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| Harnessing IT to find missing kids |
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| BY DAMIAN CLARKSON, ITWEB TRAINEE JOURNALIST |
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| [Johannesburg, 8 April 2004] -
IT will play an important role in a new organisation established to find missing children.The South African Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (SACMEC) was officially launched at the Centurion Golf Estate this week.Technology will play a central role in its attempts to locate and place missing children, says SACMEC executive member Inati Ntshanga, as it has been used with great effect in the past.“When the Bureau for Missing Persons (BMP) opened in 1994, they only had a success rate of around 3%, but by harnessing basic technology like computers and cellphones, the success rate increased to 76%,” says Ntshanga.Futurefind, a location-based services technology that allows for tracking of cellphones, is one of the technologies available to SACMEC. The Futurefind service was developed by Positioning Mobile Subscribers (PMS), and will enable parents to track the location of their children's cellphone, provided they get the child's consent, says PMS director Alex Burn.“Children do have rights, and they must be respected, but once they are aware of the benefits of such a service, I am sure they will agree.“We are able to track a phone to within a radius of 100m in urban areas, while in rural areas it may go down to 250m as a result of lesser coverage,” continues Burn.A phone must be kept on for the service to work, but Burn says this should not be a major problem in the case of abduction. “The child's phone is often not switched off immediately. Usually abductors are more interested in getting the child away from the area without causing a scene. This leaves us with a window of opportunity.”Ntshanga says the service is not only important for preventing kidnapping. “Whenever children leave, they take their phone with them, whether they have run away, or just had a fight. It is at these times they are vulnerable, and that is where this service helps.”The service is presently only available on Vodacom numbers, but Burn says MTN and Cell C will come on board soon. “Both companies have expressed their desire to take part, but certain legislative issues need to be ironed out first.”SACMEC is the key beneficiary to the Futurefind service. “This is a wholly South African venture,” says Burn, “and a significant portion of the revenue will be given to SACMEC.”Ntshanga says that as a non-government, non-profit organisation, SACMEC will rely on assistance from the business sector. “We always ask what government is doing, but one area we forget to put pressure on is business.”At the launch, SACMEC was given a boost from the business sector, when Crayon marketing manager Hussein Kala handed over a cheque for R25 000 to SACMEC president, captain Fanie van Deventer.For more information on SACMEC, visit www.missingkids.co.za.
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