GIS Cloud Blog

GIS Cloud Mobile App for Data Collection Enables Real Time Access to Data from Anywhere

The geospatial information industry is undergoing radical change. Traditionally, geospatial applications have been more about documenting and analysing the past and planning for the future, but uses for some applications are focused on real time information.

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The smartphone is perhaps the most obvious example, where devices already support communication by both voice and web but also incorporate locational capabilities in the form of GPS, accelerometers, and cameras. The ability to combine data in near real time from airborne LIDAR, laser scanned point clouds and digital photographic images is another manifestation of this trend.


We will take a closer look at solving problems using smartphones in data collection and immediate data availability from anywhere, through GIS Cloud. Numerous possibilities arise with this way of collecting data. Each business has its own specific needs and this requires development of specialized software on mobile platforms. GIS Cloud supports common mobile platforms like Android, iOS and BlackBerry and enables developers to build their own applications.

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Communication with the application, sending and retrieving of data is performed through GIS Cloud’s REST API. This way all data collected with the smarphone application is sent directly to a layer in GIS Cloud. The data is populated into the map with all attribute information in real time. This way of handling data in real time, available to departments immediately when sent from an off-site location, gives various benefits in everyday business and work process optimizations. Another important benefit GIS Cloud provides is the web publishing of such data. When the map needs to be updated with collected data it requires no additional work. The published map is updated with data as it’s being collected.

This kind of data manipulation can find various applications; road survey is one of them. We will present a use case, and benefits of mobile GIS data collection experienced in road service company in the city of Zagreb, a metropolitan area with a population of over 1 million.

You can download Android application from Google Play and check the user manual for setup information. For any further information contact us.

 

USE CASE: Road Maintenance Service in City of Zagreb

The Road and Signalization Maintenance Department in Zagreb takes care of over 2 250 km of roads, with all of the necessary signalization. To properly maintain these elements, crucial for traffic and traffic safety in the city, the company needs to discover and remove the dangers drivers and pedestrians may experience. They have identified the need to improve data collection and analysis, as well as data flow through the company, in order to take effective maintenance action.

City_of_Zagreb_Road_Maintenance_Service

The problem was they didn’t have the a way to efficiently collect the data, analyze it and act on the results. Data was available poorly and with low quality. They did not not use any information system for data analysis and visualization on the map. Most of the information was on paper, being sent across the company with the possibility of data loss and misinterpretation.


We delivered a solution based on GIS Cloud, in combination with a Samsung Galaxy Tab application specialized to improve the data flow and maintenance processes. Workers survey the roads and the signalization in order to:

  • report damage locations and attribute information directly on the map in GIS Cloud

  • attach a location photoand an audio recording with brief instructions

  • determine the level of urgency

  • send this data to an operator for further analysis

  • the operator forwards analyzed data to an available maintenance service group

  • an intervention is prepared

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The results gained from real time awareness of all pertinent issues are efficient and timely intervention. Integrated into everyday business, this enables better maintenance planning and faster repairs of critical spots. Sharing data across departments and collaboration among colleagues is now at a much higher level. The lower implementation costs gained from using a cloud based GIS platform enabled them to improve work flows and operations, maintenance, and most importantly to ensure better traffic safety.


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