The CO-Benefit (COBWEB) project focuses on enhancing the use of crowdsourced environmental data through citizen observatories, leveraging the rise in smartphone and tablet usage. Currently in its fourth year, the project seeks to implement data quality measures, integrate crowdsourced and reference data, and address privacy concerns. Key achievements include the development of open geospatial interoperability standards and successful demonstrations in various European biosphere reserves.

1. COBWEB PROJECT
Overall Project Status and Deliverables
(and WP1)
2nd
Project Review, Brussels
Project Coordinator: University of Edinburgh
Chris Higgins
chris.higgins@ed.ac.uk
3 February 2016

3. Big Picture
• Explosion in availability of smartphones and tablets equals
great potential for “citizens as sensors”
• How to make the data gathered usable?
• What quality measures are needed?
• How to reduce uncertainty?
• How can crowdsourced environmental data aid decision
making?
• How can our crowdsourced data be conflated with
reference data and be deployed in standards based
Spatial Data Infrastructures?

4. Project characteristics
1. Project started 1st
Nov, 2012 and runs for
4 years
• Currently at Month 40 of 48
2. An “SME Targeted Collaborative” project
• 30% EU contribution to SMEs
2. Develop 'citizens' observatories’
• Mobilise citizens
• Emphasised during Grant Negotiation
• “Co-design” fund established
2. A research project doing innovative work
• Crowdsourced environmental data to aid decision
making

5. Technology Readiness Levels (TRL)
TRL
1 Basic principles observed and reported
2 Technology concept and/or application formulated
3 Active R&D initiated
Experimental proof of concept
4 Technology validation within a laboratory environment
5 Technology validation in relevant environment
6 Demonstration in a relevant environment
7 Demonstration in an operational environment
8 Actual system completed and qualified through test and
demonstration
9 Actual system proven through successful mission
operations

6. Project characteristics
Mainly
medium to
high TRLs
Requires
high TRLs
By definition,
lower TRLs
1. Project started 1st
Nov, 2012 and runs for
4 years
• Currently at Month 40 of 48
2. An “SME Targeted Collaborative” project
• 30% EU contribution to SMEs
2. Develop 'citizens' observatories’
• Mobilise citizens
• Emphasised during Grant Negotiation
• “Co-design” fund established
2. A research project doing innovative work
• Crowdsourced environmental data to aid decision making

7. Some Key COBWEB Successes
• Open geospatial interoperability standards to
enable citizens as sensors
• SWE for Citizen Science (SWE4CS)
• Quality assurance and conflation of authoritative
with crowdsourced data
• Heterogeneous sensors embedded in the
environment
• Use of Access Management Federations on
mobile devices, advances in security/privacy
• Pioneered a unique co-design process

8. Project Partners

9. 14 Partner Organisations
No. Full Name Short Name
1 University of Edinburgh UEDIN
2 University of Nottingham UNOTT
3 Aberystwyth University AU
4 Welsh Government WELSH GOV
5 Environment Systems Ltd ENVSYS
6 Partneriaeth Eco Dyffryn Dyfi Eco Valley Partnership Ecodyfi
7 Open Geospatial Consortium (Europe) Ltd OGCE
8 University College Dublin UCD
9 Technische Universitaet Dresden TUD
10 Secure Dimensions GmbH SECD
11 University of Patras UPATRAS
12 Oikom Environmental Studies Ltd OIKOM
13 GeoCat BV GeoCat
14 Open Geospatial Consortium Inc OGC

10. 9 Work Packages
WP Title Lead
1 Contract and project management UEDIN
2 Stakeholder engagement WG
3 Citizen observatory framework UCD
4 Citizen observatory mobile data collection,
validation and quality system
UNOTT
5 Privacy assurance and access management SECD
6 Demonstrator Development UCD
7 Data and knowledge management UEDIN
8 Testing and validation ENVSYS
9 Dissemination, exploitation and usage ENVSYS

11. UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves
Sites of excellence to foster harmonious
integration of people and nature for
sustainable development through
participation, knowledge sharing,
poverty reduction and human well-being
improvements, cultural values and
society's ability to cope with change,
thus contributing to the Millennium
Development Goals

12. COBWEB Biosphere Reserves
Biosffer Dyfi Biosphere
Mount Olympus
Gorge of Samaria
Wadden See & Hallig islands

13. Essential Context - GEOSS
• COBWEB works within the GEOSS framework
• common methodologies and standards for data
archiving, discovery and access
• Section on collaboration with GEOSS and FP7-
ENV-2012 cluster projects added to project
description
• “Data collected should be made available
through the GEOSS without any restrictions”
• But, we must address privacy questions…

14. COBWEB is not a collection of Apps…
A number of demonstrator mobile phone
applications
• Exactly what, deliberately left open and subject to
discussion with community
3 pilot case study areas:
1. Validating earth
observation products
2. Biological monitoring
3. Flooding

15. COBWEB Framework

16. • Achievements by T0+36 versus project objectives
• Review of deliverables and milestones
• Problems faced, corrective actions taken
• Follow-up of the recommendations of the first
review

17. Big Picture (Month 40 of 48): where we are in the project…
• Month 24: Milestone 3:
– First Welsh demonstrator completed and ready for
testing in the field
• Month 36: Milestone 4 (MS4):
– Field testing of first demonstrator completed
• Month 41: Milestone 5 (MS5):
– Greek and German demonstrators completed and
ready for testing in the field
• Month 46: Milestone 6 (MS6):
– Field testing of Greek and German demonstrators
completed

18. Brussels Dec 2014 (M26) events
• 3rd
Dec: Second Technical Workshop of Citizens
Observatories
• 4th
Dec: Open Conference: Citizens
Observatories: Empowering European Society
• First live public demonstration of our software
working
• COBWEB has 4 main strengths:
1. Built from security layer upwards
2. Co-design
3. Quality control
4. Strong, balanced consortium

19. Big Picture (Month 40 of 48): where we are in the project…
• Month 24: Milestone 3:
– First Welsh demonstrator completed and ready for
testing in the field
• Month 36: Milestone 4 (MS4):
– Field testing of first demonstrator completed
• Month 41: Milestone 5 (MS5):
– Greek and German demonstrators completed and
ready for testing in the field
• Month 46: Milestone 6 (MS6):
– Field testing of Greek and German demonstrators
completed

20. Co-Design
“…a product, service, or organization
development process where design
professionals empower, encourage,
and guide users to develop solutions
for themselves.” Wikipedia

21. Co-design activity during 2015 field season

22. Objectives & Scope for the Co-Design sub-projects
1. Engage in dialogue with members of the COBWEB
consortium to assist in the design of apps, and to assist in
identifying further user requirements
2. Use the generic COBWEB apps to address specific
needs within your project or area of expertise, and advise
us on adaptations to these apps
3. Arrange and manage groups of citizens in field testing
COBWEB app(s) in the Dyfi Biosphere area

23. Co-Design Balancing Act
• Validating our concept of Citizen
Observatory
• Testing the software
• But, research and development
continues in parallel
• However, we do recognise some components need to be of higher TRL
• But, this is a research and development project
– Don’t have all the answers
– Don’t know exactly where we are going to end up

24. Big Picture (Month 40 of 48): where we are in the project…
• Month 24: Milestone 3:
– First Welsh demonstrator completed and ready for
testing in the field
• Month 36: Milestone 4 (MS4):
– Field testing of first demonstrator completed
• Month 41: Milestone 5 (MS5):
– Greek and German demonstrators completed and
ready for testing in the field
• Month 46: Milestone 6 (MS6):
– Field testing of Greek and German demonstrators
completed

25. Greek Demonstrator Activity
• Mount Olympus
– School fieldtrips
– School exchange organised between Litohoro and Ysgol
Bro Hyddgen
• Further co-design
• Explore exploitation opportunities
• Additional WNBR engagement, UNESCO Associated Schools
Project Network
• Samaria Gorge
– MEET project (Mediterranean Experience of Ecotourism)
– School fieldtrips
– Greek Mountaineering Club of Chania
• Activity extended to two Natura 2000 sites

