“The Baltic Way is an inspiring historical example that proves that people’s unity can bring down the biggest mountains. Even today, it is surprising how an event of this magnitude could have taken place without digital maps, social networks and mobile phones. Although this adds an extra charm to this promotion, with the help of modern technology, today’s Baltic Way could be even more massive and smooth. Modern media would make it possible to spread the news about the event all over the world, simplified map solutions would help participants take positions more easily, and virtual reality (VR) technology would enable people all over the planet to join the circuit remotely”, – Ramūnas Mikalauskas, head of Telia’s radio network, shares his innovative ideas. .
Special Baltic road map
Organizing the Baltic Way in 1989 was a huge challenge that required careful planning and coordination.
“At the first coordination meeting, it was determined that each person would need about 80 centimeters of space, and the entire Lithuanian route, which is 220 kilometers long, was divided into 50 sections, symbolizing 50 years of Soviet occupation. It was estimated that the entire chain needs about 300,000 people to cover the entire 600-kilometer route,” says Angonita Rupšytė, one of the organizers of the Baltic Way.
R. Mikalauskas notices that finding the necessary area of the map is a difficult task for people both then and nowadays, so it can be solved with the help of smart tools.
“This problem could easily be solved nowadays by a startup called what3words, which divided the entire planet into three-meter squares and assigned three random words from the dictionary to the name of each square.” It frees people from memorizing complicated coordinates and helps them get exactly where they need to be. It would be especially useful on the Baltic road, since those 50 sections could be divided into squares, allowing participants to go exactly to their assigned place, and not to a section that occupies a large area”, R. Mikalauskas thinks.
A. Rupšytė remembers that, as could be expected, not everything went smoothly on the Baltic Road Day. On the day of the event, the hostile forces started the locomotives traveling back and forth on various tracks, which created traffic jams at the railway crossings and thus prevented the residents of Šiauliai, Panevėžys and some other cities from joining the action in time.
Today, apps like Waze and Google Maps, which recently added traffic notifications, could save you from parking in traffic jams. They would help to bypass emerging traffic jams in time and enable prompt reporting of accidents.
Radio communication would be replaced by social networks
One of the most impressive details of the Baltic Road campaign is the record-breaking time it took to organize it. At the meeting of the Baltic Council in Pernu, the action was approved only in 1989. on July 15, just a little more than a month before the day of formation of the chain. It was to be announced to the public by the joint radio program offered by Estonians and the Sąjūdis TV show “Wave of Revival”, and citizens were to be encouraged to join the event by the members of the Seimas Council of individual districts and the People’s Deputies of the USSR supported by Sąjūdis.
Today, the aforementioned work would undoubtedly be done by social networks. Older audiences would be uplifted by texts on Facebook, younger members of the public would be engaged by patriotic opinion leaders, and children and teenagers would be engaged by TikTok videos. There is almost no doubt that such an action would attract the attention of the international community, so the Lithuanian diaspora abroad would also be informed about this special event.
“Social networks would be useful not only for the dissemination of information, but also for the possibility of receiving feedback. Eventbrite, vFAIRS and other similar services would allow you to attach a registration form to the event link, so organizers could see in advance how many participants plan to attend the event, which areas have the lowest turnout, and eventually even find out the answer to such a practical question, how many people plan to go by private cars, and how many by public transport, and order the number of buses needed for each region accordingly”, R. Mikalauskas believes.
In addition, when today’s Baltic Road Day comes, the participants who arrived at the designated place could be registered according to the issued QR codes or allowed to mark their arrival on a virtual list, so the coordinators could monitor in real time which sections are missing people and promptly send some people to them from other plots to take the places of absentees. With social networks and modern means of communication, it would be possible to broadcast important information to the participants much more smoothly than via the radio, whose receivers people going to the event were asked to take with them a third of a century ago.
It would also be possible to participate remotely
Although the uniqueness of the Baltic Way is inseparable from the determination of the participants to go and physically join the chain several hundred kilometers long, according to A. Rupšytė, the action was also strongly supported by residents of foreign countries who could not participate in it. On the same day, despite the violence of the militia at the time, people invited by the Democratic Union gathered in Moscow’s Pushkin Square for a rally with the flags of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, and in Paris, residents from the Baltic countries organized a demonstration-procession from the Arc de Triomphe to the Freedom Monument.
“For those who do not have the opportunity to come, modern technologies would allow them to get even more involved in the action. Since the Baltic countries are famous for having one of the widest 4G and 5G networks, a camera could be placed in each section that would broadcast people holding hands in real time. This would enable foreigners to enter the circuit remotely, wearing virtual reality glasses, and thus at least partially feel the spirit of this historical event”, R. Mikalauskas shares the idea.
Drones could also be of great use at the event. In addition to capturing spectacular shots of the event and confirming the additional number of participants for the record, they could take over the flower-scattering function from the old An-2 airplanes, which were called “corners” in those days, and watch the crowd as they move in sync and form patriotic figures and animations from LED lights after dark. .
“However, we should not forget that modern technology is only a tool. We are probably not the only ones who have been in a situation where it is not possible to invite even a tenth of the participants to an event or celebration that was well advertised on social networks, the invitations of which were sent to a large number of people. In other words, the success of the event is mostly determined by the common goal. Only its weight, and not the abundance of innovations, would allow today to restore that priceless feeling of unity, which embraced millions of people 35 years ago and helped to show the entire world the exceptional national maturity of the Baltic States”, sums up R. Mikalauskas.
2024-08-23 11:37:11