Case Study - Mobile App

There was a need for the development of a mobile application to assist in the evaluation and investigation of death scenes in forensic medical practice.

Technical Requirements

1. The solution should be App based (Android)

2. The ability to capture data in an offline mode is critical

3. The data should be synced to a secure cloud-based platform as and when connectivity with the web is established.

4. Role based access and data encryption is of utmost importance.

Solution

We took our existing eSource platform and converted it to a hybrid offline/online solution by implementing a JavaScript framework called React Native. The new code base (along with a RESTful API) allowed for data to be shared between the mobile device and the secure cloud platform.

Conclusion

In countries or communities where the lack of adequately skilled or trained personnel in the form of expert death/scene investigators may compromise the quality of the initial investigation (and even lead to grave miscarriages of justice). this new tool may greatly assist in ensuring that relevant information is systematically contemporaneously captured, stored and made available for assessment by trained professionals, thereby assisting in eventual criminal and civil justice administration. This tool indeed has potential for greatly improving the quality of medico-legal death investigation, not only in South Africa, but internationally.