Hej,
Jeg synes det er fantastisk at der snart bliver åbnet op for adgangen til en
masse grunddata! :)
Sidste år blev der afholdt en spændende workshop omkring værktøjer til at gøre
det lettere at sammenligne og udveksle geodata mellem OSM og offentlige
myndigheder. I forlængelse af dette snakkede jeg på sidste Cph Data Drinks med
to personer fra Open Source Days i Danmark, der arbejder med "geodata" som tema
på deres event i foråret.
De mente at temaet omkring open source værktøjer til udveksling af data mellem
OSM og offentlige myndigheder kunne være spændende at arbejde med i forbindelse
med deres event - og ekstra relevant når der nu bliver åbnet op for adgangen
til FOT data, osv.
Jeg har tidligere skrevet nedenstående oplæg, som jeg derfor sendte til Open
Source Days.
Hvad tænker i som OSM brugere? Hvad er behovet? Hvordan kan man bedst
involvere, engagere og fokusere open source udviklere, OSM brugere og
kommuner/myndigheder omkring dette tema i forbindelse med Open Source Days i
foråret 2013?
Venlig hilsen
Emil Tin
...
Open source tools for exchanging data between OpenStreetMap and public
authorities
Background
OpenStreetMap is gaining increased popularity, and is already being used for
many purposes, including route planners and mobile apps.
Both public authorities and OpenStreetMap could potentially gain a lot from
more effective ways of exchanging and comparing data. The different datasets
have different strengths. Data exchange could help improve the map quality on
both sides.
OSM is often very detailed and updated where many people live, but is still
often a bit lacking in more remote areas. Data from authorities a often has a
more even quality, but can be outdated, or might lack details like bicycle
infrastructure, which is often well mapped in OSM.
20+ municipalities in the Copenhagen area are currently developing a bicycle
route planner based on OSM data. Copenhagen has gone through a manual process
of comparing internal GIS map data with OSM data, as well as updating both
datasets. The process has been very useful, and has resulted in higher quality
data on both sides.
However, the process has taken quite a bit of time and energy, and might be
impractical for other municipalities. More automated tools would be very useful
for many municipalites and OSM volunteers. Better map data would also benefit a
large number of projects using OMS data.
A workshop was held in Copenhagen in the winter of 2011, with representatives
from municipalites, road authoroties, OSM volunteers, and other, exploring
ideas for how to exchange map data. Ideas from the workshop are listed later in
this document.
Purpose
The purpose of the project is to make it easier and cheaper to exchange map
data between public authorities and OpenStreetMap, by developing one or more
suitable open source tools.
Goals
The goal is to have a functional tool by summer 2013.
The initial target area is 20+ municipalities in the Copehagen area in Denmark,
as well as danish OSM volunteers, but the tools should have international
appeal. More widespread use will benefit everyone.
The tool must be develed as open source and released under an open source
software license approved by Open Source Initiate.
An important part of the task will be to understand the involved use-cases, and
decide what is possible within the allocated ressources and time.
Should we settle for a tool for easier visual comparison? Or should we build a
issue tracking system that integrates with the GIS systems of municipalities?
Could we use or extend the merging tool for UK Ordinance Survey data created by
CycleStreets.net? (See Inspiratation below.)
Many municipalties do not yet have experience with OSM. They will only be
interesting in using the tool if they can see immediate benefits.
Future operating costs needs to be considered carefully. Setting up a central
server is not entirely impossible, but tools that integrating into existing GIS
systems, bug trackers, route planners or OSM infrastructure will probably be
more attractive.
Tasks
1. Understand the needs and use-cases of authorities and OSM.
2. Develop a concept for one or more open source tools.
3. Impement the tool(s).
4. Test, evaluate and document the tool(s)
Challenges
Copy-paste or other mass-imports is generally not possible nor attractive,
because data formats are different, or it would result in inconsistencies, poor
map quality or valid data being overwritten. Instead each detail usally needs
to be evaluated by a human.
One of the attractions of OSM is that it covers the world in a single
consistent map format. In contrast to this, municipalities use a plurality of
systems, formats, projections, etc. The tools should be useful by a wide range
of authorities and organizations.
GIS is usually based on SQL databases with a fixed set of attributes, while OSM
can can have arbirtrary tags on each object. GIS us
