FP1036 : Innovative use of WhatsApp Messaging and Free Software for GIS Mapping in Ophthalmic SurveysDr. Vivek Gupta (G18640)
We describe a system to rapidly collect Geographic Information System (GIS) data, using WhatsApp and free GIS software.
Method: A team member installs WhatsApp application on a mobile phone with in-built GPS. Upon reaching survey site, s/he uses share location feature of WhatsApp application and shares location map, name and cluster code. Latitude and longitude coordinates of the shared location are revealed by emailing the WhatsApp conversation. Coordinates are extracted from the email and converted to a comma-separated values (CSV) file which is continuously updated. The CSV file is imported into a free software QGIS and overlaid over the district map of the country. This enables generation of district level maps depicting precise location of survey clusters.
Conclusion: GIS data can be merged with cluster-level statistics to enable spatial analysis of risk factors for blindness, visual impairment, health-seeking etc and offers operational advantages during conduct of the survey.