Mapping and the Citizen Sensor

Vyron AntoniouMajor, MSc, PhDHellenic Military Geographical Service UCL, Honorary Research Fellow COST/ ENERGIC (WG 2) Corfu, 21 Sep 2013

Web 2.0 Impact of Web 2.0 on GI The Scientific Field General Innovative Features Research Challenges Technology Issues COST Actions Ongoing Research Why User Generated Spatial Content/VGI?

Overview

Web 2.0

Impact of Web 2.0 on GI

Impact of Web 2.0 on GI

The Crowd and the Sensors

Scientific Field

• Crowdsourced information (user generated spatial content)

• New and burgeoning

• Unexpected and unsolicited

• Open access and free of costs

• Mainly produced by non-experts (“smart mobs”)

• Unfiltered, non standardized

Participative approach: Common-based peer knowledge production; «collective intelligence»

“Prosumers”: People as producers and users of information

Multidisciplinary & Related fields: Crowdsourcing, Citizen Science, User Generated Spatial Content, collective intelligence, Geoweb, Geocomputing, social sciences...

General Innovative Features

Research Challenges Big Data – size of datasets, efficient spatial and temporal algorithms

Information integration (multi-source, multi-disciplinary, multi-temporal, multi-media, multi-lingual)

Statistical problems of integration – development of suitable analysis techniques

Retrival and storage (API, content base, privacy restriction, ..) with spatial analysis capabilities

Trust, reputation and quality

Socio-technical aspects: motivations, incentives, behaviour

Technology Issues Elaborate tools and processes for top-down and bottom-up modeling

Tools and processes for analysis

Integrate web 2.0 and ICT developments

Elaborate simple formats to capture contents, flexible API’s to access and manipulate it

Technologies for public participation and to enable people to become sensors (fixed and mobile networks)

“Accurate and timely maps are a production in a changing world is a major scientific and practical

grand challenge”

ICT COST Action TD1202

Mapping and the citizen sensor

Software and methodologies for harnessing geographic information

from the crowd

ICT COST Action IC1203

COST Actions

WG 1 – Acquiring and managing VGI

WG 2 – Understanding and influencing contributors

WG 3 – Map production

WG 4 – Map evaluation activities

Mapping and the citizen sensor

ENERGICWG 1 – Societal and human aspects of VGI

WG 2 – VGI and Data Quality

WG 3 – Semantics, data analysis, data modelling, data integration and visualization.

Ongoing research

Neis et al. 2013

Un. of Siena, Ladest Lab.OSM Completeness

OSM Positional Accuracy

Haklay et al. 2010

Antoniou 2011

Geo Tweets

Urban OSM

Calibration of new models of people movement and spatial cognition

Mapping and Navigation, Social Networks, Civic/ Governmental Applications, Emergency Reporting

Study of VGI as social practice (producer’s types such as neophyte, amateur, professionals..)

Address global issues (climate change, pandemics, public health, security, ..)

Territorial marketing (tourism, estate values…), Management of natural disaster, Advertising

Provide ground information to integrate remote sensed information and records

Why VGI? (What can be done)

...“Critics dubbed the laser ‘a solution looking for a problem.’ In fact, it took years for many potential uses of the laser to be recognized, and new laser applications are still being discovered today”…

Why Laser?

...“Critics dubbed the laser ‘a solution looking for a problem.’ In fact, it took years for many potential uses of the laser to be recognized, and new laser applications are still being discovered today”…

Why Laser? VGI?

VGI

VGI VGI

Thank you!