Development of a Web based Geo-Visualization tool for schools in Nairobi county

Abstract

Development of a Web Based Geo-Visualization Tool for Secondary Schools in Nairobi County

Societal need for information products has led governments the world over to adopt policies of open government where they promote accountability and transparency. In Kenya, the government has availed a platform called the Kenya Open Data Initiative (KODI) that promotes interagency collaboration between government bodies as well as engaging its citizens. In the education sector massive datasets on educational institutions have been availed in KODI and indications are that the government in a bid to conform to open government trends is willing to continuously provide current, complete, consistent and credible data and information to the public. Currently, the Government of Kenya is utilizing KODI and is looking at setting up a National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). This research involved the development of a solution that seeks to make the provided datasets on secondary schools in Kenya intelligent. It seeks to avail useful information products to the citizens of Nairobi County about secondary schools in the county. For, example, the solution offers parents seeking Form 1 places every year an easy and user friendly tool to access performance information about secondary schools in the county as well as valuable information on their distribution, enrolment, teachers etc. The web based geo-visualization tool for secondary schools in Nairobi county solution provides a way in which a rich interactive web mapping application can be embedded in the KODI platform and provide useful information to stakeholders and citizens without the need to keep on pushing data from Ministry of Education (MOE) for upload in KODI. The backend enterprise geodatabase offers a solution for update of secondary school data to MOE officials without need for duplication thus maintaining currency of the data. The solution achieved the project objectives of developing a spatial database of secondary schools in Nairobi County and enables the use of the database by the community through an online geo-visualization tool. Furthermore, this solution is in line with the lines of thought of GIS as a platform supporting Gov. 2.0 with a view to build mapping applications that engage citizens and enhance transparency and accountability by governments. We propose the use of web mapping applications e.g. the web based geo-visualization tool in secondary schools in Nairobi County - for delivery of information about our educational institutions for all the 47 counties in Kenya. A research in the utilization of the emerging mobile technologies such as smartphones and tablets needs to be conducted