Linked GeoRef is an open dataset and API that aims to improve geographical annotation and finding of public sector information by integrating different geographical reference systems into a single linked data framework. It assigns unique identifiers (URIs) to codes from systems like AGS, NUTS, and Berlin's LOR, and links related codes to show hierarchical and equivalence relationships. This allows different systems to be used together and converted between each other. The dataset is hosted with SPARQL endpoint for lookup and conversion of codes between systems.

1. Linked GeoRef
An Open Dataset and API for Improving Geographical
Annotation and Finding of Public Sector Information
Knud Möller (Datalysator), Florian Marienfeld (Willhöft IT)
2nd Open Data Dialog, 19 November 2013, Berlin, Germany
S trOR
A LYns aAdTaining
DAT olutio n
web data s

2. The Challenge
• Most (Open
(Government)) datasets
refer to some location.
• Let’s declare that in the
metadata!
http://www.opendata-hro.de
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3. Which Standard?
•There are plenty of options
• ISO authority: ISO 3166-1/2, Codes for the
representation of names of countries and
their subdivisions
• EU regulation: NUTS (Nomenclature of
Units for Territorial Statistics)
• German elaboration: Amtlicher
Gemeindeschlüssel (AGS) / Amtlicher
Regionalschlüssel (ARS)
• Geometry: Geographical Bounding Boxes
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4. Best fit for Germany?
• AGS would work great
• From federal states down to boroughs:
• 05: Nordrhein-Westfalen
• 3: Regierungsbezirk Köln
• 82: Rhein-Sieg-Kreis
• 064: Gemeinde Swisttal
➡ 0538364
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5. 053: Regierungsbezirk Köln
05382: Rhein-Sieg-Kreis
05: Nordrhein-Westfalen
5
Maps taken from Wikipedia
05382064: Gemeinde Swisttal
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6. Problems with AGS
• only Germany
• not even all of it:
• no further detail for city-states like Berlin
or Hamburg (no “Neukölln” in AGS)
• city states have their own local systems, e.g.
“Lebensweltlich orientierte Räume” (LOR) in
Berlin
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7. Problems with others
• NUTS and ISO:
• not as detailed as AGS
• not “at home” in administration
• bounding boxes
• not precise enough
• coordinates not so easy to read as text
• Everybody likes their own approach best...
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8. Why Choose?
• Proposal: Linked Data solution
• combine all approaches in one
dataset
• every code in every system gets
unique identifier: a URI dereference it (surf to it) and find
out what it means!
• codes are linked: what is the same? what is
contained in what (hierarchy)?
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9. Linked GeoRef
• http://lgeoref.org/nuts/DE (Germany)
• http://lgeoref.org/nuts/DEA (North Rhine-Westphalia)
• http://lgeoref.org/ags/05 (North Rhine-Westphalia)
• http://lgeoref.org/ags/12 (Brandenburg)
• http://lgeoref.org/ags/05/3/82 (Rhein-Sieg-Kreis)
• http://lgeoref.org/berlin/lor/08 (Neukölln)
• http://lgeoref.org/berlin/lor/02/02/02/06 (Graefekiez)
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10. Integrate Reference Systems
Germany
DE
NRW
Berlin
DEA
DE3
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11. Integrate Reference Systems
Germany
DE
Berlin
NRW
DEA
05
DE3
11
Reg.-Bez. Köln
05/3
Rhein-Sieg-Kreis
05/3/82
Swisttal
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12. Integrate Reference Systems
Germany
DE
Berlin
NRW
DEA
05
FriedrichshainKreuzberg
Reg.-Bez. Köln
DE3
11
02
05/3
Rhein-Sieg-Kreis
05/3/82
02/02
02/02/02
08
Neukölln
Kreuzberg Süd
Tempelhofer Vorstadt
Swisttal
05/3/82/064
Graefekiez
12
02/02/02/08
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14. Usecase: govdata.de
• geo-referencing data
• map-based search and filtering
• hard to enforce one scheme in metadata
• Linked GeoRef could help: spatial-uri field
in addition to spatial (coordinates) and
spatial-text (human-readable):
"spatial-uri": "http://lgeoref.org/berlin/lor/08"
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15. Usecase: Code Converter
• convert between different reference systems
• “which AGS is this NUTS ‘DEE’”?
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16. Collateral Usage
• central reference point for different code
systems
• lookup for relations between codes
(containment, identity, overlap, etc.)
• links to other widely-used reference
datasets, e.g. DBpedia, GeoNames
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17. Internals
• data in various formats (mostly Excel) from various
sources converted to RDF
enriched and
• interlinked,Geonames) linked to external data
(DBpedia,
• each reference system in its own namespace
•
•
•
•
http://lgeoref.org/ags/
http://lgeoref.org/nuts/
http://lgeoref.org/berlin/lor/
etc.
• hosted in RDF store with SPARQL endpoint (dydra.com)
• simple Linked Data frontend with Pubby
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18. Take-home
• challenge: Open Data needs geographical
context
• many useful geo reference systems (AGS,
NUTS, ...)
• but: everybody likes a different one
• so: don’t choose, use all of them together
• Linked GeoRef provides integrated,
dereferenceable framework for this
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19. References
•
NUTS: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/
nuts_nomenclature/introduction
•
•
AGS: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amtlicher_Gemeindeschlüssel
•
•
Dydra: http://dydra.com
LOR: http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/planen/
basisdaten_stadtentwicklung/lor/
Pubby: https://github.com/cygri/pubby
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