谷歌设法将南苏丹列入地图

To help south Sudan prepare for independence, Internet giant Google is training volunteers to help improve maps of the new country. While the initiative aims to facilitate development in the south, it also could have political implications.

为了帮助南苏丹为独立作准备，互联网搜索引擎巨头谷歌公司正在培训志愿者，帮助这个国家修定地图。虽然这一项目旨在促进南苏丹的发展，但也可能带来政治影响。

What is a country without a map? On the brink of independence, south Sudan lacks a lot of basic information about its own towns and communities.

没有地图的国家是什么国家？马上就要独立的南苏丹缺少有关其城镇和社区的基本信息。

Now, a project organized by Google, the World Bank and other organizations is recruiting volunteers with local knowledge of the region to fill in the gaps.

现在，由谷歌公司、世界银行和其它组织开展的一个项目正在招募熟悉该地区情况的志愿者填补这一空缺。

France Lamy, program director for Google.org, explained the system at a "mapping Sudan" conference in Nairobi.

谷歌的慈善机构的项目主任弗朗斯.拉米在内罗毕举行的“为苏丹制作地图”的会议上介绍了这个系统。

"Map Maker is a web mapping collaborative platform, which combines high resolution imagery while also allowing the communities to map features that they know such as schools, roads, hospitals, using high-resolution imagery as background information," said Lamy. "So this is to map basic infrastructures."

他说：“谷歌的地图制作工具是一个网上地图编辑平台，包含了高分辨率图像，用户可以添加他们所熟知的学校、道路、医院等地图信息，用高分辨率图像作为背景信息。这样就可以添加最基本的地图信息。”

Here’s how it works. Pretty much anybody with Internet access can add information to Google’s satellite map images using Map Maker. They click on a building and identify it as a school. Or click on a stretch of road and write in the name. The information is checked and verified by other volunteers.

它是这样运作的。几乎任何能上网的人都能使用地图制作工具(Map Maker)在谷歌的卫星地图上添加信息。例如选中一栋建筑，然后标上这是一所学校，或者选一段路，标上路名。添加的这些信息由其它志愿者检查和确认。

In south Sudan in particular, the point is to help improve maps so that the government can identify where services like schools and hospitals are most needed. It also could help non-governmental organizations and aid workers better serve the area.

尤其对于南苏丹，这一项目是要帮助修定地图，这样政府就能够了解哪里最需要学校和医院等服务。它还能帮助非政府组织和援助人员更好地为该地区服务。

"What the United Nations indicated, what was important to map, was the main cities, especially in local, rural areas, and also the transportation networks," said Lamy.

谷歌的慈善机构的项目主任弗朗斯.拉米说：“联合国表示，对于地图而言重要的就是当地的主要城市、农村地区和交通网络。”

Organizers deny that the program could be used for political purposes as northern and southern Sudan battle over the future boundaries of the two countries.

北苏丹和南苏丹为两国未来的边界争论不休，组织者否认这一项目可能被用作政治目的。