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The new generation with its new forms of communication needs more precise tools to access health-oriented information, says GeoCure co-founder

People overwhelmed by the onslaught of media coverage during outbreaks such as swine flu might soon be getting a little clarity, thanks to a new software startup in Saint John.

GeoCure, a company founded by five entrepreneurs earlier this month, hopes to harness social networking sites like Twitter and Internet newsfeeds to filter data and identify how disease outbreaks are spreading. The software could even potentially spot epidemics in their earliest stages.

"We could use it even in Saint John if people are complaining about pollution. If people have asthma, we can pinpoint what areas are worse and tell them to stay away from there," says Robert Foley, a UNB business student who originally conceived of the idea.

GeoCure was established as a formal company earlier this month at the social networking event 54Hours, held in Saint John. Foley, and business partner Suhaim Abdussamad, pitched the idea in front of about 30 attendees at the Delta Brunswick. 54Hours encouraged participants to try to realize a workable product and form a company in three days.

The idea however originated last year, when New Brunswick health officials came to speak at one of Foley's classes at UNB. They described having communication barriers when trying to contact individuals in the 15-24 age range. Many in that age range didn't have landline phones, making it impossible to get in touch with them via traditional methods used to keep residents informed about health concerns.

"A lot of people between my age group of 15-24 don't typically have a landline, they have a cellphone," says Foley. "But the best means of communicating with us is through a Twitter account, a Facebook account, an MSN account, you know, all your social medias."

Foley decided that a new generation with new forms of communication needed more precise tools to access health-oriented information. He cites the 2006 norovirus outbreak at several universities in Atlantic Canada as an example of GeoCure's potential usefulness.

"What happened was all these people were getting sick because they were being sent home (students returned home only to infect family and friends), and there was no way to monitor them once they were there. The universities weren't using the right tools to communicate with students," says Foley. The Norovirus went from an outbreak at the university to one in the community.

Abdussamad, who works as a quality assurance analyst for a software company in Fredericton and helped Foley further develop the idea, says that GeoCure takes advantage of a simple concept called crowdsourcing. It basically states that a goal can be accomplished by taking advantage of a large number of people to collectively work on a project, much the same way Wikipedia functions.

"This way we can say where the news is coming from, and kind of organize it a little better," says Abdussamad. "Because otherwise it's this massive chaos that no one really knows. And you need to represent that data in a usable way."

Abdussamad hopes that eventually the technology can be used to identify where a possible epidemic might be starting based on an excessive amount of reoccurring words. For instance, if many people report flu-like conditions in one region, GeoCure could label it as a possible outbreak.

But for now that feature is still a concept. "It's a possibility we're hoping for, but ultimately we're still working on it," says Abdussamad. "What it will do though is filter data and make it easier for users to track these kinds of outbreaks locally."

Foley and Abdussamad haven't set a date yet for when they plan to release GeoCure. Their team of five is continuing to work on it.

"We're more concerned about quality right now rather than trying to rush it out on to the market," says Foley.