The Philippine Online Chronicles

For having the most number of map entries and contributions to Google Map Maker, 23-year-old Wayne Dell Manuel of the University of the Philippines bested over 700 contestants from all over the globe in the first Google Map Maker Global Competition.

Manuel, a software developer at the UP National Telehealth Center, has added more than 1,500 "qualifying map features and made hundreds of moderations in the Google Map Maker" which were judged as the most accurate among all entries submitted for the contest. Manuel has been credited globally as one of the 10-top mappers for Map Maker, with 35,000 map edits to his name.

The Google Map Making Global Competition was launched to promote the use of technology in “community development” by asking its users to map the universities, establishments and other significant geographical sites in the home countries. The winner was determined as the one with the most number of accurate entries. The contest ran from December 15 to January 31, 2010.

Manuel started using Map Maker in 2008, when he initially edited streets, establishments and municipalities in his hometowns of Tuguegarao and Baguio City. Once he had learned the ropes of cartography, he began editing the maps of other cities: Tarlac City, Pampanga, Angeles and Tacloban City in Leyte. Most of his entries comprised mainly of local public schools, universities and medical clinics all over Luzon.

“For the competition, I added mostly government schools in the biggest islands of the Philippines: Luzon. Government schools in the country tend to be used as temporary evacuation centers during times of calamity such as typhoons and earthquakes which are common to the Philippines. It would greatly help in disaster planning and management,” said Manuel.

True enough, Manuel's maps helped volunteer groups respond to distress calls and rescues during the devastating Typhoon Ondoy (International name: Ketsana) that hit most parts of Metro Manila in September last year.

“I was so happy to see the roads that I have helped map were used to locate the houses and my fellow Filipinos who needed help,” he said upon learning that his maps were used for the Ondoy rescue missions.

For his “remarkable mapping efforts,” Google awarded Manuel with a $50,000 UNICEF donation to benefit projects empowering the youth through the use of technology in the Philippines. He will also get a VIP tour to the said projects and will attend the upcoming Super Mapper 2010 conference in Zurich, Switzerland.

Google Map Maker is an online service designed to “expand the breadth of service” offered by Google Maps. With this service, the users are able to edit currently designed maps on the system by adding features such as rails, roadways, establishments, rivers, etc. The Map Maker is available in 175 countries, including the Philippines.

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