Counting the number of houses in a given area is an exercise commonly undertaken by various industries, including banks, investors and fibre network owners to assess the feasibility of a project. In the fibre industry, this is typically referred to as "homes passed". Accurate information is essential for business development, marketing and ROI projections.
One of the unexpected rewards of living in South Africa is the opportunity to solve real-world problems in non-standard and innovative ways.
One might expect that counting the number of homes in an area would be a trivial challenge, considering the amount of data, maps and technology that is freely available. Indeed, in many countries, adequate record-keeping makes this a simple exercise: one would apply for records from the local government authority, count the entries and the job is done.
In South Africa, however, solving this problem goes beyond studying official records. Local authority data is often just the starting point, and often privately maintained records may prove to be more accurate. Satellite imagery and Google Street View are useful tools, but are often a few years out of date. Manual subsamples can help verify whether statistical assumptions hold true.
An exceptionally powerful tool for addressing this challenge is computer vision (CV). With CV, vast areas can be analysed with remarkable accuracy.
The answer to establishing an accurate home count in South Africa lies in a thoughtful combination of all these resources. If your company requires this kind of service, join us in this not-so-trivial world of counting homes.
Contact us! themaintenancebox@gmail.com
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