Supporting the relentless battle to track & contain Covid-19, India’s indigenous GIS tech companies come to fore

There is tremendous pressure on India right now to contain the spread of Coronavirus that is causing the pandemic infection spread of the disease named as Covid-19. Since the virus is spreading fast among people with medical diagnosis and intervention not able to meet its speed, disease tracking researchers or epidemiologists in India are shouldering the responsibility of identifying the hotspots of the infection, the symptomatic and asymptomatic Covid-19 carriers, and also potential transmitters who have come in contact with infected individuals. But this is no easy task.

In a pandemic situation, a location or a place becomes the basic tenets of an investigation of this kind. The question where becomes equally important with who and when in terms of identifying the infected person. And to answer the question – where- Geographic Information Science, Systems, Software (collectively known as GIS) and methods are the most reliable and valuable tools that epidemiologists depend on to deduce the geographical spread of the disease.

These GIS tools are in the form of maps that are useful for establishing the boundaries of the investigation area. Using GIS software, experts predict the boundaries and extent of contamination in the environment of study. Hence, with the current Covid-19 situation, geographic understanding is essential in detecting and responding to the outbreak, which at this time is the biggest need for a population-dense country like India. Fortunately, India had its own capabilities through companies that have technology-ready solutions that could be deployed in this golden hour to support the on-going need to track the spread of Covid-19 among the Indian population.

On one hand, we have established companies like Esri India and MapmyIndia who have the relevant expertise in GIS and on the other hand we have students of Mahindra Ecole Centrale and research scholars from the Department of Geography at the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kerala, to stand by for geography-based information on Covid-19.

Companies in action:

Esri India is a leading Geographic Information System (GIS) software and solutions provider. According to Esri, GIS capabilities of spatial analytics, mapping, and location intelligence enable health officials and government agencies to see patterns in data, identify at-risk populations and plan targeted intervention to respond to, manage and contain the disease epidemics. Using GIS and mapping for applications surrounding the pandemic, government agencies can:

1. Map the cases — Map confirmed and active cases, fatalities, and recoveries to identify where COVID‑19 infections have occurred.
2. Map the spread — Time-enabled maps can reveal how infections spread over time and where you may want to target interventions.
3. Map vulnerable populations — COVID‑19 disproportionally impacts certain demographics such as the elderly and those with underlying health conditions. Mapping social vulnerability, age, and other factors help you monitor at-risk groups and regions you serve.
4. Map the capability to respond — Map facilities, employees or citizens, medical resources, equipment, goods, and services to understand and respond to current and potential impacts of COVID‑
5. Communicate with maps — Use interactive Web maps, dashboard apps, and StoryMaps to help rapidly communicate the situation.

Esri also says that multiple agencies are involved in this control. There is a need for coordinated decision making that supports all aspects of response - to contain, protect against, and mitigate the effects of the pandemic to the community. With location as a common denominator, Geographic Information System (GIS) technology provides the fundamental capability to enable this common operating picture for multi-agency collaboration.

Esri is already working with various government agencies around the world to help them leverage GIS technology to make decisions and plan various measures to control the spread of the pandemic. To support the communities across the globe with active emergency response and relief efforts, Esri is providing the ArcGIS Hub Coronavirus Response template at no cost through a complimentary six-month ArcGIS Online subscription with ArcGIS Hub. The template includes examples, materials, and configurations to rapidly deploy ArcGIS Hub environment. ArcGIS Hub is a framework to build a website to visualize and analyze the crisis in the context of an organization’s or community’s population and assets.

Esri India has also formed a country-wide task-force that is working with various government departments like the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) & other state departments in providing support to set-up GIS-based Hubs, integration of various datasets, app development, predictive analytics, etc. Esri is supporting its users and community in understanding the impact of this outbreak and in responding more effectively using its GIS and mapping technology.

Apart from Esri, we have MapmyIndia that is empowering citizens to report specific, hyperlocal issues to relevant authorities for speedy action/redressal on Covid-19. MapmyIndia Move app & maps.mapmyindia.com are enabling citizens to help authorities like PMO India, local governments, police, etc. to know about public grievances (e.g. non-allowance of essential supplies) and lapses in enforcement.

MapmyIndia Maps and the Move app enable citizens to view, locate & reach nearby Coronavirus testing labs, Isolation and treatment facilities – both government and non-government. As early detection and isolation of infected persons are two very critical measures that help contain an epidemic, MapmyIndia says its resources are designed to do both. Users can see and add their own photos & reviews about these places, in terms of amenities/hygiene, etc., helping other users with critical & updated information on the condition of each facility. The live dashboard can be used to get the latest, pan India updates on the spread & mitigation of Coronavirus viz. confirmed cases, recoveries, etc. along with the information on authorized COVID-19 facilities across India.

“MapmyIndia is committed to Prime Minister’s appeal to the public to jointly fight the threat of Coronavirus and towards the realization of his promise of uninterrupted supply of essential goods and services to all corners of the country. In these difficult times every bit, even the smallest action taken in the right direction, counts. With MapmyIndia Maps and the Move app, we are enabling the citizens to help authorities. Our objective is to facilitate better governance through better coordination/cooperation amongst citizens and authorities,” says Rohan Verma, CEO & Executive Director MapmyIndia, on how his company is striving hard to get the information in place during this pandemic crisis.

Students, researchers in action:

Raghav NS, Ananta Srikar, and Rishab Ramanathan, students of Mahindra Ecole Centrale, an engineering college in Hyderabad, have developed a district-wise COVID-19 tracker called CovIndia that can help netizens to know the current state of Coronavirus spread. These students have claimed to be the first creators of India’s only district-wise Covid-19 tracker that can be helpful for people traveling within the country so that they can avoid virus-prone zones and would also help the authorities to mobilize resources more efficiently. CovIndia uses Artificial intelligence in combination with Human Intelligence to ensure that all data is verified before they claim a new case. This tool gives real-time information on total affected people, saved and died. The team has also requested its users to report any errors in their data.

CovIndia provides live district-wise information with the time-lapse that features where people can see how Coronavirus is spreading geographically, all over India. The website also provides the standard statistics which almost everyone provides such as the total number of reported cases, state-wise distribution, etc.

The team of students was led by faculty member Dr. Achal Agrawal. In her blog, she had expressed, “We searched and found that there was no tracker available which gave us district-wise data. All the trackers only provided state-wise data. Even worse, all the states were colored red making it look like India was already infected with Corona when there were only 100 cases. Talk about fear-mongering! District-wise data would allay fears of people who might be panicking seeing the graphs made by major news outlets. I asked Raghav to think about it and meet me the next day if he wanted to work on it.”

A group of research scholars in the Department of Geography at Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, is using geographic information systems (GIS) to indicate the spatial distribution in the increase/decrease of persons under Covid-19 observation in Kerala. The team used Quantum GIS (QGIS), an open-source package, to arrive at the spatial projection of Covid-19 cases. According to T S Saju, Head, Department of Geography, this endeavor was taken up by the department to provide not only the general public but also the authorities with an idea of the spread of infection.  He says that once such an understanding is arrived at, it will be very easy to work towards containing the spread. The data for the spatial maps are being sourced from the Health Department, he says.

As of April 1^st, the total confirmed Covid-19 cases in India stand at 1,637 with 1,466 active cases, 38 deaths, and 132 recoveries. These GIS-based apps and dashboards are doing their sincere efforts to help India fight the battle against the virus. Stay at home, Stay Safe for a united stand against Covid-19.