State of the Map EU - OpenStreetMap and GIScience research

Observing from afar or joining the action:OSM and GIScience researchMuki Haklay‘Extreme Citizen Science’ group (ExCiteS)Department of Civil, Environmental and GeomaticEngineeringUCLm.haklay@ucl.ac.uk / twitter: @mhaklayhttp://povesham.wordpress.com

Content• OpenStreetMap and academic research• Using, researching and working with OpenStreetMap• What university researchers can and can’t do for OpenStreetMap• Some suggestions for engagement with OpenStreetMap

OpenStreetMap and academic publications Number of publications indexed by Google Scholar600 527500400300 274200 132100 47 0 13 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010• ISI Web of Knowledge: 10; Elsevier Scirus: 66

More germane to the topic of this paper is the OpenStreetMap, which is a free editablemap of the whole world. Operating as a WIKI, OpenStreetMap allows users to view,edit and use geographical data in a collaborative way from anywhere in the world.According to the website: OpenStreetMap is a project is a project aimed squarely at creating and providing free geographic data such as street maps to anyone who wants them… (www.openstreetmap.org, accessed January 2006)... Although innovative and attractive for its low cost and democratic principles, such anapproach would have two notable limitations: (1) it might take years to cover theworld on an “all volunteer” basis, and (2) there would be little ability to imposestandards or to undertake a comprehensive independent data verification. Still, asthese technologies advance, and the community of users grows, it is worth consideringthis as a possible model for roads data compilation.

…Calling it volunteered geographic information (VGI) captures whatis perhaps its most important aspect…For example, OpenStreetMap (www.openstreetmap.org) is building apublic-domain street map of the entire world through volunteer effort.Each contributor develops a map of his or her local streets using GPStracking; and individual contributions are assembled and reconciled into asingle patchwork. Extensive metadata is incorporated, since each piece ofthe patchwork may have different levels of accuracy and may have beenacquired at different dates. Some level of expertise is required in theuse of GIS and the project’s software, in the basic principles ofgeographic measurement, and in the project’s system forclassifying streets.

Types of research with OpenStreetMap• With OSM – Working close to OSM community to identify research needs and follow them (Wiki Research Ideas page)• About OSM – Learning about OSM, and the community as part of VGI. Comparing it to other projects• Using OSM – Using the dataset to create new applications and explore scientific issues

Data quality – first and major area of research• The ‘wikipedia problem’: – We know little about the people that collect it, their skills, knowledge or patterns of data collection – Loose coordination and no top-down quality assurance processes• Significant to ‘buy in’ from users of the map and thus to the making OSM meaningful project• Academic research provide the credibility and access to reference datasets, in addition to expertise in spatial data quality

Positional accuracy and completeness• Tests in the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland and Greece demonstrated that it OSM data is accurate: – UK: Zulfiqar (2008) Basiouka (2009), Ather (2009), Haklay (2010) – Greece: Kounadi (2009) – France: Girres and Touya (2010) – Germany: Zielstra and Zipf (2010), Mondzech and Sester (2011) Ludwig, Voss and Krause-Traudes (2010) – Switzerland: Ueberschlag (2010)• Usually mix between positional accuracy, attribute accuracy and completeness

Thomas Koukoletsos Using data matching to evaluate completeness

Thomas Koukoletsos

Byron Antoniou Self contained quality indicators

Data quality – current understanding• Quality can be as good as the best datasets• Heterogeneity / patchwork is key – no global quality measure• Rural / Urban gap in quality and completeness• Evaluation methods are robust and work across cultures, some been automated• Intrinsic indicators are critical (Linus law, edits) – important area for further research

Nama Budhathoki Participants’ characteristics Female Above 50 Below 20 (3%) years years (10%) (4%) 41-50 years 20-30 (22%) years Male (32%) (96%) 31-40 years (32%) Doctoral High degree School or Post- (8%) lower Some Other societal studies: graduate (5%) College degree (17%) • Parker (2010) (21%) • Gerlach (2010) College/ • Coleman et al. (2010) University degree (49%)

Use cases: emergency and humanitarian situationsSource: Maron (2010).

