Crowdsourced neighborhood mapping

Maps Mania undertook the exercise of mapping out a London neighborhood (or neighbourhood) using crowdsourced input to determine the boundaries. The neighborhood they mapped, London's West End, is a particularly undefined area and the submitted results show it. But, when combined, the final result seems a somewhat plausible. And the idea behind it remains pretty interesting.

VGI for protesters

Here is an interesting example of VGI. In support of protesters in Hong Kong, a small group of volunteers are making real-time maps showing locations for riot police and water cannons. By building on crowdsourcing, the map is updated quickly as the situation changes. Like many VGI projects, it sounds like a bit of mixed methods:

Out on the frontlines are “runners” dressed as regular passersby so as not to attract too much unwanted attention. Working with pen and paper on a clipboard, or through an illustrator app on an iPad, the runners mark up a blank map with the latest updates. The so-called “integrator” in the control room then assembles the updates, adding additional information from live-streams and news sources, to collate all available information at that moment into a single map, which is then published online and sent out via Telegram.

One of the technical barriers is that, with so many protesters gathered so densely, mobile phone data capacities can be poor. QUartz reports that the protesters at the edge of the crowds are being encouraged to download the latest map and then airdrop it for easy access by those in the middle.

Health mapping examples

In class today we talked about Public Participatory GIS and VGI. Some of the applications are important socially relevant crowdsourcing efforts like Tomnod but others are popular, like
the bathroom mapping story in the New Yorker.

We also looked at public sources of mappable information like NYC Open Data or the Health Data at Data.Gov.

While there were lots of examples of community projects, there were also some health research projects that were mentioned including series of maps investigating health at IMMemphis. This included mapping of Ebola tweets.

One of the issues is really scale. When you hear about someone mapping cases of Zika, you probably think of something different than this map that TIME has posted.

Geomatics volunteers

When you need a break from studying, our GIS readers might want to look at Open Source Mapping and consider spending a few hours as an OSM volunteer working on some urgent projects in Nepal.

Crowdsourcing for Open Government

Is crowdsourcing just a fad or is it something that is getting built into an increasing array of activities? This post from WhiteHouse.gov provides evidence of the latter. The post lists several major projects within the Federal government that leverage volunteerism. They cover weather and nature, but also include a link to an effort I had previously overlooked at the National Archives.

Essays on Geography and GIS

Esri has released its latest online issue of Essays on Geography and GIS. For fans of geodesign it includes articles by Shannon McElvaney and for VGI fans it has a Matt Artz essay on citizen science.

Crowdsourcing barriers

A fascinating look at the barriers to crowdsourcing as well as accelerators.

Help find the missing 777

Instead of watching the 24 hour news channels repeat speculation, you could participate in the search for the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Digital Globe has created a crowdsourcing web interface, called Tomnod, to help sift through massive amounts of satellite imagery. The interface works very smooth, giving viewers one small tile at a time but allowing them to build a larger image providing a macroscopic view of what they have already seen. The app keeps "score" by tracking how many tiles you've checked, how many markers you have dropped on potential oils slicks or debris, and how many other crowdsourcers have marked the same spots.

Like some other successful VGI applications, this has appeal on multiple levels. It feels like a humanitarian offering, helping with a massive problem that would have felt largely beyond the ability of the individual. It does feel a little like a game, both in its ultimate goal (find the plane) but also in creating an ongoing sense of progress with the counters for tiles and markers. Even though it lacks a forum or conversation area, it gives participants a way to connect (symbolically) with contributors with similar motivation, plugging them into a virtual global community.

And like other disaster-related VGI applications, it is something that can be done cheaply and quickly. Mobilizing GIS volunteers is more expensive and time consuming, although it clearly accomplishes something very different.

Community mapping in the news

Dr. Im is in the news again, this time for a very popular pothole mapping effort.

One of the continuing issues in crowdsourcing is how unpredictable the crowd response can be. I mean I can offer a crass pop psychology explanation of why this one has taken off (everyday experience, slow government response, appearance of accessibility) relative to something like wildlife or sewer outfalls. But we still see some fairly similar efforts wallowing with just a few data contributions. I wish we had a better sense of the motivating factors so that when we need to work on something important, but admittedly less sexy, we could better know how to improve the odds of success without a marketing staff of 20.

Can planning be outsourced?

Salt Lake City's Granary District says yes. Tim Halbur explains on PlaNetizen.

