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Introduction

This exploratory research project is concerned with developing a mapping application, that can be used collaboratively by people responding to a disaster or emergency event using their mobile phones. The intent of the application is to assist in building geographic knowledge of a disaster or emergency event from people in the field which can assist them in undertaking their tasks. The knowledge collected in the map can also be used by those managing the response, to improve its effectiveness and assist in having a greater understanding of the event. This is the basis of the research question for this exploratory research.

Research Question

A key requirement to forming an effective response to a disaster event is the ability to communicate. Those responding to the event need to be able to communicate with each other to coordinate their activities. On a larger scale, those coordinating the overall response need to be able to communicate with individual teams. Additionally there is the need to understand where teams are geographically located, where incidents are occurring and also where infrastructure used in the disaster response is located. This infrastructure includes such things as evacuation centres, food drops, or other equipment. Additionally this may also include existing infrastructure that has survived the disaster and may be used by those responding to the disaster.

While the focus of the research question is on the use case of personnel responding to a disaster or emergency event it has become clear, during the literature review component of this exploratory research, that there is a need to expand the scope of the use case to other users as well. For example people who live in the effected area who can contribute local knowledge to the map. This could also be extended to users who are outside the affected area, for example internationally based volunteers contributing information gained from other information sources such as the media, or even from inter organisation cooperation. To keep this exploratory research project focused, and in particular the development of the prototype application, the use case is focused on those in the field responding to an emergency or disaster event.

The Serval Project software addresses the need for communication by providing a resilient Ad hoc mesh network that supports voice communication in an infrastructure independent manner. As it is infrastructure independent the network can continue to support effective communication when the traditional telecommunications infrastructure may be damaged or otherwise unavailable. Importantly the network can, where possible, extend its capabilities by integrating with existing telecommunications infrastructure, or specialised Ad hoc mesh network infrastructure. This infrastructure includes small and ultraportable mesh potatoes (independently powered WiFi devices which can be used to extend the mesh) or a mobile device attached to the end of a telescopic pole. In this way the coverage of the network can be extended, for example via a cellular or satellite network to places outside the area affected by the disaster. The Serval Project software also supports communication where the installation of infrastructure is deemed to be not cost effective by telecommunications providers. This type of capability addresses the core tenet of the Serval Project, which is that communication is a human right.

As well as supporting voice communication the Ad hoc resilient mesh network powered by the Serval Project software can be used to support arbitrary network traffic that can in turn support a variety of applications. In the case of this research project the network is used to support a prototype collaborative mapping application. Therefore the research question for this project is as follows:

Is it possible to provide collaborative mapping services on mobile devices in an infrastructure independent manner?

There are three main components to this research question; collaborative mapping, mobile devices and infrastructure independence.

Collaborative Mapping

Collaborative computing is a concept that can be defined as the “use of computer tools that make it easier for groups of people (possibly geographically separated) to work together as teams”[p. 108][#hargrave_01]. Using this definition the goal of the research project is to develop software that can be used by geographically separated users to collaborate on a map. Specifically the software will allow users to:

1. have the users own geographic location displayed on a map;
2. add incidents, represented by a marker, onto a map;
3. be able to see the geographic location of other users of the application on the map; and
4. share details of incidents with other users of the application on the network.

By achieving these four objectives users of the system will be able to collaborate on a shared experience, and build knowledge about a disaster or emergency event via the map. It is intended that users of the software will undertake these actions in the field and therefore the software is designed to be used on mobile devices.

Mobile Devices

It is intended that the primary use case for the software that is developed as part of this research will be users responding to a disaster or emergency event in the field. As such the software must be available on devices that have a small form factor, are easily transportable, and provide a well known user experience. Additionally to make the use of the system as ubiquitous as possible the software must work with devices that are readily available and do not need to be custom built.