26. German Demonstrator Activity
• Focus on creating a toolkit that can be used
by any crowdsourcing project to link and
combine their observations with external
data on the Web, eg, GBIF, Naturgucker,
BürgerSchaffenWissen and Artenfinder
projects
• Data collection, extended to:
– Wattenmeer National Park (Nordeney Island)
– Oberlausitzer Heide und Teichlandschaft’
Biosphere Reserve in Saxony

27. • Achievements by T0+36 versus project
objectives
• Review of deliverables and milestones
• Problems faced, corrective actions taken
• Follow-up of the recommendations of the first
review

28. Grant Agreement Amendment Dec 2015 #1 of 5
Established OGC as an additional beneficiary
1.1st July, 2014. OGC-Europe constituted so
that staff employed directly in Europe
2.Prior to this date was technically OGC US
based staff on project though located in Europe
3.Transition seamless and no significant impact
on COBWEB

29. Grant Agreement Amendment Dec 2015 #2 of 5
Restructured WP6 tasks
1.Change emphasis from additional partner and
working in a non-EU Biosphere Reserve (T6.5:
Additional demonstrator non-EU)
2.Focus on QA/QC/conflation
3.Strengthen European dimension
4.Additional outreach activities beyond EU

30. Grant Agreement Amendment Dec 2015 #3 of 5
Changed milestone dates:
MS Name Original
delivery
date
Amended
delivery
date
1 Design Forum 5 5
2 Implementation #1 12 12
3 Initial Welsh
demonstration
24 24
4 Implementation #2 30 36
5 Greek and German
demonstration
36 41
6 Final release 45 46

31. Grant Agreement Amendment Dec 2015 #4 of 5
Deliverable related changes (44 total, 25
submitted, 10 accepted, 15 under review)
1.Changes to dissemination levels
2.Changes to delivery dates
3.Two new deliverables (versions of the Functional
Architecture) added: D3.10 (v2), D3.11 (v3)
4.D6.5 (Additional demonstrator non-EU)
removed

32. Grant Agreement Amendment Dec 2015 #5 of 5
Reallocation of Person Months per partner per
Work Package
1.Total PM’s per partner mostly unaltered
• WP2 increased
• WP7 reduced
• WP8 reduced
1.GeoCat effort increased to 80PMs
2.NUID UCD released 6PM to UEDIN to address
high priority issues identified by reviewers

33. Consumption of Resources – Person Months
DoW
Orig
DoW
Amend
M36
Planned
M36
Actual
Dev %
WP1 61 61 45.75 51.93 13.51%
WP2 122 193 144.74 128.64 -11.12%
WP3 121.4 155.4 116.55 115.19 -1.17%
WP4 104 103 77.25 67.4 -12.75%
WP5 52.7 53.7 40.28 34.9 -13.35%
WP6 119 134.94 101.21 100.51 -0.69%
WP7 89.8 44.8 33.6 34.29 2.05%
WP8 128 98 73.5 70.65 -3.88%
WP9 97 107 80.25 75.48 -5.94%
TOTAL 894.9 950.84 713.12 677.55 -4.9%

34. • Achievements by T0+36 versus project
objectives
• Review of deliverables and milestones
• Problems faced, corrective actions taken
• Follow-up of the recommendations of the first
review

