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PoiMapper: Mobile Data Collection Through Points-of-Interest in Kenya

Posted by MelissaUlbricht on Nov 30, 2010

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PoiMapper: Mobile Data Collection Through Points-of-Interest in Kenya data sheet 3799 Views

PoiMapper, a product from Pajat, is a mobile application for data collection, hosting, and sharing. It works on a feature phone with Java capability and allows a user to design a case-specific questionnaire to collect field data, including numbers, text, and photo images. Through this, it supports the collection of point-of-interest (POI) data -- hence the name, PoiMapper -- and is currently being tested in this capacity in Kenya in collaboration with Plan Kenya, Plan Finland, Helsinki University of Technology, and University of Nairobi. The pilot is ongoing and an evaluation is to be done a month from now.

Basic Information
Website URL: 
http://www.pajatman.com/poimap...
Organization involved in the project?: 
Pajat Management
Project goals: 

Plan International is in the middle of a 4-month pilot in Kilifi, Kenya to use PoiMapper to create more detailed maps to support program interventions.

Brief description of the project: 

PoiMapper, a product from Pajat, is a mobile application for data collection, hosting, and sharing. It works on a feature phone with Java capability and allows a user to design a case-specific questionnaire to collect field data, including numbers, text, and photo images. PoiMapper is being tested as part of a 4-month pilot initiative in Kilifi, Kenya, with Plan International. The goals of the initiative are to contribute to the development of GIS software for both mobiles and computers and to ensure that technology is used to improve maps in terms of their accessibility and ability to provide more up-to-date and dynamic information.

Target audience: 

Field workers with Plan International in Kilifi, Kenya are currently using the PoiMapper system to map points of interest.

Detailed Information
Mobile Tools Used: 
PoiMapper
Length of Project (in months) : 
4
Status: 
Ongoing
What worked well? : 

The ability to customize the application has been a strength for Njuguna in Kenya, as it give complete flexibility to cater the application to the needs of Plan International. Other stregths include the ability to use affordable, low-end mobiles, avoiding the use of expensive GPS devices. The application runs on a phone whose functionality is familiar, including the use of the basic mobile phone camera.

What did not work? What were the challenges?: 

A technical challenge arose when phones ran out of memory. This, in part, led to a redesign in which the service was changed from a survey approach to a database approach, where the majority of data is transferred and stored in the database.

Another challenge emerged when users wanted to change the questionnaires over time. The system had to be designed to be easy to add and change questions, Lounamaa said.



 




  


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Rede Jovem: Wikimapa


Posted by CorinneRamey on Nov 07, 2009





 

        
      
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Rede Jovem: Wikimapa data sheet 6697 Views

	
In the favelas, or slums, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, unnamed streets meander through the hillsides. There are hospitals, coffee shops and restaurants, none of which appear on a map, and mail carriers struggle to get letters to homes without addresses.

A new project by Rede Jovem, a Brazilian nonprofit that loosely translates to "Youth Net," seeks to change that.  With the help of five young "wiki-reporters" and GPS-equipped mobile phones, the nonprofit is building a map of five Brazilian favelas: Complexo do Alemão, Cidade de Deus, Morro do Pavão-Pavãozinho, Morro Santa Marta and Complexo da Maré.  By uploading information to the phones, the reporters are mapping the unmapped, one road and cafe at a time.
Basic Information

      
Website URL: 

    

            

                    http://wikimapa.org.br/        

        





      
Organization involved in the project?: 

    

            

                    Rede Jovem        

        





      
Project goals: 

    

            

                    
The project seeks to map low-income areas surrounding Rio de Janeiro.

        

        





      
Brief description of the project: 

    

            

                    
This project uses citizen reporters to map favelas in Rio de Janeiro.

        

        





      
Target audience: 

    

            

                    
The current reporters are between the ages of 17 and 25, and the maps are aimed at anyone who lives in the five favelas.

        

        






Detailed Information

      
Length of Project (in months) : 

    

            

                    5        

        





      
Status: 

    

            

                    Ongoing        

        





      
What worked well? : 

    

            

                    
Using the N95s has worked well.  The phones have good photos and video, and Santos said that the reporters have been able to successfully upload content to the maps directly from their phones.  Having female reporters has also worked, and shopkeepers or others being mapped have been receptive to requests for information.

        

        





      
What did not work? What were the challenges?: 

    

            

                    
The most challenging part of the project was developing the mobile application.  The organization is still working to develop versions for other operating systems.  Having a long-term, sustainable budget is also challenging.  The project was unsuccessful in getting grants from Nokia -- they bought the phones themselves -- and currently doesn't have any money to sustain the project beyond December.  Because the project doesn't actually make money, they are dependent on grants and its unlikely to be scalable or sustainable.
        

        





      
Links to any evaluations/reports/research: 

    

            

                    http://www.physorg.com/news174...