Can I add my own geographic, census, or electoral data to Qomon?

Qomon’s Data Product gives you access to Qomon-provided geographic and local datasets, and you can also add your own data when you need something more specific, more recent, or not yet available in Qomon.

This is especially useful if:

You can use Qomon data, your own data, or a combination of both.

If your data can be reliably connected to a geographic area and is provided in a usable format, we can usually work with it.

There are two main ways to use data in Qomon’s Data Product:

1. Qomon-provided data

Depending on the country and territory, Qomon can provide geographic boundaries and datasets such as:

Available data varies by country and geographic level.

If we already have what you need, you can use it directly. If we do not, you can bring your own source and ask us to add it.

2. Your own geographic boundaries

You can add geographic areas such as:

We generally need boundaries in a machine-readable geographic format such as:

Whenever possible, each geographic area should include a unique geographic identifier.

Census, demographic, socioeconomic, or electoral data

You can also add datasets associated with those geographic areas, for example:

We generally recommend:

Your own Data

You can also add your own data when you need something more precise, more recent, or specific to a territory not yet covered.

You can also import third-party data, meaning your own datasets, whether from internal or external sources. This could include, for example, the location of buildings, infrastructure, or other priority areas specific to your fieldwork.
​

If you want to display data on geographic boundaries, the boundary file and the dataset need a common geographic identifier.

For example:

This allows Qomon to match each row of data with the right area on the map.

Names alone can sometimes work, but stable geographic IDs are much more reliable.

The easiest datasets for us to integrate are:

The more precise and structured the source is, the faster we can assess and integrate it.

When requesting new data, please send us as much of the following as possible:

If you already know the exact dataset or geographic boundaries you want to use, send them directly.

A specific request is much easier and faster for us to assess than a broad request such as “Can you add more demographic data for this country?”.

A PDF is usually not enough to import data reliably.

If you find the information in a PDF, look for the original dataset behind it, such as a CSV, Excel file, GeoJSON, or Shapefile.

For example, a government report may publish election results as a PDF while also providing the underlying results as a downloadable spreadsheet. Send us the spreadsheet whenever possible.

Screenshots and images can help us understand what you are looking for, but they cannot normally be used as the source for an import.

We need the underlying geographic or tabular data.

For the Data Product, local data is generally much more useful than a national total.

Whenever possible, look for data available at municipality, district, precinct, neighborhood, census-area, or another relevant local level.

Please do not send datasets containing sensitive or personal data by email.

Qomon uses a secure file-transfer system for data exchanges. Your CSM can send you a secure upload link so you can share the files directly with our team.

For public datasets, you can also send us the original source link whenever one is available.

Our team will review the source and check:

We will then confirm what can be supported and the expected next steps.
​

That is not a blocker.

If Qomon already provides data for your country, you can use it directly.

If we do not yet have the data you need, we encourage you to bring your own source. Qomon can add geographic boundaries and datasets for new countries when suitable source data is available.

You do not need to wait for Qomon to build a predefined dataset first.
​

Yes.

You can use Qomon-provided data as a base and enrich it with your own datasets.

For example, you could use Qomon’s administrative boundaries and census data, then add your own local electoral data or another dataset specific to your organization.

Yes.

If you have a newer version of an existing dataset, send us the updated source. For example, you might want to update:

We can assess whether the existing data can be replaced or supplemented with the newer version.

For now, Data Product imports and updates are handled with the Qomon team.

Our goal is to progressively make more of this process self-service, so organizations can manage more of their geographic data directly in Qomon.

Yes.

Access to Qomon’s geographic data and adding custom geographic boundaries, census data, electoral data, or other map-based datasets requires a Qomon Data Product in your subscription.

If you are unsure whether your current plan includes it, contact your Qomon account manager.