Research IT

LinguaSnapp Goes Global with the Help of Research IT

LinguaSnapp is a project to create multilingual landscape maps of cities round the world by crowdsourcing data from the public. Last year Research IT created a mobile app and web application for the project to focus on the city of Manchester.

This year Research IT has created two new instances of the LinguaSnapp software; one for the city of Jerusalem that we are hosting on our own servers, and one package of source code to allow partner institutions in other countries to build and run the software on their own servers.

To create the distributable package Research IT had to create extensive installation notes, modify the web software to remove the use of University-specific user authentication services, refactor the source code to allow easier handover to the partner institution’s technical teams, update the mobile app software to the latest version of Cordova cross-platform framework and thoroughly test the installation process via a 3rd party.

The main skills that Research IT brought to the project were web app development and mobile app development with Cordova. In addition Research IT also specified, planned, managed, tested and deployed the project as well as writing all technical, user and installation documentation in the distribution package. By making use of the expertise and skills available in Research IT, the LinguaSnapp team could concentrate on expanding their capabilities and the use of LinguaSnapp rather than trying to hire temporary technical staff.

If you think that your research could benefit from the advice and expertise of the Research IT team then please get in touch for a consultation.