Rapid prototyping with a local geolocation API

Geolocation technology provides the ability to target content and services to users visiting specific locations. There is an expanding growth of device features and Web Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) supporting the development of applications with geolocation services on mobile platforms. However, to be effective, these applications rely on the availability of broadband networks which are not readily available in various developing countries, especially Africa. We propose a geolocation API for the Orange Emerginov Platform which keeps geolocation data in an offline environment and periodically synchronises with its online database. The API also has a set of new features like categorisation and shortest path. It has been successfully implemented and tested with geolocation data of Mauritius, consumed by mobile applications. Our result demonstrates reduction of response time around 80% for some features, when compared with other online Web APIs.