Other areas of activity• 3D models and routing applications (Zipf et al.)• Neocartography and geovisualisation (Chilton, O’Brien)• Semantics, ontologies (Bishr, Antoniou)• Technical applications (Mooney)• Trust and general quality (van Exel)• Some questions on long held views: data quality, ontologies, top down processes

‘Critical friendship’2008 2011

200 OSM coverage in England, by180 deprivation index160 Mar ‘11140 Mar ‘10120 Oct‘09100 Mar ‘0980 Average of PCTMeridianOSM0308 Average of PCTMeridianOSM030960 Average of PCTMeridianOSM1009 Average of PCTMeridianOSM0310 Mar ‘08 Average of PCTMeridianOSM0910 Average of PCTMeridianOSM031140 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98

140 OSM (with attributes) coverage in England,120 by deprivation index100806040 Average of PCTMeridianOSM0308A20 Average of PCTMeridianOSM0309A Average of PCTMeridianOSM1009A Average of PCTMeridianOSM0310A Average of PCTMeridianOSM0910A Average of PCTMeridianOSM0311A 0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98

But it doesn’t have to be this way (TomChance work) …

OSM use for academic researchSpace Syntax analysis (choice 2km)

Surbiton – Integration at 800m

Important open questions• Cultural differences and the impact on mapping• Impact of imports, and the rate and nature of updates of well mapped areas• Spatial and temporal patterns of engagement and contribution, role of ‘silent’ mappers• ‘Tyranny of place hypothesis’ and the impact of specific individual on mapping an area• Internal culture and impact on gender, exclusion and long term engagement• Legal studies – licence use cases and applications• Usability (see Weber and Jones 2011)

Limitations of academic research / collaboration • Short attention span – the incentives are for novelty, not routine • Publications are important, so research ideas are welcomed • Academic institutes can provide power and network (up to a point), not money • Enthusiastic students are available at specific time cycle • Across the world, match funding for business, so introductions needed • Academic careers have thematic focus

‘Code of engagement’ for OpenStreetMapresearch• Rule 1 – even if you are just going to use the data, do some mapping, and understand the process. Join a mapping party.• This will help you avoiding misinterpretations such as ‘the data is collected by users from the GPS trails’

‘Code of engagement’ for OpenStreetMapresearch• Rule 2 – Read. OSM Books, Wiki, Blog and mailing lists.

‘Code of engagement’ for OpenStreetMapresearch• Rule 3 – Explore the data. There’s plenty of it – quantitative and qualitative. Then talk with someone in the community to check that you’ve got it right.

‘Code of engagement’ for OpenStreetMapresearch• Rule 4 – Open Access. Put outputs in Open Access repository, publish in Open Access journals & blogs.

‘Code of engagement’ for OpenStreetMapresearch• Rule 5 - Open Knowledge. Publish and share the data that you’ve processed, and ideally the code so other people can use it for their purposes.• Rule 6 - You have a responsibility to your academic field, and the OpenStreetMap community can deal with criticism – be a critical friend.

‘Code of engagement’ for OpenStreetMapresearch• Rule 7 - Teach. Students are some of the most likely participants. It’s also fun for them. Source: Harry Wood 2010

‘Code of engagement’ for OpenStreetMapresearch• Maintain links with the OSM community – it will pay off and will help you to identify new research directions• Also maintain links within the VGI research community – even if the term is awkward, the research is valuable• Explore comparisons and parallels – it’s important to learn what is going on in other projects

Conclusions• OpenStreetMap is becoming a significant resource in GIScience research – studying it, using it and improving it• There are many open questions that are important to both the community and the researchers. Continuous dialogue is the key• We should use http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Research more

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State of the Map EU - OpenStreetMap and GIScience research

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