Cities’ COVID Mitigation Mapping

The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly spread around the world affecting public health and having cascading impacts on nearly every aspect of human life. Challenges from COVID-19 extend far beyond the illness, to include disruption of the global economy and local socio-economic relationships.

The COVID-19 pandemic will continue to challenge vulnerable populations and communities long after the infection numbers peak. Many vulnerable populations around the world are experiencing a new complexity the virus is bringing to existing challenges such as poverty, food insecurity, obstacles to social, economic, and labor mobility, and access to education. Understanding these second-order impacts will help officials as well as civil society organizations mitigate negative effects and strengthen responses to address growing economic, health, and education needs.

C2M2 Voyage

Take a voyage on the Google Earth C2M2 voyager story.

The Cities’ COVID Mitigation Mapping program (C2M2) builds on global networks of geospatial experts to analyze second-order impacts of COVID-19. The goal of this program is to increase the capacity to understand the distribution and gaps in resources available to vulnerable populations in urban communities. This program has three regional hubs in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, where select local organizations, with regional geospatial and community development expertise, identify and work with various local project partners to develop and guide C2M2 projects in each region.

C2M2 projects build local capacity to utilize open data and geospatial technologies, strengthen international partnerships, and create new data and analyses to inform data-driven decision making for planning to mitigate COVID-19 second-order impacts. Project partners will focus on key themes: food security, informal economy, tourism, health, and mobility to address second-order impacts of COVID-19.

C2M2 Launch Webinar: Defining the Geospatial Characteristics of COVID-19 Second-Order Impacts

YouTube embedded video: Cities' Covid Mitigation Mapping (C2M2) Launch Webinar. Press space or enter to play video.

Cities' COVID Mitigation Mapping (C2M2) team meets for the program's launch webinar, featuring presentations on the second order impacts of COVID-19 from the Africa, Asia, and Latin America Hubs, December 2020.

C2M2 Complete Playlist

Click on the video below to launch the full playlist of videos related to MapGive’s Cities COVID Mitigation Mapping program, including lightning talks, panel discussions, and the entire C2M2 Symposium (Jun 22-25, 2021).

Africa Hub

The COVID-19 impact on African countries has followed a gradual trend as opposed to the rapid surges occurring elsewhere. Given this context, Africa is an important region to examine and understand how countries have prepared themselves to manage the second order impacts of the pandemic.

The Africa Hub focuses on three cities across the continent: 1) Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo; 2) Nairobi, Kenya; and 3) Pemba, Mozambique. These projects address second order impacts related to access to social services, such as education, water, and health. Additionally, the Africa Hub will promote technical exchanges with partners in Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Accra, Ghana, and Conakry, Guinea to share lessons learned and best practices..

Africa Hub Lead: Dr. Gaston Mbonglou, UASG Advisors

Dr. Gaston Mbonglou is a senior executive with a proven track record in business strategy, operations management, and information technology. He is Principal at UASG Advisors and VP of Operations at the Capstone Strategy Group, a company focusing on process improvement and the use of technology to drive organizational efficiency. Prior to joining Capstone Strategy Group, Gaston held multiple management positions at KPMG. Since 2017, Gaston has provided strategic leadership and project oversight for US State Department’s funded projects in Africa and since 2020, he is leading the Africa Hub for geospatial projects. He is co-author of the “Accelerating Business Growth in Emerging Economies framework”, a strategy centered around the capacity building through entrepreneurship programs in emerging economies. Gaston has held the position of Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Maryland University College. He holds a Ph.D. and a Master's Degree in Computer Science from the University of Technology of Dresden, Germany.

List of Partners:

Find out more about ongoing projects in the C2M2 Africa Hub:

YouTube embedded video: Dr. Gaston Mbonglou, C2M2 Africa Hub lead, shares an overview with more details about the goals of C2M2 projects in Nairobi, Kenya, Pemba, Mozambique, and Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo. Press space or enter to play video.

The goal for the C2M2 Africa Hub is to provide detailed and useful insight regarding the secondary impacts of COVID-19 embedded in the health-care systems, economies, and social sectors in African cities. Dr. Gaston Mbonglou, C2M2 Africa Hub lead, shares an overview with more details about the goals of C2M2 projects in Nairobi, Kenya, Pemba, Mozambique, and Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Additional C2M2 Africa Hub content:

C2M2 Symposium Lightning Talk: Nairobi, Kenya

C2M2 Nairobi partners provide an overview of their work during the C2M2 Symposium. The C2M2 symposium (Jun 22-25, 2021) focused on mapping for mitigation of second-order impacts by exploring geospatial outcomes to inform data-driven decision making.

C2M2 Symposium Lightning Talk: Bukavu, DRC

C2M2 Bukavu partners provide an overview of their work during the C2M2 Symposium. The C2M2 symposium (Jun 22-25, 2021) focused on mapping for mitigation of second-order impacts by exploring geospatial outcomes to inform data-driven decision making.

