1. The role of mapping technologies
in ICTD projects

2. Our experience 4 year project collecting water quality data
early decision to use mapping to provide “better information” to managers
coordinates preloaded in backend or captured directly on phone using GPS module

5. Thoughts and lessons learnt
operators on the ground vs. other stake-holders – mapping tools are seen as more important by upper- management, but less relevant to operators
can be particularly unhelpful with a large number of sites combined with no or old data (1 year+) for them
maps often don't make a statement about living conditions of the areas they are representing
good looking monitoring tools increase user satisfaction/meet expectations of “IT systems” but you need to make sure they provide relevant information

6. Thoughts and lessons learnt cont.
maps are good for drawing attention to problem areas, but become less useful when things are running smoothly – tabular data/spreadsheet is very relevant in operational monitoring
perception that maps are a logical view for most people (cf. graphs/charts), when this might not be the case
low barrier of entry (Google Maps, etc.) means it is easy to implement mapping, but understand your use cases first

7. The future
proliferation of smart- phones (Android, iPhone) is making data visualisation more relevant
maps are another tool in our toolbox – use them as needed
integration into “offline” media – reports, s, etc.