TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF MAPATHONS – REFLECTING ON YOUTHMAPPERS EXPERIENCES

Abstract. YouthMappers is a global network of student chapters actively engaged in collaborative mapping efforts, such as OpenStreetMap mapathons. Many questions have been raised about the impact of mapathons on open map data and on the participating mappers. For example, how can the social gathering and event format encourage productivity and quality, while also contributing to community building? Because YouthMappers chapters regularly host mapathons, there are frequent opportunities to investigate the impact of mapathons. In this paper, three universities involved in the YouthMappers network, located in Europe, North America and Africa, describe how mapathons are conducted at their respective universities. Incorporating mapathons into the curriculum encourages students to contribute much-needed open geospatial data for humanitarian projects. At the same time, students get practical experience in data capturing with open source tools and awareness is raised of humanitarian challenges in other parts of the world, thus nurturing socially engaged citizens for the future. The experiences at the three universities are diverse and richly contextual to the specific character of the campus and its students. These differences underscore the challenge of a common means to formally assess the impact of such events in general. Based on this exploratory research, three themes for assessing the impact of mapathons are proposed: the volume and quality of open geographic data produced during mapathons; the social and personal growth of the students attending the mapathons; and the changes in university programs and curricula introduced as a result of the mapathons.</p

Mobile Routing Services for Small Towns using CloudMade API and OpenStreetMap

This research presents a practical solution for mobile routing services for small towns using open sources. Free mapping application program interfaces (API) provided by web map services, including routing services, are available to create customised map based web services combining their cartographic base data with the users own data. However, most applications focus on big cities. Location based services in small towns are generally few as many people believe there is a little demand in such areas. However, the demand of LBS applications in some small towns can be as strong as big cities, for example university towns and tourist resorts. Better location based services, especially routing services, can help strangers get familiar with the environment in a short time and lead them to places of interest. However, there are two problems to overcome for such systems. One is cost both in terms of data costs and development time. Open source data and mash-up technology could provide an answer. The other problem is the availability of suitable data of the required accuracy and detail. This is more serious as most free map services, such as Google Maps and Microsoft Bing Maps (Virtual Earth), don’t provide sufficient detailed and accurate data for routing services. One feasible and economical way is to create the map ourselves and have it updated by the public. OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free, open and fast developing map of the world. Detailed data was collected using a GPS logging device and uploaded to OpenStreetMap. The CloudMade API was used to provide multi-mode routing services together with turn-by-turn descriptions for car users, bicycle riders, and pedestrians. This solution is relatively easy and fast to deploy. Maynooth, a small university town in County Kildare Ireland, was used as a test bed. A prototype navigation system was developed for mobile users using the Windows Mobile platform. The system demonstrates that a solution to detailed navigational services for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers can be economical and feasible for small towns

CampusPartner: An assistive technology for pedestrians with mobility impairments

Route-planning applications such as Google Maps and Apple Maps are used by millions of people each month. However, these mapping applications are optimized for vehicle navigation, and although they provide pedestrian routing, the route customization options aren’t sufficient for pedestrian users, especially those with mobility impairments. CampusPartner is an assistive mobile application that was designed with the purpose of supporting people with mobility impairments in planning and previewing their walking routes. By viewing routes in advance, users can see an overview and detailed information about them as well as turn-by-turn instructions. CampusPartner integrates existing services, GraphHopper, OpenStreetMap, and Mapbox, to provide navigation functionality. Users are able to create a profile upon opening the app, which will include information such as obstacles and road types to avoid, as well as their bookmarked or most commonly used routes. For example, if someone was looking for a route from one side of campus to the other and they couldn’t take stairs due to a mobility impairment, this app would assist them in determining the best route to take or notify them if they should look for an alternative form of transportation, such as a bus. Additionally, users are able to correct missing or inaccurate information, such as the absence of stairs on the map or temporary obstacles

Design and Development of Personal GeoServices for Universities

Personal GeoServices are emerging as an interaction paradigm linking users to information rich environments like a university campus or to Big Data sources like the Internet of Things by delivering spatially intelligent web-services. OpenStreetMap (OSM) constitutes a valuable source of spatial base-data that can be extracted, integrated, and utilised with such heterogeneous data sources for free. In this paper, we present a Personal GeoServices application built on OSM spatial data and university-specific business data for staff, faculty, and students. While generic products such as Google Maps and Google Earth enable basic forms of spatial exploration, the domain of a university campus presents specific business information needs, such as “What classes are scheduled in that room over there?” and “How can I get to Prof. Murray’s office from here?” Within the framework of the StratAG project (www.StratAG.ie), an eCampus Demonstrator was developed for the National University of Ireland Maynooth (NUIM) to assist university users in exploring and analysing their surroundings within a detailed data environment. This work describes this system in detail, discussing the usage of OSM vector data, and providing insights for developers of spatial information systems for personalised visual exploration of an area