For this reason the target device for the prototype application is a mobile phone, and in particular the type of mobile phone known as a smartphone. For the purposes of this exploratory research a smartphone is defined as a phone with more advanced computing capability and connectivity than an ordinary mobile phone, also known as a feature phone. Examples of smartphones include phones that use the Android platform[1] from Google or the iOS platform from Apple[2]. The larger screens, the ability to use a WiFi network and, especially the inclusion of Global Positioning System (GPS) hardware make smartphones an ideal platform for a mapping application. In particular the GPS capability is critical as the coordinate information provided by GPS is used to determine the users location and associate incident information with a location.

The Android operating system has been chosen as the development environment for the Serval Project software and this is the platform that is also used for the development of the prototype mapping application. In April of this year the technology research firm Gartner, used widely in the reporting on technology, released a report that determined that by “the end of 2011, Android will move to become the most popular operating system (OS) worldwide and will build on its strength to account for 49 percent of the smartphone market by 2012”[#gartner_01]. In a recent survey mobile phones were found to be increasingly important in emergency situations with 40% of mobile phone owners saying that they had “found themselves in an emergency situation in which having their phone with them helped”[#pew_01].

The Serval Project software provides the underlying network and the ability to make voice communications possible between handsets without using traditional infrastructure. The network is in then used in turn by the prototype mapping application to share data among users and facilitate collaboration. Importantly, by using the Serval Project network communications can be achieved independently of existing telecommunications infrastructure.

Infrastructure Independence

As mentioned earlier the Serval Project software provides a resilient Ad hoc resilient mesh network that provides telecommunication and network services without relying on existing infrastructure. This is important in all tools and services, including software that is designed to be used in a disaster event where it is likely the existing infrastructure is damaged or non existent, and services will either be restricted or disabled entirely. Conceptually the Serval Project software is a platform for a resilient Ad hoc resilient mesh network that uses mobile phones as its primary form of network node. As such the Ad hoc resilient mesh network can use the capabilities of the mobile phone to integrate with existing infrastructure where available to provide greater coverage for the network.

Each network node is part of a number of mesh interconnections. A mesh interconnection is defined as:

“set of network connections in which there is more than one route between any two nodes on the network, thus giving resilience against the failure of any link between any pair of nodes”[p. 315][#oxford_01].

In a network powered by the Serval Project software the current primary form of network node is an Android[3] powered mobile phone. Each mobile phone maintains a list of interconnections and is able to support communication between nodes. Or as Gardner-Stephen writes, the Serval Project software is an:

“… implementation of a mesh mobile telephony system that is compatible with some existing mobile telephone handsets, and can be integrated into many more models without changing handset hardware designs or costs. This technology allows mobile telephones to directly communicate with one another, and allows telephone calls to be made without infrastructure beyond the telephones themselves”[#pgs_01].

As has been stated previously, the network not only supports telephone calls, the network also supports the use of arbitrary data. The resilient Ad hoc mesh network is used by the mapping software to share information and in turn support the collaborative map based activities. In the event of a disaster or other emergency event access to network infrastructure, other than that supplied by the Serval Project software, has a high likelihood of being either limited or non existent. Therefore the mapping software must be as self contained as possible and the data used to render a map must be available on the device itself. This is in contrast to such services as Google Maps for Mobile[4] which are constructed with the assumption that an Internet connection is always available for the retrieval of information and data pertaining to the map.

It is for this reason that the mapping software uses data sourced from OpenStreetMap[5] which is licensed using the reuse friendly Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL) license[6]. As such the prototype mapping software can store map tile data locally on the device. To use this cached data the mapping software uses the mapsforge[7] library to render a map and manage the user experience of interacting with the map. Additionally by using cached map tile data it is possible that a future version of the software will be able to use the Rhizome technology, a component of the Serval Project software currently under development, to share map tile data with other devices and thereby enhance the users experience. These concepts will be explored more fully later in the report.

