Geoinformatics in Citizen Science

The book features contributions that report original research in the theoretical, technological, and social aspects of geoinformation methods, as applied to supporting citizen science. Specifically, the book focuses on the technological aspects of the field and their application toward the recruitment of volunteers and the collection, management, and analysis of geotagged information to support volunteer involvement in scientific projects. Internationally renowned research groups share research in three areas: First, the key methods of geoinformatics within citizen science initiatives to support scientists in discovering new knowledge in specific application domains or in performing relevant activities, such as reliable geodata filtering, management, analysis, synthesis, sharing, and visualization; second, the critical aspects of citizen science initiatives that call for emerging or novel approaches of geoinformatics to acquire and handle geoinformation; and third, novel geoinformatics research that could serve in support of citizen science

Geocollaborative Portals And Trip Planning: Users’ Perceptions Of The Success Of The Collaborative Decision Making Processes

As more and more travelers wish to create their personalised trip itineraries, the provision of geographical information and services on travel websites is an unavoidable necessity. The evolution of geoportals, geocollaborative portals and web 2.0 present numerous opportunities and services for making the trip planning process less complex and time consuming, more efficient and more social and collaborative for travelers and their travel companions. This paper aimed at exploring the use and impact of geocollaborative portals on the success of collaborative trip planning processes. To that end, the literature was reviewed for analyzing the functionality of geoportals and geocollaborative portals and demonstrating how these can support and facilitate the collaborative decision making processes for trip planning purposes. A framework for measuring the impacts of geoportals’ use on travellers’ collaborative decision making processes was developed and tested by collecting primary data through an experimental study based on students’ perceptions using Yahoo! Trip Planner for planning a group trip. The paper provides useful practical guidelines for designing the functionality of geoportals and/or geocollaborative portals for trip planning purposes

Future SDI – Impulses from Geoinformatics Research and IT Trends

The term Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) was defined in the nineties as a set of policies, technologies and institutional arrangements for improving the availability and accessibility of spatial data and information. SDIs are typically driven by governmental organizations, and thus follow top-down structures based on regulations and agreements. The drawback is that it renders SDIs less easily capable of evolving with new technological trends. While organizations are still struggling to implement SDIs, the World Wide Web is increasingly developing into a Geospatial Web, i.e. one that extensively supports the spatial and temporal aspects of information. This article is our contribution to the discussion on the future technological directions in the field of SDIs. We give a conceptual view of the dynamics of both SDIs and the Geospatial Web. We present a picture of the SDI of the future, one which benefits from these developments, based on an analysis of geoinformatics research topics and current ICT trends. We provide recommendations on how to improve the adaptability and usability of SDIs as to facilitate the assimilation of new ICT developments and to leverage self-reinforcing growth

Public private collaboration: Potentials for spatial data infrastructure development in developing countries - A caste study of Nigeria

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies.Many countries across the world embark on the building of SDI to facilitate the sustainable development of their country. However the challenge of developing such infrastructure to a large extent depends on its implementation, which is significant that no single sector can address alone without collaboration and partnership. Public Private Partnership (PPP) is among the strategies currently adovated for SDI development by various SDI experts. This research therefore analyzes SDI development with reference to the institutional arrangements, policy and technology components of SDI and PPP case experiences of Australia, Canada, United States and the Netherlands from developed countries and on the other hand, Egypt and South Africa from the developing countries. A questionnaire survey and literature review was carried out on relevant GI organizations to ascertain the status of the NGDI development and the potentials of PPP in the geospatial sector in Nigeria. The analysis reveals that PPP has a high level of acceptance among respondents as an approach in the future for the development of SDI in Nigeria. However, absence of SDI policy directive, coordination of donor funded projects in the sector are identified as major hurdles that has to be overcome for the success of SDI development through PPP in Nigeria. Moreover, comparative analysis of the selected cases shows some unique similarities and differences between developed and developing countries. Thus, it is acknowledged that public and private sectors, by nature are complementary and hence effective PPP can only be created through “mutually designed, analyzed and accepted instruments of cooperation and collaboration”. In conclusion, for SDI development to be achieved successfully through PPP approach deliberate and sincere effort need to be made by the government to create enabling environment for the private sector participations in the sector. This, therefore, involves among others the passing of the long awaited GI policy in the country, creating better environment for dialogue between the government and the private sectors, promotion of talk shows and workshops for public awareness in new SDI concepts

