Working with Volunteered and Crowdsourced Geographic Information

Up to recently geographic data was exclusively available from authoritative sources such as National Mapping and Cadastral Agencies, professional companies, etc. The rapid emergence of Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) and Crowdsourced Geographic Information (CGI) (referred to for brevity as V&CGI in this document) has challenged and changed this situation. V&CGI have transformed from being considered ‘disruptive’ and poor quality to well-known mainstream data sources used widely in industry, research, and other applications. The goal of this course is to introduce participants to V&CGI, the current state-of-the-art research in these areas, methods for obtaining V&CGI data (API sources, processing GeoJSON, etc), and advanced topics such as assessment of the quality of these data. Various examples from practical applications and hands-on practical work will help illustrate the key characteristics of V&CGI data. These practical examples will also help participants to explore the opportunities provided in terms of research, geospatial data integration, etc. by data sources from V&CGI. The course will also equip participants with a suitable blend of the current theory and practice around understanding the quality of V&CGI data and assessing its fitness for different purposes and applications. Free and open source software and openly accessible V&CGI will be used without any need for special hardware or software installations.