C2M2 Symposium Lightning Talk: Pemba, Mozambique

C2M2 Pemba partners provide an overview of their work during the C2M2 Symposium. The C2M2 symposium (Jun 22-25, 2021) focused on mapping for mitigation of second-order impacts by exploring geospatial outcomes to inform data-driven decision making.

C2M2 Symposium Panel Discussion: Gaston Mbonglou

C2M2 Africa Hub Lead, Gaston Mbonglou, leads a panel discussion during the C2M2 discussion. The C2M2 symposium (Jun 22-25, 2021) focused on mapping for mitigation of second-order impacts by exploring geospatial outcomes to inform data-driven decision making.

C2M2 Vizathon - Bukavu, DRC

A visual StoryMap created with C2M2 Bukavu partners to describe the impact of COVID-19 in Bukavu, DRC, as part of the Understanding COVID-19 Vizathon (July 29-August 1, 2021).

Asia Hub

The Asia Hub guides two city projects; the South Asia project located in Dhaka, Bangladesh and the Central Asia project in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. In Dhaka, the city project studies the migration of economically vulnerable populations to coastal regions. In Ulaanbaatar, the project will work in ger communities – informal settlements – to assess access to critical health services. The Asia Hub is creating data and analysis methodologies for use throughout the region.

List of Partners:

Asia Hub Lead: Nama Raj Budhathoki, Ph.D, Executive Chairman, Kathmandu Living Labs

Dr. Nama Budhathoki founded and developed Kathmandu Living Labs (KLL) as one of the exemplary institutions working in the areas of OpenStreetMap, open data, and civic technology. Some of the works he led at KLL have been covered in major news outlets, e.g. The New York Times, BBC, MyRepublica, GovInsider, theguardian, Setopati, Nepali Times. At KLL, Nama has been leading the Secondary Cities Project since 2016 and is also guiding the C2M2 Projects in Asia. Before founding KLL, Nama successfully led the World Bank’s Open Cities Project in Nepal in its inception phase. Currently, Nama serves the Open Mapping Hub for the Asia-Pacific region as the inaugural Regional Director where he works closely with OpenStreetMap communities from 25 countries in the region.

Nama earned his doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with focus in OpenStreetMap. Following the doctoral degree, he worked at McGill University as a postdoctoral research fellow and then at Niti Foundation as the Director of programs. He has authored over a dozen journal papers and book chapters. His studies and works have been funded mainly by the US government, Canadian government, Dutch Government, and Yahoo! Inc. His co-edited book titled Youth Community Inquiry: New Media for Community and Personal Growth was published in 2014.

Find out more about ongoing projects in the C2M2 Asia Hub:

Nepali Tourism in COVID-19: Data, Insights and Recommendations

The KLL team shares their insights on COVID-19’s impacts on tourism businesses and workers and their preparedness and therefore, their needs in the wake of the second wave of COVID-19. The presentation is aimed for government officials with the goal of informing the upcoming national budget.

Mongolia Health Portal

Public Lab Mongolia created an app to share Do you know where the closest hospital is from your home? Do you know where you can easily access an ambulance from during an emergency situation? Are you prepared? Public LabMongolia created this app to help you answer these questions because critical infrastructure information made open here plays an integral part in keeping both yourself and your neighbors healthy.

C2M2 Lightning Talk: Dhaka, Bangladesh

C2M2 Dhaka partners provide an overview of their work during the C2M2 Symposium. The C2M2 symposium (Jun 22-25, 2021) focused on mapping for mitigation of second-order impacts by exploring geospatial outcomes to inform data-driven decision making.

C2M2 Lightning Talk: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

C2M2 Ulaanbaatar partners provide an overview of their work during the C2M2 Symposium. The C2M2 symposium (Jun 22-25, 2021) focused on mapping for mitigation of second-order impacts by exploring geospatial outcomes to inform data-driven decision making.

C2M2 Lightning Talk: Kathmandu, Nepal

C2M2 Kathmandu partners provide an overview of their work during the C2M2 Symposium. The C2M2 symposium (Jun 22-25, 2021) focused on mapping for mitigation of second-order impacts by exploring geospatial outcomes to inform data-driven decision making.

Nama Budhathoki, Kathmandu Living Labs and HOT Panel Discussion

C2M2 Asia Hub Lead, Nama Budhathoki, provides an overview of C2M2 Asia hub and presents findings related to COVID-19's impact on tourism in Nepal. The C2M2 symposium (Jun 22-25, 2021) focused on mapping for mitigation of second-order impacts by exploring geospatial outcomes to inform data-driven decision making.

Tourism and COVID-19 in Nepal

How has the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has affected the tourism ecosystem in Nepal? Why is it important? What do we know so far? This story map curated by Kathmandu Living Labs guides readers through these questions and answers.