App lets volunteers map conflict zones while they commute
Nonprofit & Social Cause
MapSwipe is a new app that enables anyone to remotely highlight settlements and infrastructure in under-mapped areas prone to conflict and outbreaks.
We’ve seen how civilian mobile footage can be used to investigate possible war crimes, and now citizens across the globe can help map vulnerable areas during conflicts. MapSwipe, developed by the Missing Maps project, is an app that enables users to remotely scour satellite imagery of under-mapped, developing nations.
Users look for signs of habitation and infrastructure, such as buildings, huts, roads and pathways, and tap them to highlight them on the map. This enables humanitarian crisis response organizations, such as Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF), to know where to provide relief during conflicts or disease outbreaks. User can downloads images to analyze offline, helping the cause on their commute or while in flight. MapSwipe, supported by MSF and various other NGOs, is available on the App Store and Google Play.
Are there other image-based data — illegal deforestation sites, for example — that the crowd could help analyze?
2nd August 2016
Website: www.mapswipe.org
Contact: twitter.com/TheMissingMaps
