This document discusses how mobile phone applications can effectively collect and manage data. It provides examples of using mobile apps for tasks like public needs assessments, design work, and capturing or analyzing large amounts of data by leveraging mobile technologies. Specific considerations for deploying smartphone apps include platform choice, connectivity needs, ruggedness, battery life, and GPS accuracy. The document outlines benefits like improved user efficiency, low costs, and ability to integrate maps, cameras, and GPS. Examples illustrated include infrastructure condition assessments, regulatory delineations, and stormwater permit tracking using mobile GIS apps.

1. Creating Value …
… Delivering Solutions
Effective Data Collection and Management
through Mobile Phone Applications
Steve Bein PE, GISP

2. Tech Quiz
 New word for:
 “the act of taking tasks traditionally performed by an
individual, and outsourcing them to a group of people
or community.
 Examples:
 the public invited to provide “needs-
service” reports
 carry out a design task
 (also known as community-based design
 To help capture or analyze large amounts
of data.
 Leverages mobile technologies to
achieve business process goals.

3. Tech Quiz
 Bluetooth
 30 feet max, 100 mbps, secure (someday)
 Wi-Fi
 1000 feet max, 11-64 mbps, some security
 Cellular (3G/4G, LTE)
 Works wherever there’s Cellular Coverage
 Speed like Cable (1-20 mbps)

4. Tech Quiz
Tech Quiz
 Applications and services
offered over the Internet
 Data centers can be
anywhere in the world
 Users can share information
between multiple systems
and with other users.

5. Mobile Smartphone Mapping Applications
 Today’s powerful Smartphones & Tablets
 Bring GIS capabilities to the masses
 For field data collection and access
assignments
 Provide developers the ability to deploy
sophisticated systems into field scenarios
 bring familiarity,
 versatility
 effective data management

6. Deploying Smartphone Apps - Considerations
 Considerations for maximizing the capabilities
 In the field
 On a data server
 Examples
 Planning Condition Assessment Study
 City of Lakeport, CA
 Facility Management
 Point Loma Nazarene University
 Environmental Assessment
 Various

7. Smart Phone Market Share Q4 2010
 Tablets not included
 Symbian and Windows
Phone OS future?
 Android fragmentation
among manufacturers

8. Smartphones are Becoming Ubiquitous
 Android:
 700,000 phones Activated/Day
 Total >200M Android devices
 (Only 2M are Tablets)
 10B App Downloads
 Apple:
 Approximately 530,000 Activated/Day
 Total > 200M IOS Devices (6/2011)
 25M are iPads
 (11.1M 4Q 2011 alone!)
 14B App Downloads

9. Two-horse Race for Tablets
 Tablet Market Share
 Apple 58%
Sales
 Android 39%
Apple
Android

10. Benefits of Mobile Map Applications
 Why it improves user efficiency in Data Collection
 Familiarity
 No paper to digital
 Seamless Data Integration
 Integrated Camera / GPS
 Often One-handed Operation
 Speech-to-Text and Text-to-Speech
 Situational Awareness
 Two-way Data in Real Time
Photo by: Kiichi Takeuchi

11. Benefits of Mobile Map Applications
 Why its good for the Enterprise
 Low Hardware/Software Costs
 Minimal Deployment Costs
 Draw on Multiple Data Sources (Mash-Up)
 Multi-Platform
 Crowdsourcing
 Geo Collaborate
Baker Enterprise Architecture for Spatial Technology (BEAST)

12. Advanced Geospatial Features
 Background Spatial Processing
 Geocoding
 Network Tracing & Routing
 Spatial Overlays
 Display Results in Real Time
 Offline Caching
 Delayed Database Syncing

13. Important Considerations
 Platform to Deploy
 Android – Multiple Manufactures
 Apple - Cost
 Expects Users to be connected to a network
 3G/4G
 WiFi
 Plan for outages and lack of GPS or Network
 Ruggedness
 Moisture, Dropping, Wear/Tear
 Battery Life
 GPS Accuracy
 Offline Caching more Difficult to Deploy and Operate
 Know when to move to Custom Apps or ArcGIS Mobile
Image by: Ptuffs

14. Examples

15. Examples
 Projects are posted
from the enterprise.
 Controls on editing
and access are
controlled centrally
 Multiple projects
can be accessed by
individual users

16. Examples
 Regulatory Delineations
 iPad & Android
devices deployed
 Vector data and
attributes collected
 Internal GPS
 Domains used to
constrain values
 Offline edits cached
for posting to
enterprise SDE

17. Examples

18. Examples
•Mashups
•Multiple Basemaps

19. Examples
 City of Lakeport, CA
 iPad App
 Neighborhood
Condition Study
 Field crews collect
multiple layers of
condition information

20. Users select the layer to attribute.

21. •Fields and attributes can easily be viewed and edited.
•Map attributes are updated on the fly and posted in real time to the SDE database.

22. •Using domains, users choices are limited
•Domains help eliminate field errors in field data collection

23. •Fields and attributes can easily be viewed and edited.
•Map attributes are updated on the fly and posted in real time to the SDE database.

24. Examples

25. Examples
 Stormwater Permit Tracking
 Inspections
 As-builts
 Water Quality
Management Plans

26. Creating Value …
… Delivering Solutions
Effective Data Collection and Management
through Mobile Phone Applications
Steve Bein PE, GISP