The Participatory Geoweb

These definitions will evolve over time:

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authoritative information versus assertive information: authoritative information is that which is contributed by an official or someone who has been sanctioned (by an recognized agency). Assertive information is contributed by someone who has not been extended that particular legitimacy. Authoritative information is collected by the public sectors, the private sector, and scientists; assertive information is collected by everyday people or lay scientists (after Goodchild 2007).

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Citizen Sensors: One type of sensor network is humans themselves or citizen sensors according to Goodchild (2007). Humans have five senses and are free to rove the surface of the earth. Citizens are intelligent, synthesizers and interpreters of local information.

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Crowd Sourcing (aka the wisdom of crowds): An exercise of collective intelligence. Crowd Sourcing is a model capable of aggregating talent, leveraging ingenuity while reducing the costs and time formerly needed to solve problems.  (Brabhan 2008)

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Digital Earth: A Digital Earth (a.k.a. Virtual Globe) is an Internet-based* 3-D representation of the Earth that is geospatially referenced. This digital earth should interconnect with other digital georeferenced archives and allow input from other sources.

In addition to the technical, the goal of a Digital Earth is very social. Any individual, with an Internet connection, “should be able to freely access a virtual world of information and knowledge resources. This philosophy supports the dream of ubiquitous education for the people of the planet. A rich convergence of technological advances, active visionaries, and recognition of the paramount need for humans to better understand the Earth and its systems comprises the history of this dynamic and exciting enterprise.”

*Some virtual globes predate Internet-based platforms.

Source: The 5th International Symposium on Digital Earth

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Empowerment: “an increase in social influence of political power” (Corbett and Keller 2005: 93)

Empowerment capacity: “aspects of the deeper process of change in the internal condition of an individual or community that influence their empowerment” (Corbett and Keller 2005: 93)

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Geoweb (aka Geospatial Web):

• “Integrative, discoverable collection of geographically related web services and data that spans multiple jurisdictions and geographic regions” (Lake et al. 2007)
• "The Geoweb provides the means for interconnecting individual GIS databases. Desktop GIS can access and ingest data that’s found on the Geoweb as well as publish data to it. We can consume services that reside on the web, and can integrate different perspectives through the common network that is the web.
• The Geoweb framework provides the means of integrating our collective knowledge. While there are means of consuming and representing our data in globes and maps, the entirety of the Geoweb is not yet a GIS. The barrier at present is largely data access and discovery, particularly when looking at the popular geographic exploration systems. There’s no access to data at the database level to unlock metadata and the multiple attributes that have been collected about our world. There’s also a lack of analysis functionality." (Ball 2008)

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Participation:

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Participatory Geographic Information Systems:

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Participatory Geoweb:

• Frameworks that evaluate applications of geographic information technologies on Web 2.0--the Geoweb -- to engage the civil society in an open dialogue with government and others on the issues that affect people's lives.

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Web 2.0: A phrase coined by the book publisher, O'Reilly to describe the next generation of the web.

Here are O'Reilly's recommended design principles for Web 2.0 applications.

1. The Long Tail

Small sites make up the bulk of the internet's content; narrow niches make up the bulk of internet's the possible applications. Therefore: Leverage customer-self service and algorithmic data management to reach out to the entire web, to the edges and not just the center, to the long tail and not just the head.

2. Data is the Next Intel Inside

Applications are increasingly data-driven. Therefore: For competitive advantage, seek to own a unique, hard-to-recreate source of data.

3. Users Add Value [in the Geoweb, it's called user generated content, user created content, or volunteered geographic information]

The key to competitive advantage in internet applications is the extent to which users add their own data to that which you provide. Therefore: Don't restrict your "architecture of participation" to software development. Involve your users both implicitly and explicitly in adding value to your application.

4. Network Effects by Default

Only a small percentage of users will go to the trouble of adding value to your application. Therefore: Set inclusive defaults for aggregating user data as a side-effect of their use of the application.

5. Some Rights Reserved

Intellectual property protection limits re-use and prevents experimentation. Therefore: When benefits come from collective adoption, not private restriction, make sure that barriers to adoption are low. Follow existing standards, and use licenses with as few restrictions as possible. Design for "hackability" and "remixability."

6. The Perpetual Beta

When devices and programs are connected to the internet, applications are no longer software artifacts, they are ongoing services. Therefore: Don't package up new features into monolithic releases, but instead add them on a regular basis as part of the normal user experience. Engage your users as real-time testers, and instrument the service so that you know how people use the new features.

7. Cooperate, Don't Control

Web 2.0 applications are built of a network of cooperating data services. Therefore: Offer web services interfaces and content syndication, and re-use the data services of others. Support lightweight programming models that allow for loosely-coupled systems.

8. Software Above the Level of a Single Device

The PC is no longer the only access device for internet applications, and applications that are limited to a single device are less valuable than those that are connected. Therefore: Design your application from the get-go to integrate services across handheld devices, PCs, and internet servers.

 

An awesome illustration of Web 2.0

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User generated content (UGC) (aka User created content {UCC}):

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Volunteered geographic information (VGI): see the workshop summary.

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