Crowdsourced Geographic Information Use in Government

Crowdsourced Geographic Information Use in Government
Author: Mordechai Haklay; Vyron Antoniou; Sofia Basiouka; Robert Soden; Peter Mooney
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 76
Release:
Genre:
ISBN:

The acceptance of volunteered geographic information (VGI) as a valued and useful source of information for governments is growing at all levels. Put simply, VGI is “crowdsourced” geographic information provided by a wide range of participants with varying levels of education, knowledge and skills (see Michael Goodchild’s writing for the original definition of the term). While a growing body of research demonstrates the reliability and accuracy of VGI when compared to official or government produced data sets, the progression towards their adoption and wider use is slow. There are a range of mechanisms and methods available for ensuring that crowdsourced information is fit for purpose so concerns about data quality are not the major reason for the lack of adoption. Instead, organizational practices, regulations and legal issues limit the rate of change. This report is based on a six-month study of the use of VGI by government and aims to provide a guide for the successful implementation of VGI.

Crowdsourced Geographic Information Use in Government

Crowdsourced Geographic Information Use in Government
Author: Vyron Antoniou
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2014
Genre:
ISBN:

The acceptance of volunteered geographic information (VGI) as a valued and useful source of information for governments is growing at all levels. The aim of this report is to review governmental projects that incorporate voluntary and crowd-sourced data collection and to provide information that can be used to support the wider adoption of VGI (the terms crowd-sourced information and VGI are used interchangeably). To this end, the report compiles and distributes lessons learned and successful models from existing efforts by governments at different sectors and scales. This report explores different aspects of government use of VGI, including the maintenance of public space (streets, public buildings, and parks), education, health, tourism, and civil safety. It includes a set of case studies with a common structure, which are presented at the end of the report. This report provides background on the use of geographical information by government, which has a long history and should be taken into account. It turns to the methodology of the research and explains how it developed. A detailed explanation for the case study structure and overview of the case studies is also provided. This is followed by analysis of the findings and recommendations for improving the use of VGI in government.

Identifying Success Factors in Crowdsourced Geographic Information Use in Government

Identifying Success Factors in Crowdsourced Geographic Information Use in Government
Author: Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2018
Genre:
ISBN:

The adoption of crowdsourced geographic data, or volunteered geographic information (VGI), as a valuable source of spatial data is growing at all levels of government. VGI is crowdsourced geographic information provided by a wide range of participants with varying levels of education, knowledge and skills. Despite some initial concerns about data quality during early development of VGI approaches, extensive research now demonstrates that the reliability and accuracy of VGI is suitable for official or government use. Such concerns should no longer be a reason for the lack of government adoption of VGI. Nonetheless, significant challenges remain for governments seeking to take full advantage of the benefits that crowdsourcing offer. This research used a case study approach to understand factors that have contributed to the success of government VGI efforts, some of which include supportive organizational or legal contexts, the presence of local champions, and project design elements. This policy brief summarizes the findings of the research report identifying success factors in crowdsourced geographic information use in government produced by the World Bank global facility for disaster reduction and recovery (GFDRR) in partnership with scholars from University College London (UCL). This brief explains the report's context, methodology, main findings and recommendations.

Crowdsourcing Geographic Knowledge

Crowdsourcing Geographic Knowledge
Author: Daniel Sui
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 394
Release: 2012-08-10
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9400745877

The phenomenon of volunteered geographic information is part of a profound transformation in how geographic data, information, and knowledge are produced and circulated. By situating volunteered geographic information (VGI) in the context of big-data deluge and the data-intensive inquiry, the 20 chapters in this book explore both the theories and applications of crowdsourcing for geographic knowledge production with three sections focusing on 1). VGI, Public Participation, and Citizen Science; 2). Geographic Knowledge Production and Place Inference; and 3). Emerging Applications and New Challenges. This book argues that future progress in VGI research depends in large part on building strong linkages with diverse geographic scholarship. Contributors of this volume situate VGI research in geography’s core concerns with space and place, and offer several ways of addressing persistent challenges of quality assurance in VGI. This book positions VGI as part of a shift toward hybrid epistemologies, and potentially a fourth paradigm of data-intensive inquiry across the sciences. It also considers the implications of VGI and the exaflood for further time-space compression and new forms, degrees of digital inequality, the renewed importance of geography, and the role of crowdsourcing for geographic knowledge production.

