this mapping thing could really take off
DESCRIPTION
Keynote Presentation by Steve Coast, at the OpenStreetMap's, State of the Map conference, Manchester 2007TRANSCRIPT
Over 100 people
From 5 countries
2 days
25 Presentations
This Mapping Stuff Could Really Take Off
SteveC
We begin with a refrain...
Rember that OSM Evolved
We just hit 1,000 people editing per month
PAST
Where did we begin?
It began...
09-Aug-200418:47:25 UTC
Or did it?
OSM Through History
2004
2005
§
2006
Rember that OSM Evolved
Mapping parties really worked well
2007
Month of OSM
Digital Pioneers NL
PRESENT
Data Models
It started with nodes
then segments
then much later,ways
The API design infected the UI
nodes, then segments, then ways
Rember that OSM Evolved
...only much later do we find that the model,
despite much argument, is what Real Companies
basically use
Some Lessons
Segments were supposed to be tagged
Tags worked really well...
...but there were supposed to be tag
equivalences
Tags create debateTags create community
WFS-T is still dumbN/S/W simplicity wins
Google Tiles have killed WMS
Workflow was supposed to be split -
•GPS•Vectorisation•Classification
How to run aF/LOSS project
Don’t listen to anyone, they only say everything
is impossible
Don’t listen to anyone, they only say everything
is possible
In short - nobody is pragmatic
Pragmatism wins
Concentrate on community
(it helps if you wrote all the server code too)
This means debates (tags), pubs (mapping parties), simplicity (N/S/W) and
spreading the gospel (talks)
I’ve given over 40 presentations on OSM
in 6 countries...
...and lots of people still haven’t heard of
wikipedia
Give people doing the work responsibility
(sysadmin, tile, www, OSMF)
Ignore everyone else
(unless flamewars look fun)
We only got here by totally ignoring the GIS
industry
•GPS Inaccurate•WFS-T required•Tags will never work•Database will be too big•OS have mastermap
FUTURE
Data:UK-US comparison
‘Quality’
Price
100 ‘%’
US GeoData Maket
‘Quality’
Price
100 ‘%’
US GeoData Maket
TIGER
TIGER-derived(mostly)
‘Quality’
Price
100 ‘%’
UK GeoData Maket
‘Quality’
Price
100 ‘%’
UK GeoData Maket
OSM
OS
‘Quality’
Price
100 ‘%’
UK GeoData Maket
OSM
OS
I’m ignoring ex-copyright data as its place is very
debatable
‘Quality’
Price
100 ‘%’
UK GeoData Maket
OSM
OS
‘Quality’
Price
100 ‘%’
UK GeoData Maket
OSM
OS
‘Quality’
Price
100 ‘%’
UK GeoData Maket
OSM
OS
We’ve seen this before
‘Quality’
Price
100 ‘%’
OS Market
Linux
Windows
‘Quality’
Price
100 ‘%’
OS Market
Linux
Windows
(Think price per feature)
The future is croudsourced
knowledge
maps
OS
This is just the beginning
Everything is going to be croudsourced
PhonesTV
MoneyWorkDataNews
AccomodationTravel
knowledgemapsOS
All these are doing is removing the obstacles
OrdnanceSurvey
Maps People
MapsPeoplePeople
BanksPeople People
MoneyPeoplePeople
Coase’s Penguin
•Non-monetary motivation
•Discrete multi-size pieces
•Low-cost integration
(Yochai Benkler)
Commons-based Peer Production:
Coase’s Penguin
•Fun
•Takes 5 minutes
•Easy
(Yochai Benkler)
Commons-based Peer Production:
Should OSM be an open map...
...or a Socialist Utopia?
PhonesTV
MoneyWorkDataNews
AccomodationTravel
knowledgemapsOS
$$$
Kernel, XFree, KDE &c.
Data models...
We *still* don’t have PostgreSQL, geoSQL or a new data model
It remains to be seen whether anyone will
ever do the work
We don’t know when the UK / World will be
finished(mid-2008 anyone?)
Or what map maintenance will look like
(opposed to map creation)
We know we’re going to be at least 50% wrong
(Rember that OSM will Evolve)
But it will be fun.
The journey is the reward
Thanks for all the maps
Steve Coast