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Dr West was presented with one of  the Air Force Space Command's highest honours
Dr West was presented with one of the Air Force Space Command's highest honours

Dr Gladys West's GPS invention trickles down to all

Have you observed that these days people, especially the youth, hardly ask for directions to places in the urban centres?

Thanks to technology, today with your Global Positioning System (GPS) app on your mobile phone or digital watches, you don't need the ‘Koko’ or ‘Waakye’ seller to give you directions.

Unfortunately, many a time some of these oral directions had often led people to the dead end of some gutter or public toilet instead of the place they desired to go.

Unlike our traditional taxi drivers who mostly have to depend on people for directions, Uber drivers who have become the game-changer in the transportation business are the highest users of the GPS, which makes it very easy to manoeuvre through the city with ease with their passengers.

If you make a wrong turn, the GPS is able to provide an updated route based on your new location.

In fact, they can save you a considerable amount of time navigating foreign areas, finding a local restaurant or locating an emergency service facility such as a hospital.

Well as a lover of technology, software or apps, has it ever crossed your mind who could have been the brain behind this global navigation satellite system?

Dr Gladys West, a black woman from Virginia, was instrumental in creating the GPS which most of us are hooked on to every time and day.

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