providing of all companies expect action to the WEF report.q