35. July 2014 Technical Review – Summary of summary
Comment Corrective measures
Use existing ontologies Use INSPIRE tooling
Interoperate with existing i/f Bio Records WG, UKEOF, Co-Design sub-projects
Strengthen European dimension Other BR’s, Greece/Germany, Urdaibai, EuroMAB
Empower citizens Co-design sub-projects
More outreach WP9 change in emphasis, engage with OPAL
Strengthen ethical considerations Build into app, Co-Design sub-projects
Pay attention to health and safety Build into app, Co-Design sub-projects
Address gender imbalance Discuss at WP2, use social media
Build in training Co-Design sub-projects, liaise with OPAL
More on quality assurance/control Continue and expand
Engage broader demographic Co-Design sub-projects
More attention on resource use At various fora, eg, Project Board, WP Leader meetings
Consider sustainability more Co-Design sub-projects, OPAL, UKEOF, OSGeo
Engage public sector more Use INSPIRE, Co-Design sub-projects
Non-EU engagement lacking UNESCO
Use social media more Expand
Get general public involved Use Co-Design sub-projects and plan for 2016

36. OPen Air Laboratories (OPAL) network
• Led by Imperial College London
• Founded European Citizen Science
Association (ECSA)
• Memorandum of Understanding
• Packaged Tree Health survey into COBWEB
App
• Demonstrated at OPAL Partners meeting Nov
2015
– May use for data collection Berlin in May in
association with ECSA conference
• Submitted H2020 proposal together

37. July 2014 Technical Review – Summary of summary
Comment Corrective measures
Use existing ontologies Use INSPIRE tooling
Interoperate with existing i/f Bio Records WG, UKEOF, Co-Design sub-projects
Strengthen European dimension Other BR’s, Greece/Germany, Urdaibai, EuroMAB
Empower citizens Co-design sub-projects
More outreach WP9 change in emphasis, engage with OPAL
Strengthen ethical considerations Build into app, Co-Design sub-projects
Pay attention to health and safety Build into app, Co-Design sub-projects
Address gender imbalance Discuss at WP2, use social media
Build in training Co-Design sub-projects, liaise with OPAL
More on quality assurance/control Continue and expand
Engage broader demographic Co-Design sub-projects
More attention on resource use At various fora, eg, Project Board, WP Leader meetings
Consider sustainability more Co-Design sub-projects, OPAL, UKEOF, OSGeo
Engage public sector more Use INSPIRE, Co-Design sub-projects
Non-EU engagement lacking UNESCO
Use social media more Expand
Get general public involved Use Co-Design sub-projects and plan for 2016

38. Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve, Basque country
• Collaboration agreement between Dyfi and
Urdaibai BR’s being built on
• Meeting in Guernica on 30th
Apr, 2015
• Attended Citizen Science workshop Vitorio
Sept 2015
• Ongoing dialogue with Miren Onaindia,
UNESCO Chair in Sustainable development
and environmental education, Universidad del
País Vasco, Bilbao

39. July 2014 Technical Review – Summary of summary
Comment Corrective measures
Use existing ontologies Use INSPIRE tooling
Interoperate with existing i/f Bio Records WG, UKEOF, Co-Design sub-projects
Strengthen European dimension Other BR’s, Greece/Germany, Urdaibai, EuroMAB
Empower citizens Co-design sub-projects
More outreach WP9 change in emphasis, engage with OPAL
Strengthen ethical considerations Build into app, Co-Design sub-projects
Pay attention to health and safety Build into app, Co-Design sub-projects
Address gender imbalance Discuss at WP2, use social media
Build in training Co-Design sub-projects, liaise with OPAL
More on quality assurance/control Continue and expand
Engage broader demographic Co-Design sub-projects
More attention on resource use At various fora, eg, Project Board, WP Leader meetings
Consider sustainability more Co-Design sub-projects, OPAL, UKEOF, OSGeo
Engage public sector more Use INSPIRE, Co-Design sub-projects
Non-EU engagement lacking UNESCO
Use social media more Expand
Get general public involved Use Co-Design sub-projects and plan for 2016

40. Co-design sub-projects brought lots of opportunities
• Explore interoperability with likes of NBN, LRC’s
• Get a broader demographic involved
• Examine ethical issues
• Health and safety
• Allow users to incorporate their own content
• Consider sustainability options
– WP9 driving co-design activity in 2016

