Super Filipino Mapper: Filipino wins Google Map Competition

Wayne Dell Manuel, a 24-year old Filipino, won the first-ever Google Map Maker Global Competition. Manuel is a software developer at the National Telehealth Center at the University of the Philippines in Manila. Over 700 contestants from countries around the world joined the competition, but only Manuel bagged the $50,000 donation from UNICEF and an all-expense paid trip to the Google Super Mappers 2010 conference in Switzerland. The donation is for the projects that will help empower the Filipino youth through technology in the Philippines.

The contestants were required to add maps of universities, schools, hospitals and medical clinics as features in Google Map that will help humanitarian organizations like the UNICEF do their jobs much better. According to Google, “having a complete and accurate map can help people in your community, including businesses, tourism, civil services and even emergency rescue workers.”

Manuel said that maps have always interested him because they help him get acquainted with places that he have never seen before. “As soon as I heard about Google Map Maker, I immediately joined and found its interface very intuitive and user-friendly. I love the feeling of putting together something that would be useful to many people.”

Manuel added that he will continue to edit maps because there are still many unmapped areas in the Philippines.

Angeles City, Pampanga, Central Luzon, Philippines.

Bulua, Cagayan de Oro, Misamis Oriental, North Mindanao, Philippines.

Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, Central Visayas, Philippines.

Sources:
Asian Journal: The Filipino American Community Newspaper
(http://www.asianjournal.com/galing-pinoy/)

Google
(http://www.google.com/help/mapmaker/competitions/)