Royal Navy maps global operations with Google

by Hayley Pinkerfield Revolution UK 27-Feb-08, 09:10

LONDON - The Royal Navy is using Google Maps technology to engage the public, making its global operations more transparent.

Digital agency twentysix London has adapted Google Earth to produce an interactive map showing all the Royal Navy's current and historical operations.

It allows users to pinpoint by longitude and latitude all of the Navy's operational assets. Visitors to http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/ can, for example, zoom into the Portsmouth docks and Fleet HQ or into Helmand to see where forty commando Royal Marines are based.

Users can also track the Navy's operational assets such as warships.

Lieutenant commander Greg Hamilton, managing the Royal Navy website in the MoD Defence Public Relations (Navy) department, said: "The Royal Navy is ready for anything, 24/7 - whether it is our drug-busting operations in the Caribbean, supporting the Coastguard for rescue missions around the UK, or the Royal Marines in Afghanistan, the Royal Navy endeavors to be a force for good in the world.

"This new global operations tool provides us with an interactive way of showing the public what we are doing around the world and allows us to tell the human story behind these missions."

The tool has been designed to be sensitive to security issues, and while users can track assets, this is subject to time delay and security restrictions.

The agency will continue to evolve this tool, adding content such as geo-tagged photos and videos and social networking content.

It will ultimately create a multimedia branded news channel, RN Live, which aims to raise the profile of the force by making more of its work across the globe.

As well as keeping the world informed of the Navy's varied global missions RN Live will allow the nation's senior service to deal with any major news stories on its own terms without reliance on the news media.