41. July 2014 Technical Review – Summary of summary
Comment Corrective measures
Use existing ontologies Use INSPIRE tooling
Interoperate with existing i/f Bio Records WG, UKEOF, Co-Design sub-projects
Strengthen European dimension Other BR’s, Greece/Germany, Urdaibai, EuroMAB
Empower citizens Co-design sub-projects
More outreach WP9 change in emphasis, engage with OPAL
Strengthen ethical considerations Build into app, Co-Design sub-projects
Pay attention to health and safety Build into app, Co-Design sub-projects
Address gender imbalance Discuss at WP2, use social media
Build in training Co-Design sub-projects, liaise with OPAL
More on quality assurance/control Continue and expand
Engage broader demographic Co-Design sub-projects
More attention on resource use At various fora, eg, Project Board, WP Leader meetings
Consider sustainability more Co-Design sub-projects, OPAL, UKEOF, OSGeo
Engage public sector more Use INSPIRE, Co-Design sub-projects
Non-EU engagement lacking UNESCO
Use social media more Expand
Get general public involved Use Co-Design sub-projects and plan for 2016

42. Strengthen European dimension
• Engagement with ECSA
– Attendance at meetings
– Hosting data and interoperability meeting
– Running workshop at annual conference 2016
• Collaborating with the EAGLE (Eionet Action
Group on Land monitoring in Europe) group
– EAGLE outputs driving Validating EO products
pilot case study development
– Hosting 2-day workshop Edinburgh to explore
collaboration opportunities
• Workshop at European Man and Biosphere
(EuroMAB) conference 2015, Estonia

43. July 2014 Technical Review – Summary of summary
Comment Corrective measures
Use existing ontologies Use INSPIRE tooling
Interoperate with existing i/f Bio Records WG, UKEOF, Co-Design sub-projects
Strengthen European dimension Other BR’s, Greece/Germany, Urdaibai, EuroMAB
Empower citizens Co-design sub-projects
More outreach WP9 change in emphasis, engage with OPAL
Strengthen ethical considerations Build into app, Co-Design sub-projects
Pay attention to health and safety Build into app, Co-Design sub-projects
Address gender imbalance Discuss at WP2, use social media
Build in training Co-Design sub-projects, liaise with OPAL
More on quality assurance/control Continue and expand
Engage broader demographic Co-Design sub-projects
More attention on resource use At various fora, eg, Project Board, WP Leader meetings
Consider sustainability more Co-Design sub-projects, OPAL, UKEOF, OSGeo
Engage public sector more Use INSPIRE, Co-Design sub-projects
Non-EU engagement lacking UNESCO
Use social media more Expand
Get general public involved Use Co-Design sub-projects and plan for 2016

44. Strengthen Global dimension
• Engagement with GBIF
– Joint meeting Copenhagen Jan 2016
• Cit Sci ad hocs at OGC Technical Committee
meetings
– Sydney Dec 2015
– Washington Mar 2016
• COBWEB workshop at 4th
World Conference
of Biosphere Reserves, Lima, Mar 2016
• OGC-ICA-AGILE workshop AGILE 2016 ‘The
Role of Geospatial Standards for Sustainable
Development’
– link to UN SDG’s and Cit Sci contributions

45. Reporting Period 3 roadmap
• May: Berlin, ECSA meeting. Hackathon
demonstrating value of publishing to a
harmonised data model, ie, SWE4CS
• June: OGC-ICA-AGILE workshop.
• June: OGC TC, Dublin, publish Best
Practices paper: SWE4CS, metadata profile
for Cit Sci
• Sept: Final consortium meeting, host ECSA
interoperability WG

46. Questions
Thank You

48. Open Sourcing Fieldtrip GB
• In 2013, UEDIN management agreed to allow COBWEB
development upon an open source version of pre-existing
software (Fieldtrip GB)
• Refactored and made available on GitHub as Fieldtrip
Open
• Extended under COBWEB
• Used to make rapid progress with the technical architecture
• A foundation upon which to mobilise citizens
• A foundation to conduct research on
• Possibilities for exploitation based upon open source business
models