Google will create addresses for two million Brazilians to make the country grow faster
The group has teamed up with the Brazilian government to provide the region with the help and support it needs to finally develop.
As part of the Rotas Rurais project, Google will map an area of 60,000 square kilometers, giving an address to 340,000 homes. By including them in the new database, approximately two million citizens will gain access to medical care, emergency services, government identification and many other services that seem completely natural and for them were only a dream.
In 2018, Google introduced the open-source Plus Codes programs to give governments and their citizens the option of freely assigning addresses, regardless of seclusion, political clashes, or changing boundaries. Plus Codes takes location coordinates and turns them into a 6-digit code, e.g. MXQ4 + M5 New York is the address of the Statue of Liberty in this system. Rotas Rurais is the first implementation of Plus Codes on such a huge scale.
During the first 6 months of the project, Google will combine satellite imagery from Google Earth and location data from Google Maps to map all roads (even side roads), houses and farms in the designated area. It will then generate Plus Codes for each of the homes, creating a large database from them and integrating it with government services. These will henceforth act as official addresses later in the project and will be forwarded to national services and the private sector.
The Brazilian government will be able to officially recognize citizens by their new address and create identification systems that will allow citizens to vote, open bank accounts, apply for specific positions or obtain medical care, which they have practically been deprived of so far.
Addresses also mean that services are able to respond appropriately, parcels can be delivered, and infrastructure built - in short, is a great support for the entire ecosystem. And although the whole transformation process of the region will take many years, assigning addresses is the first and most important step.