OGRS2012 Symposium Proceedings

Do you remember the Open Source Geospatial Research and Education Symposium (OGRS) in Nantes? "Les Machines de l’Île", the Big Elephant, the "Storm Boat" with Claramunt, Petit et al. (2009), and "le Biniou et la Bombarde"? A second edition of OGRS was promised, and that promise is now fulfilled in OGRS 2012, Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, October 24-26, 2012. OGRS is a meeting dedicated to sharing knowledge, new solutions, methods, practices, ideas and trends in the field of geospatial information through the development and the use of free and open source software in both research and education. In recent years, the development of geospatial free and open source software (GFOSS) has breathed new life into the geospatial domain. GFOSS has been extensively promoted by FOSS4G events, which evolved from meetings which gathered together interested GFOSS development communities to a standard business conference. More in line with the academic side of the FOSS4G conferences, OGRS is a rather neutral forum whose goal is to assemble a community whose main concern is to find new solutions by sharing knowledge and methods free of software license limits. This is why OGRS is primarily concerned with the academic world, though it also involves public institutions, organizations and companies interested in geospatial innovation. This symposium is therefore not an exhibition for presenting existing industrial software solutions, but an event we hope will act as a catalyst for research and innovation and new collaborations between research teams, public agencies and industries. An educational aspect has recently been added to the content of the symposium. This important addition examines the knowledge triangle - research, education, and innovation - through the lens of how open source methods can improve education efficiency. Based on their experience, OGRS contributors bring to the table ideas on how open source training is likely to offer pedagogical advantages to equip students with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in tomorrow’s geospatial labor market. OGRS brings together a large collection of current innovative research projects from around the world, with the goal of examining how research uses and contributes to open source initiatives. By presenting their research, OGRS contributors shed light on how the open-source approach impacts research, and vice-versa. The organizers of the symposium wish to demonstrate how the use and development of open source software strengthen education, research and innovation in geospatial fields. To support this approach, the present proceedings propose thirty short papers grouped under the following thematic headings: Education, Earth Science & Landscape, Data, Remote Sensing, Spatial Analysis, Urban Simulation and Tools. These papers are preceded by the contributions of the four keynote speakers: Prof Helena Mitasova, Dr Gérard Hégron, Prof Sergio Rey and Prof Robert Weibel, who share their expertise in research and education in order to highlight the decisive advantages of openness over the limits imposed by the closed-source license system

Assessing an exploratory digital environment for learning about southern African pre-colonial urbanism in space and time : a case study for Seoke, the capital of the Bangwaketse

Dissertation (MSc (Geoinformatics))--University of Pretoria, 2022.The teaching of pre-colonial urban settlements in Africa has been neglected and, where present, it has traditionally relied on false concepts of civilization that played directly into stereotypes of precolonial African societies as backwards. These stereotypes are wrong and need to be challenged to transform the cultural understanding of African adaptability, resilience and accomplishments. This study, using the case study of the ancient settlement of Seoke, shows how digital environments have great potential as pedagogical tools to redress these past misunderstandings of African urbanism. Seoke was the capital of the Bangwaketse of Botswana in the 18th century. The site is characterised by the hundreds of stone walls that remain to this day. Seoke, and other archaeological sites in the region are inaccessible to the public due to private land ownership, their tough terrain and the Covid-19 pandemic. The educational potential of Seoke in exhibiting the scale, influence and organisation of Southern African settlements prior to colonization is hindered due to the inaccessibility of the site. In this study, Seoke was used as a case study for developing an exploratory digital environment for learning about pre-colonial Southern African urbanism in space and time. The environment incorporates a curation of archival material and spatial information through media such as images, videos, maps and 3D visualizations in a story map, which is a spatial data-driven form of storytelling. The exploratory environment was targeted at university students who are not deeply knowledgeable about pre-colonial southern African history or Seoke and is accessible online. The usability of the environment was studied to inform future work that includes other archaeological sites. A questionnaire and eye-tracking study was conducted to test the usability of the environment with students from three universities. A usability assessment found that users effectively learned while using the platform. Users found the various components of the exploratory environment to be well integrated and reported that they would like to use the platform again. Overall, the exploratory environment was effective in accomplishing the aim of the study, which was to create a platform for learning. Participants were able to learn while using the exploratory environment and performed well when recalling information and applying information learned. However, participants felt that the environment required technical support and prior knowledge to navigate, which influenced the usability of the platform. In future work the exploratory environment can be improved by enhancing its efficiency and by being less technical.Metsemegologolo project (via the Programme in African Digital Humanities supported by the Mellon Foundation)Geography, Geoinformatics and MeteorologyMSc (Geoinformatics)Unrestricte

