A new app that connects travellers with overseas emergency services and 2,172 embassies at the touch of a button was unveiled last week.
The Travel Aware app, available for both Apple and Android phones, can also translate critical emergency questions into the local language, as well as securely store passport and insurance details.
Invented by engineer Neil Wallace, the app has been in development for three years
Speaking in the wake of the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris last weekend, Wallace is convinced that Travel Aware can help travellers in the event of an emergency overseas.
“Imagine being stuck in another country during a major natural disaster or terrorist attack, without knowing how to contact emergency services or find the closest medical facility. The terrible situation with the recent terrorist attacks in Paris has highlighted how beneficial this app could be.”
Neil Wallace, inventor of Travel Aware
Neil Wallace, inventor of Travel Aware
The Hon Wyatt Roy MP, Assistant Minister for Innovation, argues that the Travel Aware app is a great step forward for Australian travellers and a good example of new technology being developed in the country.
“I think it’s a really exciting app… If we embrace technology change then we can create future prosperity, driving the economic growth of our country, and that’s exactly what Travel Aware has done.”
Hon Wyatt Roy MP, Assistant Minister for Innovation
The app is currently available to those from Australia, USA, UK, Canada, Japan, China, France, Germany, Brazil and South Korea. More countries will be available soon, with additional upgrades already in development.