Twentysix puts Royal Navy on interactive map

Full service digital agency twentysix London has developed another groundbreaking application for the Royal Navy, which puts the Service's Global Operations on show for all to see.

The agency has adapted Google Earth to produce an interactive map showing all the Royal Navy's current and historical operations.

It allows users to pin point by longitude and latitude where all of the Navy's operational assets are - visitors to the site can zoom into the Portsmouth docks and Fleet HQ or into Helmand to see where 40 Commando Royal Marines are based.

Users can also track the Navy's operational assets such as warships.

Lieutenant Commander Greg Hamilton, managing the Royal Navy website in the MoD Defence Public Relations (Navy) department, said: "The Royal Navy is ready for anything, 24/7 - whether it is our drug-busting operations in the Caribbean, supporting the Coastguard for rescue missions around the UK, or the Royal Marines in Afghanistan, the Royal Navy endeavours to be a force for good in the world.

"This new Global Operations tool provides us with an interactive way of showing the public what we are doing around the world and allows us to tell the human story behind these missions".

Paul Coffey, Client Services Director at twentysix London, said: "In developing this tool for the Royal Navy we had to be very aware of operational security issues; so while you can track the movement of many assets the locations are subject to time delay and security restrictions.

"Having said that, this new application allows people to zoom in on the work of the Royal Navy as it goes about its operations, giving the general public the world's best operational view of any armed service currently available".

The agency will continue to evolve Global Ops, adding more content such as geo tagged photos and videos as well as social networking content, which it is developing as part of RN Live, a multimedia branded news channel that aims to raise the profile of the force by making more of its work across the globe.

The daily updated news service, created for the Royal Navy by twentysix London, reflects the global and varied nature of Royal Navy work including drug busts, air/sea rescue missions, peace-keeping operations in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, port visits, national celebrations and events.

As well as keeping the world informed of the Navy's varied global missions, RN Live allows the nation's senior service to deal with any major news stories on its own terms without reliance on the news media.

Twentysix London was appointed by the Central Office of Information (COI) to deliver the Royal Navy's digital communications strategy in March last year, following a highly successful relaunch of the Royal Navy's recruitment website delivered in January 2007.

The agency works with the Royal Navy and COI on a wide-ranging brief that aims to revolutionise the use of digital media to articulate the Service's role in today's world to a wider audience via every available online channel.

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