The Lebanese Turn To Apps To Avoid Gun Battles

Apps Help Lebanese Avoid Gunfights, Not Just Traffic Jams -- BRW

With Syria’s civil war increasingly at risk of spilling over its borders, developers and even the army in neighbouring Lebanon are equipping people with tools to avoid dangers via advance-warning smartphone apps.

Applications that use crowdsourced information to tell people about gunfights, suggest routes around roadblocks and even, in the case of the army’s own app, reveal locations and offer a channel of direct communication to army command in the case of kidnap, are a natural evolution for a population that has grown up with decades of civil conflict, the Financial Times reports.

“In other places in the world, the only thing that might obstruct your path is traffic,” Mohammad Taha, a Berytech entrepreneur, told the newspaper. “In Lebanon there are many things that can happen.”

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Update: Lebanon turns to apps to avoid growing violence linked to Syria -- Financial Times

WNU Editor: The app is Ma2too3a.