A Brisbane businessman who is lost in a ski resort in Japan helped a technology firm in Australia develop a GPS device that would likely help rescuers locate his whereabouts.
Scott McKay was on a skiing trip in Niseko when he failed to return to his accommodation on early Friday morning. But former colleagues say it is unlikely he is equipped with a “Flaik” transmitter, a technology that allows instructors to monitor up to 45,000 skiers in real-time.
McKay, an IT specialist, also helped road-test the technology at ski resorts overseas. The technology was developed at the Queensland University of Technology’s L-Lab Centre for New Business Development.
“Scott managed the roll-out of the tags and the networks, back in 2006-2007,” Flaik Inc CEO Steve Kenny told The Age. “He had the network know-how and the snow experience to make things work.”
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