European Handbook of Crowdsourced Geographic Information

European Handbook of Crowdsourced Geographic Information
Author: Cristina Capineri
Publisher: Ubiquity Press
Total Pages: 476
Release: 2016-08-25
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1909188808

This book focuses on the study of the remarkable new source of geographic information that has become available in the form of user-generated content accessible over the Internet through mobile and Web applications. The exploitation, integration and application of these sources, termed volunteered geographic information (VGI) or crowdsourced geographic information (CGI), offer scientists an unprecedented opportunity to conduct research on a variety of topics at multiple scales and for diversified objectives. The Handbook is organized in five parts, addressing the fundamental questions: What motivates citizens to provide such information in the public domain, and what factors govern/predict its validity? What methods might be used to validate such information? Can VGI be framed within the larger domain of sensor networks, in which inert and static sensors are replaced or combined by intelligent and mobile humans equipped with sensing devices? What limitations are imposed on VGI by differential access to broadband Internet, mobile phones, and other communication technologies, and by concerns over privacy? How do VGI and crowdsourcing enable innovation applications to benefit human society? Chapters examine how crowdsourcing techniques and methods, and the VGI phenomenon, have motivated a multidisciplinary research community to identify both fields of applications and quality criteria depending on the use of VGI. Besides harvesting tools and storage of these data, research has paid remarkable attention to these information resources, in an age when information and participation is one of the most important drivers of development. The collection opens questions and points to new research directions in addition to the findings that each of the authors demonstrates. Despite rapid progress in VGI research, this Handbook also shows that there are technical, social, political and methodological challenges that require further studies and research.

European Handbook of Crowdsourced Geographic Information

European Handbook of Crowdsourced Geographic Information
Author: Muki Haklay
Publisher:
Total Pages: 476
Release: 2020-10-09
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9781013286605

"This book focuses on the study of the remarkable new source of geographic information that has become available in the form of user-generated content accessible over the Internet through mobile and Web applications. The exploitation, integration and application of these sources, termed volunteered geographic information (VGI) or crowdsourced geographic information (CGI), offer scientists an unprecedented opportunity to conduct research on a variety of topics at multiple scales and for diversified objectives. The Handbook is organized in five parts, addressing the fundamental questions: What motivates citizens to provide such information in the public domain, and what factors govern/predict its validity?What methods might be used to validate such information? Can VGI be framed within the larger domain of sensor networks, in which inert and static sensors are replaced or combined by intelligent and mobile humans equipped with sensing devices? What limitations are imposed on VGI by differential access to broadband Internet, mobile phones, and other communication technologies, and by concerns over privacy? How do VGI and crowdsourcing enable innovation applications to benefit human society? Chapters examine how crowdsourcing techniques and methods, and the VGI phenomenon, have motivated a multidisciplinary research community to identify both fields of applications and quality criteria depending on the use of VGI. Besides harvesting tools and storage of these data, research has paid remarkable attention to these information resources, in an age when information and participation is one of the most important drivers of development. The collection opens questions and points to new research directions in addition to the findings that each of the authors demonstrates. Despite rapid progress in VGI research, this Handbook also shows that there are technical, social, political and methodological challenges that require further studies and research." This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to a Creative Commons license permitting commercial use. All rights not granted by the work's license are retained by the author or authors.

Thinking about GIS

Thinking about GIS
Author: Roger F. Tomlinson
Publisher: ESRI, Inc.
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2007
Genre: Geographic information systems
ISBN: 1589481585

Targeting those charged with launching or implementing a geographic information system for their organization, this book details a practical method for planning a GIS proven successful in public and private sector organizations.

Mobile Information Systems Leveraging Volunteered Geographic Information for Earth Observation

Mobile Information Systems Leveraging Volunteered Geographic Information for Earth Observation
Author: Gloria Bordogna
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2017-12-21
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 3319708783

This book, written by an international team of prominent authors, gathers the latest developments in mobile technologies for the acquisition, management, analysis and sharing of Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) in the context of Earth observation. It is divided into three parts, the first of which presents case studies on the implementation of VGI for Earth observation, discusses the characteristics of volunteers’ engagement in relation with their expertise and motivation, analyzes the tasks they are called upon to perform, and examines the available tools for developing VGI. In turn, the second part introduces readers to essential methods, techniques and algorithms used to develop mobile information systems based on VGI for distinct Earth observation tasks, while the last part focuses on the drawbacks and limitations of VGI with regard to the above-mentioned tasks and proposes innovative methods and techniques to help overcome them. Given its breadth of coverage, the book offers a comprehensive, practice-oriented reference guide for researchers and practitioners in the field of geo-information management.