PNP and Samsung develop mobile app for emergency assistance

The Philippine National Police and Samsung Philippines signs a memorandum of agreement to develop Samsung 321, a mobile service application that contains a database of police stations and other service agencies nationwide. From left: Samsung Philippines Business Unit Advisor for IT and Mobile Min Su Chu; Business Unit Head for IT & Mobile Jerry Manus; President Kevin Lee; DICTM chief Dir. Napoleon C. Taas; deputy director Chief Supt. Nestor Bergonia; and Samsung VP for Consumer Electronics Victor Filart. (Jhoanna Ballaran / INQUIRER.net)

Contacting the authorities may soon become easier during emergencies as the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Samsung Philippines signed on Wednesday an agreement for the further development of a mobile  application for Android devices that contains a database of police stations and other service agencies nationwide.

Dubbed as “Samsung 321” the mobile service application which is now available, aims to provide the contact information and location of every police and fire station, medical services, and motor and traffic assistance within the user’s area.

The application, will come factory-installed in all Samsung devices and also includes national disaster and Red Cross hotlines. Samsung 321 can be downloaded from Google Play Store.

The agreement was signed by PNP Directorate for Information and Communications Technology Management chief Director Napoleon C. Taas and deputy director Chief Supt. Nestor Bergonia, and Samsung Philippines President and CEO Kevin Lee and Business Unit Head for IT and Mobile Jerry Paul Manus.

Samsung Philippines product engineering and technical compliance head Julius Arguson said the application uses global positioning system (GPS) to determine the user’s location and gives directions to the nearest police station or emergency facility.

The app also uses crowdsourcing technology, where users can send contact and location information of the stations and agency, and also give feedback whether these information are correct.

The application covers over 84 locations nationwide, including the National Capital Region, Batangas, Pampanga, Batangas, Nueva Ecija, Albay, Occidental Mindoro, Palawan, and Ilocos Norte. T

Coverage of the app may also soon expand as the PNP is set to turn over its national directory to the company.

Taas said the application underwent a rigid certification process of the government and assured that the platform would not collect other information from the users.

“The application went through a rigid certification process and no provisions of the national privacy act are violated. If privacy breach is encounterd, you can file a case against [the DICTM],” he said.

/muf