Motivation

A core tenet of the Serval Project is that communication is a human right. This is especially true in the case of a disaster or other emergency event as effective communication directly contributes to the efficacy of the response to the event. It is this desire to help those affected by, and those responding to, an emergency or disaster event to communicate which motivates this exploratory research project. More broadly the Serval Project is motivated by its core tenet and a desire to help anyone communicate using telecommunications who may otherwise not be able to do so. The development of the mapping services software builds on this foundation by enabling geographic information to become part of the conversation.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that during the Black Saturday bush fires that ravaged Victoria in early 2009, communication was lost with some fire crews for an extended period of time during the response. It is this type of situation that was one of the catalysts for starting the Serval Project[#pgs_02]. Additionally the Queensland Commission of Inquiry Interim Report shows that relying on telecommunications infrastructure for communication during a disaster or emergency event can be problematic:

“SMS alerts are … not a reliable method of providing flood warnings in parts of Queensland which experience problems with telephone coverage. That difficulty is compounded during a flood, when telephone reception can be affected by flood related power outages and congested telecommunications networks”[p. 130][#qld_01].

It is for this type of reason the team developing the Serval Project software are motivated to develop an Ad hoc resilient mesh network that can provide telecommunications capabilities during an emergency or disaster event. Not only does the Ad hoc resilient mesh network support voice telephony, it supports arbitrary data and therefore can be used by other applications. The prototype mapping software is also an example of the Ad hoc resilient mesh network supporting data other than voice telephony data.

Importantly in developing use cases with interested parties, and undertaking the research into this project, it became clear that there is an opportunity to develop the mapping software further and have an impact on areas other than disaster and emergency response. These areas include research into fields such as the management of mass gatherings, or environmental management.

Contribution

The primary contribution that this research makes is in the development of the prototype application that supports collaborative mapping activities on an Ad hoc resilient mesh network. The initial testing of this application provides an affirmative answer to the research question outlined earlier. Undertaking the research and exploring the use cases has also shown that the Serval Project software can form the basis for an ecosystem of applications that can be used with an Ad hoc resilient mesh network. Development of the prototype application has also effected changes to Serval Project software which will make the development of this type of ecosystem easier.

Importantly in answering the research question this research has contributed to closing a gap in the literature discovered during the literature review phase of this research. Specifically this research has shown that an Ad hoc resilient mesh network, on commodity hardware, can support a collaborative application. Additionally the research into existing systems, especially the Ushahidi[8] system which provided the base model for the application, highlighted a number of use cases that had not been previously considered. As such this research project has shown that a distributed, collaborative mapping application on mobile devices has the potential to have an impact in a number of different areas.

Research Area

The primary research area is in collaborative systems on mobile devices, with a particular focus on the tools and technologies which support the functionality of the mapping services application. Research has also been undertaken into a number of supporting areas, including Ad hoc mesh networking, as well as exploring the various use cases that have been developed. For example applying collaborative mapping to other areas such as environmental management, or mass gathering research.

Importantly as initial investigative and exploratory research, this project has the potential to act as a springboard for future research into areas such as user experience design, the use of collaborative systems in emergencies, and the continued expansion of the use of Serval Project powered Ad hoc resilient mesh networks.

Project Summary

This project is an initial investigative study that sought an affirmative answer to the research question stated earlier and as such show that it is possible to use a collaborative system to build shared knowledge on a map in a infrastructure independent manner. As a result use cases have been explored and documented, and a prototype application has been developed. Investigation into the supporting technologies has been carried out as well as areas of future research highlighted. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, this research has helped build awareness amongst project stakeholders of the potential uses of mapping software when combined with an Ad hoc resilient mesh network.

Report Structure

The structure of this report is as follows:

• Chapter one, this chapter, provides an introduction to the project and its research question.
• Chapter two, provides context and background to the project, including examining use cases and the motivation for the project.
• Chapter three, provides detail on the prototype application, the design considerations, as well as system internals.
• Chapter four, provides an overview of the testing conducted to date, as well as a more in depth proposed testing plan.
• Chapter five, concludes the exploratory research project and identifies possible avenues for future work