higher than ONDA1, ONDA2 and ONDA3 which are
in the same block. Regarding QsC, Figure 3 shows
that Functional appropriateness is the only sub-
characteristic that is influenced by all blocks of
requirements (77%). The Appropriateness
recognizability is also highly impacted by the
requirements (77%). In contrast, the mGIS-DC
requirements have no impact on the following six
sub-characteristics: Learnability, Non-repudiation,
Accountability, Analyzability, Modifiability and
Testability.
6 DISCUSSION
This section discusses the main findings and presents
their implications for mGIS-DC.
6.1 Main Findings
In this study, a set of 61 requirements of mGIS-DC
was identified based on standards, literature and
functionalities/features retrieved from existing apps.
A calculation of three degrees of impact of the
selected requirements on the EQ of the software
product was performed. The results obtained show
that requirements related to online data access
(ONDA) has the most impact on SPQ. In this block,
ONDA4 was identified as the requirement that has the
highest influence on software quality. It differs
slightly from ONDA1, ONDA2 and ONDA3.
Supporting Dropbox in mGIS-DC allows users to
share and find out data. Dropbox is a leading cloud
file hosting service and it counts above 700 million
users in 2020 (Dropbox Usage and Revenue Stats
(2021)). The integration of a cloud service in mobile
GIS is important to alleviate the limitation of the
storage capacity in mobile devices (Wasserman,
2010). In contrast, ONDA1, ONDA2 and ONDA3 are
not dedicated to public users but they have a high
impact on SPQ of mGIS-DC. These three
requirements are more adapted to be used by
professional GIS users and they are subject to
dedicated protocols. The OGC proposes a collection
of open standards to facilitate the exchange of spatial
resources between applications (Consortium). These
standards concern web services and their implication
with spatial data, especially regarding maps and
features through WFS, WMS and WCS. ESRI's
implementation of Web services , provide
commercially hosted spatial data and GIS
functionality via the Internet (ESRI). This solution
provides the advantage of ESRI organization but with
a payment in return. This can affect the attractiveness of
the apps since mGIS-DC are considered as an
alternative of conventional system given their low
cost (Döner & Yomralıoğlu, 2008). Remote spatial
database allows user to access data and execute spatial
queries without consuming the local device resources.
This has an important role in mGIS-DC especially
for professional users who need to execute geo-
processing operations that require online or
distributed geoprocessing. Regarding AA10 and
AA12, GPS and GNSS support affect the quality
insofar they provide the position of the data to collect.
GPS positioning is considered as a key component of
mobile GIS (Abdalla, 2016).In addition to the GPS
support, the given accuracy of positioning (GL3) is
important as well, since the user has to be aware of
errors that might affect the positioning (Wang &
Reinhardt, 2006). The AA11 correspond to the
compass support, this sensor is helpful as it allows
orientation in the field. The contribution of the
remaining 53 requirements can be explained by
analyzing the QC since their impact is not very high
as the aforementioned requirements. However, we
note that UA4, UA5 and UA6 obtain the lowest degree
of impact on the quality and they contribute to the
usability and functional suitability of the apps. The
process of DC in the field involves multiple tasks
regarding positioning, analyzing, storing and
displaying data. Functionalities with regards to this
process are intended to be executed successively to
cover the overall process of DC. This explains the
highest impact of the requirements on the functional
completeness. For the functional appropriateness, we
note that the mGIS-DC is applied in various domain
and it requires basic business knowledge which is not
obvious for public user. Therefore, the app requires
functions that facilitate the accomplishment of the
DC. It has been observed that the limitation of mGIS-
DC regarding the accuracy of positioning (Clark, 2015)
significantly affects the functional correctness sub-
characteristic. It is therefore important to consider
requirements that allow the control of data quality
during DC (Wang & Reinhardt, 2006). According to
the results, the usability characteristic is highly affected
by the requirements. It was identified as an issue for the
improvement of mobile GIS (Shah, 2011) and it is very
important in mGIS-DC; Song-Jae et al. pointed out
that most common defect in GIS software is related to
usability (Jo & Kim, 2011). This indicates that
developers have to put more effort into meeting the
usability requirements. Furthermore, a usability test
conducted by Clark et al. shows that the usability of
mGIS-DC does not exceed the usability of the
conventional system of DC (Clark, 2015).