Tuesday, 30 September 2008

Nokia offers Free Mobile Software that Collects Data

Nokia this week unveiled Nokia Data Gathering, a new software solution to help public sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) quickly and accurately collect data on critical issues such as disease outbreaks or disaster relief via mobile devices.

The Amazonas State Health Department in Brazil will be the first to use the solution as part of its fight against dengue fever in the city of Manaus in Northern Brazil.

The free of charge software can be used to create tailored questionnaires and distribute them to multiple mobile phones using a normal mobile network. Field personnel surveying local conditions can quickly complete the questionnaires and immediately transmit their findings to a central database. The system also allows organizations to geo-tag data with GPS location information to build a more detailed picture of very local conditions.

"The more time-critical the information, and the more remote the location, the more organizations have to gain from a mobile phone based solution. We expect Nokia Data Gathering to be especially beneficial in collecting information in the health, agriculture, emergency services, censuses and environmental conservation sectors," said Gregory Elphinston, Director of Community Involvement at Nokia.

The software was developed by Nokia and Instituto Nokia de Tecnologia (INdT), a non-profit research and development center in Brazil. Nokia will be donating licenses for the Nokia Data Gathering software to public sector organizations and NGOs.