Integrating Haptic Feedback into Mobile Location Based Services

Haptics is a feedback technology that takes advantage of the human sense of touch by applying forces, vibrations, and/or motions to a haptic-enabled device such as a mobile phone. Historically, human-computer interaction has been visual - text and images on the screen. Haptic feedback can be an important additional method especially in Mobile Location Based Services such as knowledge discovery, pedestrian navigation and notification systems. A knowledge discovery system called the Haptic GeoWand is a low interaction system that allows users to query geo-tagged data around them by using a point-and-scan technique with their mobile device. Haptic Pedestrian is a navigation system for walkers. Four prototypes have been developed classified according to the user’s guidance requirements, the user type (based on spatial skills), and overall system complexity. Haptic Transit is a notification system that provides spatial information to the users of public transport. In all these systems, haptic feedback is used to convey information about location, orientation, density and distance by use of the vibration alarm with varying frequencies and patterns to help understand the physical environment. Trials elicited positive responses from the users who see benefit in being provided with a “heads up” approach to mobile navigation. Results from a memory recall test show that the users of haptic feedback for navigation had better memory recall of the region traversed than the users of landmark images. Haptics integrated into a multi-modal navigation system provides more usable, less distracting but more effective interaction than conventional systems. Enhancements to the current work could include integration of contextual information, detailed large-scale user trials and the exploration of using haptics within confined indoor spaces

A Case Study for eCampus Spatial: Business Data Exploration

Location based querying is the core interaction paradigm between mobile citizens and the Internet of Things, so providing users with intelligent web-services that interact efficiently with web and wireless devices to recommend personalised services is a key goal. With today\u27s popular Web Map Services, users can ask for general information at a specific location, but not detailed information such as related functionality or environments. This shortcoming comes from a lack of connection between non-spatial “business” data and spatial “map” data. This chapter presents a novel approach for location-based querying in web and wireless environments, in which non-spatial business data is dynamically connected to spatial base-map data to provide users with spatially-enabled attribute information at particular locations. The proposed approach is illustrated in a case study at the National University of Ireland in Maynooth (NUIM), where detailed 3D campus building models were constructed. Non-spatial university specific business data such as the functionalities and timetables of class rooms/buildings, campus news, noise levels, and navigation are then explored over the web and presented as both mobile and desktop web-services

Motivating and Sustaining Participation in VGI

Volunteers are the key component in the collection of Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI), so what motivates their participation, what strategies work in recruitment and how sustainability of participation can be achieved are key questions that need to be answered to inform VGI system design and implementation. This chapter reviews studies that have examined these questions and presents the main motivational factors that drive volunteer participation, as determined from empirical research. Some best practices from broader citizen science applications are also presented that may have relevance for VGI initiatives. Finally, a set of case studies from our experiences are used to illustrate how volunteers have been motivated to collect VGI through mapping parties, gamification and working with schools

Open Mapping towards Sustainable Development Goals

This collection amplifies the experiences of some of the world’s young people who are working to address SDGs using geospatial technologies and multi-national collaboration. Authors from every region of the world who have emerged as leaders in the YouthMappers movement share their perspectives and knowledge in an accessible and peer-friendly format. YouthMappers are university students who create and use open mapping for development and humanitarian purposes. Their work leverages digital innovations - both geospatial platforms and communications technologies - to answer the call for leadership to address sustainability challenges. The book conveys a sense of robust knowledge emerging from formal studies or informal academic experiences - in the first-person voices of students and recent graduates who are at the forefront of creating a new map of the world. YouthMappers use OpenStreetMap as the foundational sharing mechanism for creating data together. Authors impart the way they are learning about themselves, about each other, about the world. They are developing technology skills, and simultaneously teaching the rest of the world about the potential contributions of a highly connected generation of emerging world leaders for the SDGs. The book is timely, in that it captures a pivotal moment in the trajectory of the YouthMappers movement’s ability to share emerging expertise, and one that coincides with a pivotal moment in the geopolitical history of planet earth whose inhabitants need to hear from them. Most volumes that cover the topic of sustainability in terms of youth development are written by non-youth authors. Moreover, most are written by non-majoritarian, entrenched academic scholars. This book instead puts forward the diverse voices of students and recent graduates in countries where YouthMappers works, all over the world. Authors cover topics that range from water, agriculture, food, to waste, education, gender, climate action and disasters from their own eyes in working with data, mapping, and humanitarian action, often working across national boundaries and across continents. To inspire readers with their insights, the chapters are mapped to the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in ways that connect a youth agenda to a global agenda. With a preface written by Carrie Stokes, Chief Geographer and GeoCenter Director, United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This is an open access book

Data Services at an Undergraduate-Research and Teaching-Centered University: Supporting Faculty and Students

California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) is one of the 23 campuses within the California State system. It is a four-year, public university, emphasizing comprehensive undergraduate education with a total enrollment of ~20,000 undergraduate and graduate students (96% undergraduate). Teaching and scholarship are both required by faculty but with limited research support services. A survey of faculty research data services needs was conducted in 2012. Survey invitations were emailed to a stratified random sample of 449 faculty (tenure-track or tenured assistant, associate and full professors only) and 226 responded for an overall response rate of 50%. The survey results provided a foundation from which services were created and have evolved over the last eight years in the Robert E. Kennedy Library and the university. This paper also shares the evolution and repurposing of research resources and services to support both faculty and students