Is this the first-ever WhatsApp Map?

Article by M.Moreu, F.Moustard, J.Stevenson, D.Tekle, M.Haklay, C.Ellul, J.Lewis, T.Couch, A.Ho-Lyn and J.Cooper. 

"Google Maps popularised maps, but not mapping. We all contribute to maps, but we do so as passive sensors whose mobility is being tracked. Popularising mapping is not about tracking but about active sensing. It is about activating communities as sensors to map what is happening on the ground around the world. 

"Our latest research suggests that to popularise mapping, mapping needs to be integrated into the digital environments where we connect with our trusted peers, i.e. WhatsApp (Moreu, 2024). 

"The poster below shows the first-ever (to the best of our knowledge) WhatsApp Map and how it was made by Nyangatom agro-pastoralists in Ethiopia. More information about the Nyangatom context can be found at Stevenson et al. (2022).

"With the introduction of WhatsApp Maps, we aim to accelerate scientific discovery in collective intelligence. We have been inspired by other scientists (Jumper et al., 2021) who used some of the world's largest computers to accelerate scientific discovery in artificial intelligence. The largest user base of connected people who trust each other is in WhatsApp. 

"Finally, we’ve demonstrated the potential of WhatsApp Maps in a place where the social and technical challenges are substantial, because if it works there at “the-bottom-of-the-pyramid”, it can happen anywhere (Haklay and Lewis, 2017). WhatsApp Maps can turn 2.5+ billion WhatsApp users into community mappers sensing what is happening on the ground around the globe. 

More Information

• Find out more about the project on Kapta Earth
• The writers would like to thank their Nyangatom collaborators and the UCL CDI-AWS Impact Accelerator team (Igor Tseyzer, Socrates Varakliotis, Magda Hercheui, Caron Crawford, Abdilmajide Ali, Heidi Cantarero and Max Klass), as well as CARTO, Planet and the European Space Agency.
• This project has received funding from the European Research Council (Advanced Grant Agreement No. 694767), Formas, UCL Grand Challenges-Food Security Special Issue, UCL Innovation & Enterprise and UCL Grand Challenges-Responsible Innovation Award