Digital billboards in Stockholm help the homeless find shelter during freezing weather

Courtesy of Clear Channel

Clear Channel has partnered with the Stockholm city government to develop an awareness campaign that replaces advertisements on 53 of the city's outdoor digital kiosks with maps of local homeless shelters and information about how people can volunteer and donate on nights when the temperature dips below -7°C.

The the city works with local churches and non-profit organizations to open emergency shelters on those frigid nights. Tapping into the billboard’s location data, the screens will display bold and easy to read directions to the closest shelter along with information about when the shelter opens—information that often does not reach the homeless in time.

This seems like a perfect program for some of our Canadian cities where temperatures have been utterly glacial this winter season (hey Quebecor, why don't you put the STM Digital transit shelter's in Montreal to some good use?). 

The Stockholm pilot program began in December and will run till the end of January while Clear Channel assesses whether it will run a similar program in other Swedish cities.