Military University of Technology Jarosław Dąbrowski is a public, civil-military technical university based in Warsaw. It is worth emphasizing the prestige of the university and its high quality of education for students from all over Europe.

According to the Webometric Ranking of World Universities from January 2016, showing the involvement of academic institutions in the existence of the Web, the university ranks 8th in Poland among technical universities, and in the world 1130th among all types of universities. For universities, it is crucial to ensure high-quality education, through carefully designed curricula and employing outstanding specialists in the field of military technical education. The university is constantly investing in IT infrastructure to meet the high requirements of students from around the world.

The location of the Military University of Technology is at ul. gen. Sylwestra Kaliskiego 2 in the Bemowo district. Currently, the university educates over 10,000 students, and the number of employees is about 2,500.

Our main task was to build and implement a mobile application for students and other users of the Military University of Technology. Jarosław Dąbrowski in Warsaw. The main goal of the application is to navigate around the university campus with particular emphasis on helping people with disabilities with voice assistance dedicated to visually impaired people.

It was crucial for the client that the application had the following functionalities:

1. Compliance of all application functionalities with legal requirements
2. Friendly user interface
3. Ability to find a given location in the shortest possible time
4. Use of "turn by turn" navigation, that is, turn by turn with voice prompts
5. The functionality of mapping a route from the starting point to the end point (creating "point to point" routes) for a given user, up to a maximum of 15 seconds
6. Saving your own track
7. Option to manage buildings located in the academy complex
8. Messages and notifications for app users
9. Administration panel with the possibility of adding more destinations
10. Managing locations included in the academy
11. Possibility to add additional facilities supporting navigation
12. The ability to communicate between users using the application
13. Option to provide information on the availability of individual educational centers located on the premises of the Military University of Technology

1. Students needed a lot of time to find a given location within the university complex
2. Lack of support for students in navigating the university complex
3. There is no solution supporting navigation around the university campus, with particular emphasis on helping people with disabilities, especially assisting the visually impaired
4. Acquiring an experienced contractor who, after the implementation and production launch of the application, will provide several years of service and technical support after the implementation of the first generation of the system
5. There is no tool to help you route from the start point to the end point
6. There is no application that meets the requirements of WCAG 2.1 for ICT systems in terms of accessibility for people with disabilities
7. Finally, the main challenge of the organization was to create a mobile application that would help users find a given location and university building

It was crucial for the client that the solution complied with the provisions of the following acts:

1. regarding the implementation of the policy of university accessibility, equal opportunities, non-discrimination and implementation of rational adjustments, the provisions of the law on higher education
2. the Act of 19 July 2019 on ensuring accessibility to people with special needs
3. the Act of April 4, 2019 on digital accessibility of websites and mobile applications of public entities

The solution was a navigation application based on satellite positioning systems, taking into account the needs of the blind and partially sighted.

In addition, we were able to meet the following criteria and complete the processes:

1. Complete design and development of a mobile application compatible with both IOS and Android systems
2. The application development process was iterative and was divided into stages: Prototype, MVP and extended version subject to production implementation. The programming work was carried out iteratively based on SCRUM sprints
3. Access to the application and the entire system navigation is available through the application interface and voice commands
4. Creating and designing an application that meets the requirements of WCAG 2.1 as well as European Union standards for ICT systems in terms of accessibility for disabled people
5. Building an administration panel that is compatible with most web browsers on the market
6. During the project implementation, we ensured the role of the Implementation Engineer, who was responsible for the integration of the application code along with quality supervision and ensuring the stability of the mobile platform
7. We have ensured a combination of the organization of analytical and design works with the use of appropriate standards of the CI/CD process
8. To involve an experienced business and system analyst, Krzysztof Wyrzykowski, co-author of a method for business and system analyzes based on analysis techniques recognized in the world of software engineering
9. Flexible approach to the client - focus on remote work and work at the client's premises, only in the case of initial analytical work on complex topics

In the project, we used technologies and methods such as:

1. Front End: JavaScript
2. .Net
3. GPS
4. Maps
5. Scrum
6. Business and system analysis
7. UX design
8. Ensuring system compliance with the GDPR

1. The client was very satisfied with the mobile application that was created to support the process of finding suitable locations
2. We have provided the scope of the project according to the agreed time frame and budget
3. The time of mapping from any starting point to any destination does not exceed 15 seconds
4. It was possible to build a mobile solution that affects the quality of education at an international university and has a significant impact on student satisfaction
5. The application also supports disabled users, thanks to which it meets the required laws such as: the implementation of the university's accessibility policy, equal opportunities, non-discrimination and the implementation of rational adjustments, which is regulated by Art. 24 of the CRPD (Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) - the key in this Act is that: "States Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities have access to universal higher education, vocational training, adult education and lifelong learning opportunities, without discrimination and the principle of equality with other people. For this purpose, the States Parties shall guarantee that reasonable accommodation for disabled persons will be provided (Convention, Journal of Laws 2012, art. 24)”
6. The application meets the requirements for the availability of study programs at Polish universities, which is regulated by the Law on Higher Education, in which creating conditions for disabled people to fully participate in the process of admitting to a university for education is listed among the basic tasks of the university, education
7. The client gained business and educational benefits that far exceeded the cost of implementation
8. Building a scalable application to which there are possibilities of adding further functionalities
9. The mobile application has been designed in a way that allows its publication in the App Store and Google Play

The navigation mobile application using GPS technology for the Military University of Technology in Warsaw was a great success for us and a technical achievement in the area of ​​real-time data processing. Students and other users of the tool were also satisfied with the possibilities offered by the application in terms of intuitive UX navigation. Our implementation for the Military University of Technology was very important to us, because it showed that we can set trends in mobile technologies in Poland. It should be emphasized that the application made by us complies with the requirements resulting from the acts on the accessibility policy of universities, public entities, regulations on ensuring digital accessibility of websites and mobile applications. Finally, we showed that we are able to understand the complex needs of mobile application users among educational users and translate them into system functionalists. The great satisfaction of our partner in the educational area with the quality of our work was of key importance for us.

IT commandos are reporting readiness and waiting for the next tasks related to building mobile applications!