Spationomy

This open access book is based on "Spationomy – Spatial Exploration of Economic Data", an interdisciplinary and international project in the frame of ERASMUS+ funded by the European Union. The project aims to exchange interdisciplinary knowledge in the fields of economics and geomatics. For the newly introduced courses, interdisciplinary learning materials have been developed by a team of lecturers from four different universities in three countries. In a first study block, students were taught methods from the two main research fields. Afterwards, the knowledge gained had to be applied in a project. For this international project, teams were formed, consisting of one student from each university participating in the project. The achieved results were presented in a summer school a few months later. At this event, more methodological knowledge was imparted to prepare students for a final simulation game about spatial and economic decision making. In a broader sense, the chapters will present the methodological background of the project, give case studies and show how visualisation and the simulation game works

Proceedings of the GIS Research UK 18th Annual Conference GISRUK 2010

This volume holds the papers from the 18th annual GIS Research UK (GISRUK). This year the conference, hosted at University College London (UCL), from Wednesday 14 to Friday 16 April 2010. The conference covered the areas of core geographic information science research as well as applications domains such as crime and health and technological developments in LBS and the geoweb. UCL’s research mission as a global university is based around a series of Grand Challenges that affect us all, and these were accommodated in GISRUK 2010. The overarching theme this year was “Global Challenges”, with specific focus on the following themes: * Crime and Place * Environmental Change * Intelligent Transport * Public Health and Epidemiology * Simulation and Modelling * London as a global city * The geoweb and neo-geography * Open GIS and Volunteered Geographic Information * Human-Computer Interaction and GIS Traditionally, GISRUK has provided a platform for early career researchers as well as those with a significant track record of achievement in the area. As such, the conference provides a welcome blend of innovative thinking and mature reflection. GISRUK is the premier academic GIS conference in the UK and we are keen to maintain its outstanding record of achievement in developing GIS in the UK and beyond

