A citizen’s feedback after participating in a mapping campaign: “Community mapping is about changing the way you think.” ⒸCommunity Mapping Center
In numbers, BF.ZIDO’s influence still appears small. The app has been downloaded around 3,500 times, with around 3,000 users participating in the mapping process. Over 36,000 data have been collected as of December 2018. After its launch in mid-2018, CMC has continuously refined the platform through user feedback, trial and error. Now that BF.ZIDO operates more stably, the team wants to start promoting it to the world.
“The hard part is, people talk well enough about ‘accessibility for people with disabilities’ and ‘helping the marginalized.’ But they aren’t as good at putting those words to action,” says Im. “If we promote BF.ZIDO with just the usual, ‘Help disabled people. Your ten seconds can save two hours of their time,’ it won’t work.” The team’s biggest challenge is to provide effective motivations for users to participate in BF.ZIDO mapping. “For example, we can turn the mapping process into a game. We can offer users points. The platform needs to be easy to use.”
The remaining tasks include continuously updating the mapping data and operating the platform smoothly. “BF.ZIDO was possible thanks to Google. But now that we’re running out of the funding, we’re worried about the costs of maintenance and how to keep the server going. Our plan is to devise a strong business model so BF.ZIDO can continue.”
Wansoo Im is a veteran in the world of community mapping. He has studied the Geographical Information System since the late 1980s and has been running a community mapping center called VERTICES in the U.S. since 1994. In 2012, when Hurricane Sandy led to a gas shortage in New York and New Jersey, Im created a crowdsourced map with his students to locate open gas stations.
Everyday Im works at his university until 5 p.m and everyday he starts his CMC work in the evening, early into the morning. After hearing his work schedule, I ask him if he has ever regretted starting Community Mapping Center. “Everyday,” he answers immediately.
“It’s like raising a kid. It’s tough. You wonder, ‘Why the heck did I create this human,’ but you also feel immensely rewarded. I continue to dream of connecting people through community mapping and giving them the confidence that they can change their societies -- so that they actually will.”
