Abstract
The article describes the process of aggregation of media-based data about the coronavirus pandemic in the Olomouc region, the Czech Republic. Originally non-spatially located news from different sources and various platforms (government, social media, news portals) were automatically aggregated into a centralized database. The application “COVID-map” is an interactive web map solution which visualizes records from the database in a spatial way. The COVID-map has been developed within the Ad hoc online hackathon as an academic project at the Department of Geoinformatics, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic. Alongside spatially localized data, the map application collects statistical data from official sources e.g., from the governmental crisis management office. The impact of the application was immediate. Within a few days after the launch, tens of thousands users per day visited the COVID-map. It has been published by regional and national media. The COVID-map solution could be considered as a suitable implementation of the correctly used cartographical method for the example of the coronavirus pandemic.
Highlights
The world was paralyzed by the coronavirus pandemic in the first half of 2020
Sufficient information was available for the Olomouc Region of Czechia, but in the first stages of the pandemic, it was fragmented, inconsistent and produced by many different sources
The application fully automates the process of collecting information found in different formats and platforms from numerous data sources. It combines both spatially localized and non-spatial information originating on different platforms in various data forms and file formats
Summary
The world was paralyzed by the coronavirus pandemic in the first half of 2020 Under these circumstances, various media and information to inform the public about the current local and global situations spontaneously emerged through different channels. Various media and information to inform the public about the current local and global situations spontaneously emerged through different channels This rapid development often resulted in disinformation. Sufficient information was available for the Olomouc Region of Czechia, but in the first stages of the pandemic, it was fragmented, inconsistent and produced by many different sources (social networks, news portals, official crisis staff sources, personal profiles of the governor and mayor, etc.). The motivation behind the COVID-map application was to aggregate information from various sources into a single location and to verify these reports. Social responsibility and dissatisfaction with incorrect applications of basic cartographic methods in various alternative solutions motivated the present authors to create the COVID-map
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