Social Mapping project

Trialogue launches social mapping tool to plot CSI spend
on Google Earth

Company X’s CSI spend in the area of early childhood development

The recently launched social map is designed to enhance the impact of corporate social investment by showing the extent of the investment in relation to socio-economic needs by geographic region and development sector. The map will depict this information in an easily accessible form on a Google Earth platform.

The map has the potential to enhance the impact of social investment by facilitating three things:

Analysis: The mapping tool will provide powerful information to support CSI funding and strategy decisions. It will enable CSI practitioners to answer questions such as: What is the profile of the communities in which our projects are being implemented (population, poverty rate, malnutrition, access to services etc.)? How does our municipal and development sector CSI spend compare to that of other companies? Could we co-fund? Are there major gaps? How does our spending align with poverty indicators and how are these indicators changing over the life of our investment?

Poverty rate by municipality Visualisation: The tool can be used to demonstrate the geographic areas and development sectors in which the corporate contribution is most significant. It is a powerful visual tool that can be used live in presentations or copied into reports.

Cooperation: For those who have an interest in aligning their investment with other corporate or government programmes this tool could identify areas of potential cooperation. The development of this tool has been funded by the Business Trust as part of its Community Investment Programme (www.btrust.org.za) and developed in partnership with AfricaScope, an organisation specialising in spatial mapping of data (www.africascope.net).

For more information on this groundbreaking mapping tool and details on how to subscribe please see www.socialmapping.net or email info@socialmapping.net.