Earlier this year, Microsoft Bing team announced its plans to tap the potential of local businesses in developing nations like Brazil where maps are not available in the way they are available in countries like the USA, UK, etc,. A Microsoft team in Brazil has started a project to start building out this mapping infrastructure in the town of favelas and the team is seeking to build the necessary infrastructure to enable the many parties necessary for the communities to fully participate in the digital town square in ways that many of us in the developed online world take for granted. This project has been named ‘Na Area’ and officially kicked off from today. 200,000 people live in Vidigal, Complexo de Maré, and Manguinhos. There are approximately 863 million people, or 1/3 of urban dwellers, that live in informal settlements around the world – much like the favelas of Brazil. As is the case in many countries, the Brazilian favelas are often right in the middle of major metropolitan areas,...

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