BiruniMap: The Global Map of the Iranian Diaspora
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Role
Volunteer
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Live platform
A geospatial data ecosystem connecting the Iranian diaspora through structured community intelligence — architected from scratch to solve global information fragmentation.
The Problem
Despite a global population of millions, the Iranian diaspora suffers from massive information asymmetry. Vital community data — from Persian-speaking medical professionals to authentic cultural hubs — is trapped in unstructured formats across ephemeral WhatsApp groups and social media feeds.
As a Data Scientist, I recognized this wasn't just a community challenge; it was a discovery and data accessibility problem. For newcomers, this "invisible" data gap leads to social isolation and inefficient resource discovery.
My Solution
I built BiruniMap — a bilingual (English and Persian) geospatial platform that transforms scattered signals into a structured, searchable database. The platform currently manages over 3,000 verified nodes across 50+ countries.
Applied Data Science & Engineering: I engineered the full-stack pipeline using Next.js and TypeScript for the frontend, coupled with PHP 8 and MySQL Spatial Extensions to handle high-performance geospatial queries. Using Leaflet.js, I created an interactive experience optimized for low-latency data visualization.
Data Integrity & Growth Strategy: To ensure high data veracity, I designed a multi-tier "human-in-the-loop" admin approval workflow for business and event listings. My marketing strategy focused on Product-Market Fit (PMF), leveraging cultural resonance and SEO localization to drive organic community-led growth without a paid acquisition budget.
Deployment: The system is deployed via automated GitHub Actions for continuous delivery, featuring JWT-based authentication and role-based access control to secure the community’s shared knowledge.
