How Dropbox has helped revolutionise search and rescue in Norway
“By using the right technology and drastically reducing waiting time, we are able to save more lives.” Erlend Aarsaether, The Norwegian People’s Aid
We have the happy job of reading success stories of Dropbox Business helping organisations achieve different things – but this time, the impact it’s made for The Norwegian People’s Aid is just staggering.
Norwegian People’s Aid is a humanitarian group providing aid at home and abroad; they are currently engaging in 300 search and rescue missions per year. One of their main responsibilities is working with their partners to engage in search and rescue operations for missing people in Norway.
Early last year they moved their Norwegian operation to Dropbox Business to streamline processes and make search and rescue more efficient.
Erlend Aarsaether, Consultant for Search and Rescue at The Norwegian People’s Aid says, “With winter upon us we were hyper aware of how cold weather decreases the time someone can survive outside. And, with the climate in Norway remaining cold – often sub-zero – we realised greater efficiency in our search and rescue mission could help save lives, all year round.”
Having used Dropbox Business for over a year now, The Norwegian People’s Aid are completing rescue missions in less time. They have integrated Dropbox into their ViewRanger app, resulting in both real-time updates, and, crucially, the ability to save information – for offline access to files – when rescuers venture remotely. They also use Dropbox to share other important data with their people out in the field.
Aarsæther continues: “By using the right technology and drastically reducing waiting time, we are able to save more lives. Dropbox Business has reduced the time it takes to split up search areas, report back results, and share search information by two thirds – something we didn’t think was achievable.”
For The Norwegian People’s Aid information security is also mission critical. Families share sensitive information about the missing person to aid the search, and trust that this information will remain safe and secure. Something Aarsaether says is achievable with Dropbox admin controls, which ensure information is only shared with relevant team members, to help mitigate any risk.
“The information teams receive is incredibly sensitive, and something their families and friends trust the Search and Rescue workers with, because it ultimately helps us save lives. It’s hard to express how much Dropbox Business has transformed the way we work. We see it as a revolution in search and rescue – and could not imagine going back to working without it!”
To find out more about how Dropbox is being used for good, click here.
