Presentation for GDG Devfest Caribbean 2020 on an open source project I developed during the COVID-19 pandemic

1. Open Source
during COVID-19:
A lesson about the
Caribbean Virus Tracker

2. Discussion on the
development and
challenges with
Caribbean Virus Tracker
Obika Gellineau
Manager, KPMG-TT

3. ●What is Caribbean Virus Tracker
●Development of the site
●Challenges with the project
●The Enhanced Caribbean Virus Tracker
●Tips and Recommendations
●Demo of site
Agenda

4. What is
Caribbean
Virus Tracker

5. https://caribbeanvirustracker.com

6. ●Website was developed to track the Novel
Coronavirus infection statistics in the
Caribbean region.
●Sources data/information from reputable
organizations (WHO, John Hopkins, CDC,
etc.).
●Operates as an filter/aggregator.
●Open Source project hosted on GitHub.
What is Caribbean Virus Tracker

7. Development of
the site

8. https://github.com/obikag/caribbean-virus-tracker

9. 1.Daily record of confirmed cases, deaths and recovered
cases for COVID-19
2.Focus on all countries and territories within the
Caribbean Region.
3.Must be a website that is easily accessible.
4.Charts and graphs must be available for comparison of
data.
5.FAQ and other information on COVID-19 to assist
visitors.
6.Project must be Open Source.
Development - Initial Requirements

10. ●Gatsby (https://www.gatsbyjs.com/)
●Netlify Hosting (https://www.netlify.com/)
●GitHub Repo (https://www.github.com/)
●HighCharts (https://www.highcharts.com/)
●Leaflet (https://leafletjs.com/)
●Microsoft Excel
●Python scripts for data extraction
Development - Tech Stack

11. Development - Workflow
Extract data
from sources
Enter data into
CSV File
Push to GitHub
Repo
Automated
Website Hosted
GitHub Repo
Netlify Pulls
Code
Netlify Builds
Site
● Sources were WHO Situation
Reports, John Hopkins Github Repo.
● CARPHA was used as a checkback.
Manual

12. Challenges
with the
project

13. “Before software can be
reusable it first has to be
usable”
- Ralph Johnson
Co-author of Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented

14. 1.Data entry required to many manual steps.
2.Statistics collected at an island level.
3.Site was heavily dependent on a CSV spreadsheet.
4.Clashes with Node Modules and Gatsby Plugins.
5.Website was specific to COVID-19 pandemic
outbreaks; no consideration for future pandemics.
Project Challenges

15. The Enhanced
Caribbean
Virus Tracker

16. ●Python 3.5
●Django 2.2
●VPS Hosting
●Django Package GitHub code:
https://github.com/obikag/caribbean-outbreak-tracker/
Enhanced Site - Tech Stack

17. ●No longer a COVID-19 only site.
●Database driven architecture.
●Less dependencies than previous
site.
●Django apps can be packaged (PYPI).
●Availability of Machine Learning and
Enhanced Site - Advantages

18. pip install caribbean-outbreak-tracker
https://pypi.org/project/caribbean-outbreak-tracker/

19. ●Template Tags and other View Mixins.
●State/Parish level recording of stats.
●API integration.
●Static site generation (Django Bakery)
●Documentation for deployment options
PYPI Package - Future Improvements

20. Tips and
Recommendations

21. 1.Don’t wait on others to start your Open Source
Project.
2.Always be open to feedback.
3.Social media is IMPORTANT to drive engagement.
4.Use a language that can meet your project’s
requirements and you are comfortable with.
5.Documentation and Tests are IMPORTANT!!
Tips and Recommendations

22. Demo of Site

24. Thank You
and always:
● Wear a face mask
● Keep to social distancing
● Wash or sanitize your hands

25. Q&A