CLOUD-BASED SOLUTIONS IMPROVING TRANSPARENCY, OPENNESS AND EFFICIENCY OF OPEN GOVERNMENT DATA

A central pillar of open government programs is the disclosure of data held by public agencies using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). This disclosure relies on the creation of open data portals (e.g. Data.gov) and has subsequently been associated with the expression Open Government Data (OGD). The overall goal of these governmental initiatives is not limited to enhance transparency of public sectors but aims to raise awareness of how released data can be put to use in order to enable the creation of new products and services by private sectors. Despite the usage of technological platforms to facilitate access to government data, open data portals continue to be organized in order to serve the goals of public agencies without opening the doors to public accountability, information transparency, public scrutiny, etc. This thesis considers the basic aspects of OGD including the definition of technical models for organizing such complex contexts, the identification of techniques for combining data from several portals and the proposal of user interfaces that focus on citizen-centred usability. In order to deal with the above issues, this thesis presents a holistic approach to OGD that aims to go beyond problems inherent their simple disclosure by providing a tentative answer to the following questions: 1) To what extent do the OGD-based applications contribute towards the creation of innovative, value-added services? 2) What technical solutions could increase the strength of this contribution? 3) Can Web 2.0 and Cloud technologies favour the development of OGD apps? 4) How should be designed a common framework for developing OGD apps that rely on multiple OGD portals and external web resources? In particular, this thesis is focused on devising computational environments that leverage the content of OGD portals (supporting the initial phase of data disclosure) for the creation of new services that add value to the original data. The thesis is organized as follows. In order to offer a general view about OGD, some important aspects about open data initiatives are presented including their state of art, the existing approaches for publishing and consuming OGD across web resources, and the factors shaping the value generated through government data portals. Then, an architectural framework is proposed that gathers OGD from multiple sites and supports the development of cloud-based apps that leverage these data according to potentially different exploitation roots ranging from traditional business to specialized supports for citizens. The proposed framework is validated by two cloud-based apps, namely ODMap (Open Data Mapping) and NESSIE (A Network-based Environment Supporting Spatial Information Exploration). In particular, ODMap supports citizens in searching and accessing OGD from several web sites. NESSIE organizes data captured from real estate agencies and public agencies (i.e. municipalities, cadastral offices and chambers of commerce) in order to provide citizens with a geographic representation of real estate offers and relevant statistics about the price trend.A central pillar of open government programs is the disclosure of data held by public agencies using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). This disclosure relies on the creation of open data portals (e.g. Data.gov) and has subsequently been associated with the expression Open Government Data (OGD). The overall goal of these governmental initiatives is not limited to enhance transparency of public sectors but aims to raise awareness of how released data can be put to use in order to enable the creation of new products and services by private sectors. Despite the usage of technological platforms to facilitate access to government data, open data portals continue to be organized in order to serve the goals of public agencies without opening the doors to public accountability, information transparency, public scrutiny, etc. This thesis considers the basic aspects of OGD including the definition of technical models for organizing such complex contexts, the identification of techniques for combining data from several portals and the proposal of user interfaces that focus on citizen-centred usability. In order to deal with the above issues, this thesis presents a holistic approach to OGD that aims to go beyond problems inherent their simple disclosure by providing a tentative answer to the following questions: 1) To what extent do the OGD-based applications contribute towards the creation of innovative, value-added services? 2) What technical solutions could increase the strength of this contribution? 3) Can Web 2.0 and Cloud technologies favour the development of OGD apps? 4) How should be designed a common framework for developing OGD apps that rely on multiple OGD portals and external web resources? In particular, this thesis is focused on devising computational environments that leverage the content of OGD portals (supporting the initial phase of data disclosure) for the creation of new services that add value to the original data. The thesis is organized as follows. In order to offer a general view about OGD, some important aspects about open data initiatives are presented including their state of art, the existing approaches for publishing and consuming OGD across web resources, and the factors shaping the value generated through government data portals. Then, an architectural framework is proposed that gathers OGD from multiple sites and supports the development of cloud-based apps that leverage these data according to potentially different exploitation roots ranging from traditional business to specialized supports for citizens. The proposed framework is validated by two cloud-based apps, namely ODMap (Open Data Mapping) and NESSIE (A Network-based Environment Supporting Spatial Information Exploration). In particular, ODMap supports citizens in searching and accessing OGD from several web sites. NESSIE organizes data captured from real estate agencies and public agencies (i.e. municipalities, cadastral offices and chambers of commerce) in order to provide citizens with a geographic representation of real estate offers and relevant statistics about the price trend

The Influence of Technology on the Land Surveying Profession

Land surveying has grown from a technical occupation into a profession. This study traces the rise of professions and the criteria that defines the requirements for an occupation to be granted such status. It then recognises the origins and importance of accurate measurement in antiquity before following the developments in land surveying that changed the occupation in late medieval England from that of an estate manager or overseer to one of an expert in land measurement. The research identifies this period as a paradigm shift, the first, making the following period the 2nd paradigm in land surveying. There follows a comparison between the present institutional arrangements for surveying and the criteria established for the status of a profession. It concludes that land surveying in its current form meets the requirements of a profession. Following a discussion on the nature of modern surveying, consideration is given to the changes that have taken place in the last 60 years. The challenges faced as a result of technological change, through first the electronic age and then the digital age, are identified. The question of whether these challenges and their resultant developments have fundamentally changed the profession, heralding a 3rd paradigm, is then addressed. The views of land surveying academics, practitioners, senior government employees and staff of professional institutions in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia are addressed through exploring their views, by in-person interviews, of what sits at the core of land surveying today. Specifically they are asked to address the changes that have taken place by considering what has been abandoned as obsolete in degree programmes and in practice, and what has taken its place. It is concluded that land surveying remains a profession with unique expertise in the management of all aspects of measurement data, its gathering, its analysis, its presentation and its storage. No new paradigm is identified. Using methodology based in grounded theory, the research identified related issues for the profession. The first was the belief that land surveying, as a profession, had a poor public image and was identified with only the field aspects of the profession. It was apparent that the poor public image was linked to a poor self-image by surveyors themselves. Attempts to change that image by the adoption of a new term, geomatics, in the late 20th century has not delivered the anticipated improvements, and dissatisfaction with the term was identified in all of the jurisdictions visited. In the meantime it was apparent that the term “geospatial’ was gaining popular use and was replacing, by stealth, references to geomatics