Geospatial People in Wisconsin

As part of a visit to Wisconsin's Geospatial Summit I am speaking on VGI, PPGIS, and data sharing.  Here are a few background papers that anyone can find online:

• Tulloch and Shapiro on Access and Participation
• Tulloch and Harvey on Data Sharing Practices
• Tulloch on PPGIS in First Monday

 For the scholars with academic access, a more longer list is available on scholar.google.com.

The ethics of community mapping

This post on the ethics of community mapping raises some great questions. It asks the tough questions that every VGI and PPGIS person should be asking, like:
"Is digital mapping really about communities, or are we really just using communities as a backdrop to showcase our own innovation and coolness or that of our donors?"

It is based on the NY Technology Salon panel from February. Good stuff.

In a GeoWorld Online Exclusive, “Students Map Critical Gas Resources” tells the story of the IMSOCIO group's efforts to crowdsource the mapping of gas stations. (Sorry about the ads)


Tulloch, D. 2013, “Students Map Critical Gas Resources,” GeoWorld Online Exclusive, (Posted: Jan. 31, 2013) (http://alturl.com/92khs).

IMSCOIO in GeoWorld

In an Online Exclusive, the new GeoWorld (sorry about the ads) provides some details and well-deserved attention for IMSOICIO's gas station mapping project. Kudos to the students for their high-profile efforts. And kudos to GeoWorld for giving them some attention within the GIS community.

Step up and volunteer!

If you saw my earlier post on Wansoo Im's IMSOCIO group mapping gas, you already know that the HS students' hard work has become important to both drivers and agencies.

But now that their school has reopened, they need volunteers to fill the gaps so these guys can study a bit more. I know Central NJ seems to be better, but Long Island and the Shore still have major problems.

Here is Dr. Im's request for volunteers:
The Mappler Team by IMSOCIO has been updating our http://www.mappler.net/gasstation site to provide invaluable information to people who are in need and to government agencies during the response to Hurricane Sandy.

It is about time that IMSOCIO members (high school students in Franklin Township,NJ) refocus their energy on their studies. They built a foundation for the volunteer system on this project. While we have more volunteers from Rutgers University, and other universities and colleges, we are still short on volunteers to update gas station status data. We are trying to launch “Adopt a Gas Station”; each individual adopts a gas station and updates a status report via web or smart phone. It would take maximum 3-4 phone calls per day, and we will have a complete database with your help. Clear instruction will be provided. Anyone interested? With 4-5 minutes of your time daily for next week, we can make a difference together. Please share this and click like button. Instruction will be provided via http://www.facebook.com/groups/findgasstations site. Thanks.

Please email if you have any questions.
Wansooim@gmail.com

This photo show the DOE Gas Station Information Collection Call Center. And what is that on the screen? The IM SOCIO map.

Recent projects in Community Mapping

 The students in Rick Lathrop's Advanced Environmental Geomatics have created online mapping tools for Rutgers' Eco-preserve.  Some are broad, but they include specific tools like the Tree Tracker and the Frog Tracker.

Dr. Im also ran a class with mostly Bloustein and geography students that looked at mapping the water crisis in Africa. It has been a semester for community mapping.

Community Mapping in Seoul

As part of my visit to Seoul, I joined Dr. Wansoo Im and IMKorea in a community mapping exercise. The exercise was joined by Seoul's mayor Won-soon Park (pdf). He used both and iPhone and iPad to photograph, map, and describe places in the city where there were unnecessary challenges for people with disabilities.

A few extra readings on PPGIS, VGI and data sharing

After some presentations this week, I have gotten requests for more information than I was able to cover.  So here are three free and online papers that I humbly offer to continue that conversation:

• Tulloch and Shapiro on Access and Participation
• Tulloch and Harvey on Data Sharing Practices
• Tulloch on PPGIS in First Monday

So far, the audiences for these talks have been incredible.  And I hope to share a little more about this over the next few days.

Stay tuned...

VGI gone astray

One of the great things about volunteered geographic informatin is how quickly it can be updated to reflect changes.  For instance, Google Maps makes it easy for users to flag a business that has closec and then map users can be spared the agony of a trip there.  But what if the business is really open? Fixing it isn't always as easy.

VGI through Waze

Waze is a new VGI (volunteered geographic information) app that is trying to use grassroots, driver-based data to help you get around easier. Waze uses driver info to create data about traffic problems, but also lets driver input information about bad addresses or locations. VGI is a rapidly evolving field, and efforts like this (whether it succeeds or fails) are essential to advancing both the science and usable code.

Here is their flash video which includes this blog-apropos line: "And, if you are the kind of person who has a passion for mapping..."