Community-based production of geographic information using open source software and Web 2.0

Site-specific agriculture has been adopted in a high-tech context using, for instance, in situ sensors, satellite images for remote sensing analysis, and some other technological devices. However, farmers and smallholders without the economic resources and required knowledge to use and to access the latest technology seem to find an impediment to precision agricultural practices. This article discusses the possibility of adopting precision agriculture (PA) principles for site-specific management but in a low technology context for such farmers. The proposed methodology to support PA combines low technology dependency and a participatory approach by involving smallholders, farmers and experts. The case studies demonstrate how the interplay of low technology and a participative approach may be suitable for smallholders for site-specific agriculture analysis.

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“…PGIS facilitates data sharing and knowledge as well as learning interchange between involved participants (e.g. Hall et al 2010;Bugs et al 2010).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Participative site-specific agriculture analysis for smallholders

et al. 2012

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“…The increasing availability of browser-side APIs, such as ArcGIS API for Javascript, Flex, and Silverlight, has provided an easy and lightweight programming model for building geomashups, thus empowering non-technical experts to develop an effective WGPHSS and potentially reducing human resource costs. In contrast to the widespread use of geomashups, the open-source model is underutilized for WGPHSS development with only a few exceptions [17,102], probably because using open-source platform or software demands more advanced programming knowledge compared with building geomashups [103]. However, we believe this development model should be adopted more in the long run, as it maximizes the interoperability, reusability, and extensibility of the WGPHSSs in addition to greatly reducing licensing costs.…”

Section: Adopt Geomashup and Open-source Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Web GIS-Based Public Health Surveillance Systems: A Systematic Review

Luan

Law

2014

IJGI

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Web Geographic Information System (Web GIS) has been extensively and successfully exploited in various arenas. However, to date, the application of this technology in public health surveillance has yet to be systematically explored in the Web 2.0 era. We reviewed existing Web GIS-based Public Health Surveillance Systems (WGPHSSs) and assessed them based on 20 indicators adapted from previous studies. The indicators comprehensively cover various aspects of WGPHSS development, including metadata, data, cartography, data analysis, and technical aspects. Our literature search identified 58 relevant journal articles and 27 eligible WGPHSSs. Analyses of results revealed that WGPHSSs were frequently used for infectious-disease surveillance, and that geographical and performance inequalities existed in their development. The latest Web and Web GIS technologies have been used in developing WGPHSSs; however, significant deficiencies in data analysis, system compatibility, maintenance, and accessibility exist. A balance between public health surveillance and privacy concerns has yet to be struck. Use of news and social media as well as Web-user searching records as data sources, participatory public health surveillance, collaborations among health sectors at different spatial levels and among various disciplines, adaption or reuse of existing WGPHSSs, and adoption of geomashup and open-source development models were identified as the directions for advancing WGPHSSs.

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“…Technologies that enable PPGIS have evolved from traditional desktop-based GIS to Web GIS and to Geospatial Web 2.0 platforms over the past two decades (Ganapati, 2010). In addition, the increasing availability of open GIS software has removed the costs associated with installing proprietary software, which also contributes to the expansion of PPGIS (Hall, Chipeniuk, Feick, Leahy, & Deparday, 2010). Since its emergence, PPGIS has been applied in numerous areas, from "community and neighbourhood planning to environmental and natural resource management to mapping traditional ecological knowledge of indigenous people" (Brown, 2012, p.2).…”

Section: The Rise Of Citizen Contribution Of Vgi In Governmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing New Channels of Communication: A Case Study of Municipal 311 Requests in Edmonton, Canada

Lu¹,

Johnson²

2016

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City governments around the world are developing and expanding how they connect to citizens. Technologies play an important role in making this connection, and one frequent way that cities connect with citizens is through 311-style request systems. 311 is a non-emergency municipal notification system that uses telephone, email, web forms, and increasingly, mobile applications to allow citizens to notify government of infrastructure issues and make requests for municipal services. In many ways, this process of citizen contribution mirrors the provision of volunteered geographic information, that is spatially-referenced user generated content. This research presents a case study of the city of Edmonton, Canada, an early adopter of multi-channel 311 service request systems, including telephone, email, web form, and mobile app 311 request channels. Three methods of analysis are used to characterize and compare these different channels over three years of request data; a comparison of relative request share for each channel, a spatial hot spot analysis, and regression models to compare channel usage with sociodemographic variables. The results of this study indicate a shift in channel usage from traditional to Internet-enabled, that this shift is mirrored in the hotspots of request activity, and that specific digital inequalities exist that reinforce this distinction between traditional and Internetenabled reporting channels.

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Community-based production of geographic information using open source software and Web 2.0

Cited by 110 publications

References 30 publications

Participative site-specific agriculture analysis for smallholders

Participative site-specific agriculture analysis for smallholders

Web GIS-Based Public Health Surveillance Systems: A Systematic Review

Characterizing New Channels of Communication: A Case Study of Municipal 311 Requests in Edmonton, Canada

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