Based on the literature study it is evident that there are many types of systems which
enable distributed collection and centralized storage of geographic data in different
contexts (e.g. Montoya 2003; Aanensen et al. 2009; EL-Gamily et al. 2010; White et al.
2011). Some of them (e.g. Aanensen et al. 2009; White et al. 2011) employ smartphone
applications for Android. Some are also open-source. There are both open-source and
proprietary mobile GIS applications that are rapidly moving forward with more
advanced GIS processing features, including field data collection and even editing
capabilities.
The major strength of the EDCA App and the system implemented is its potential for
collaboration through its combination of openness, mobility, standards compliance,
multi-source capability and adaptability. It does not, as some mobile data collection
systems, rely on project-specific architectures or require the developer to issue custom
versions of the system to tailor for any specific scenario. Instead, it puts the power in
the hands of the administrators, which can adapt the system to the needs of their specific
users, groups of users or for the public. In fact, while the system was developed with
emergency field data collection in mind, through its flexibility, it is not strictly limited
to such an application.