SPOTTERON

We just added a new testimonial by Dr. Dott. Didone Frigerio who is our partner for the #CitizenScience project Forschen im Almtal.

Working with SPOTTERON implies working with a professional partner on the topics of Apps & Citizen Science. I was always very pleased about the reliability, but also the openness to try new things and the possibility to exchange with competent partners. Thanks!

We just added a new SPOTTERON Package for Citizen Science projects. If you are curious about Package L or all other SPOTTERON Packages for community science projects, you can check here.

Fresh on our blog! We took our easter egg hunt on a microscopic level today and found something quite special - check it out in our Citizen Science Blog!

Today we decided to went on a Easter Egg Hunt - and since it is raining heavily today we took this journey to another realm: the microcosm!

In an ever-changing online environment, it is essential, especially for smartphone apps, to get updated continuously and adapt to changing standards or technologies. Since online citizen science projects are per definition interactive user-oriented applications, it is essential to provide ongoing maintenance to the software they run on for stability, safety and also compatibility over a more extended period.

Life cycles of online software and especially smartphone apps are very short. To prevent your apps from becoming unusable on new operating system versions, getting clunky, or functionalities simply breaking down after a while, we have chosen to offer SPOTTERON as a Software as Service (SAS) model. That way, we can take care of all projects on the platform during their whole runtime while also being able to keep prices low.

WHY RUNTIME COSTS AFTER 2 YEARS?

Software as Service (SAS) or subscription-based services is a growing standard since they ensure a hassle-free service for the partner without additional costs coming up during runtime because of necessary adaptations. Also, it enables us to run all your Citizen Science apps and projects without user tracking for ad profile building or third-party ad networks. Read more about SPOTTERON privacy policy here: Privacy & Data Safety

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE OFFICIAL RUNTIME

We have established a routine called the “extended runtime” to be able to keep your project alive even after the official runtime is over. After the subscription period ends, we automatically provide a four weeks free cooldown period in which all four parts of a project - Android app, IOS app, interactive map and administration interface - continue to run normally. During this cool-off period, all project participants can also be informed, use the integrated communication features and download the data via the administration interface.

After the cooldown period, we can keep the interactive map, in which all project users are able to participate and submit data, and your administration interface access online for a small monthly fee of € 90,- (Package L; excl. VAT if appliable) for unlimited data hosting, web-app updates and support. With an additional website, the regular monthly fees for package L are currently € 125,- also including patching, support and maintenance of the project's CMS-based website.

During the extended runtime, we still keep your project ad-free and without user monetizing or third party ad profile tracking.

#InvasivesWeek 2018: The racoon is on the #invasivespecies list of the EU and can be found across europe - alive or dead. Submit observations and support the #CitSci project on the @SPOTTERON platform via the #CitizenScience app "Roadkill"

We updated our Citizen Science App section for all projects running on SPOTTERON. There's a short description for every project in both english and german now. If you're curious as to what we're working on, check it out!

The Top Citizen Science project „Gemeinsam fahren wir besser“ (approx: We drive better together) of the Center for Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Salzburg aims to collect data on driver assistance systems in collaboration with Austrian drivers via the Community Science App GeFaBe. The goal is to highlight shortcomings and security holes but also good practice in driver assistance systems.

With this Citizen Science app, it's possible to contribute to the Community Science project "Fägelbär "(English: Birdberry) by reporting observations of birds eating berries. Researchers from the Department of Ecology, Environmental and Botany at the University of Stockholm collect the data to better understand which birds feed on which berries, how they are involved in spreading plants, and to gain knowledge about landscaping and consequences of a warmer climate.