Build Bottom-Up SDI
With
Sebastian Benthall
OpenGeo
Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI)
Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI)
“[Spatial Data Infrastructure] provides a basis for spatial data
discovery, evaluation, and application for users and providers
within all levels of government, the commercial sector, the
non-profit sector, academia and by citizens in general.”
– SDI Cookbook
The theory of SDI
developed before
we learned what was
possible with the Internet
Imagine...
...what an ideal SDI would be like
Imagine...
...an SDI that makes
uploading, sharing, and working
with data
as easy as blogging
Publishing data
Anthony has some spatial data and wants to
display it as part of a blog post.
Publishing data
Anthony uploads it to a public SDI, styles it,
provides a background, and then puts a map
widget on his blog.
Publishing data
Meanwhile, the data, style, and map remain
available on the public SDI
for others to use.
Metadata and reputation
The World Organization tells Cameron, their
consultant, to put data she has gathered on their
SDI.
Metadata and reputation
Other users notice mistakes in the metadata.
They notify Cameron and give it a low rating.
Metadata and reputation
Cameron fixes the mistakes, and the other users
rate the data more highly. Her reputation on the
SDI improves.
Federated search
A regional Health agency and a regional Transit
agency have separate SDI systems.
Federated search
Tom, a GIS analyst doing research, seeks out
correlations between health and bicycle routes
Federated search
Tom searches for data in a single federated index
and downloads the data as a batch.
Vision
Theory
How do you make an SDI
that's as compelling
as modern, widely-used web services?
Make an SDI using the best practices of these
web services and projects
General Principles




Grow Bottom Up
Align Incentives through Openness
Build it for Casual Users
Features, not Policies
Grow Bottom-Up
Reduce barriers to participation as much as
possible.
Be useful (if imperfect)
as fast as possible.
04/26/10
Grow Bottom-Up
Start with data.
Let users work with it.
Generate metadata as needed.
04/26/10
Align Incentives...
Align incentives
for contribution and use
so growth is natural.
Align Incentives...



Reward data providers for good contributions
Encourage users to contribute back
Make value of service transparent to system
providers
... through Openness



Provide a reason to participate
Reward collaboration
Make it as transparent as possible
Build it for Casual Users
Using
Spatial Data Infrastructure
should not require expertise
Build it for Casual Users
Reading documentation
is too much work.
The burden is on the system developers
to make it intuitive to use.
Features, not Policies
If SDI technology requires
No
overhead or compromises
there will be
No
organizational resistance
Features, not Policies
Look for and implement
smart technical solutions
to
legitimate organizational concerns.
Vision
Theory
Context
is a new software project
to build this SDI
Founders
Want GeoNode for
disaster reduction
 Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and
Recovery (GFDRR) and World Bank
 UN International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction (UNISDR)
Builders
Not-for-profit social enterprise
 Builds and supports open source geospatial
software
 Aims to build the Open Geospatial
Web

GeoNode is open source.
Install it for free.
Contact the developers directly.
Collaborate with us and each other.
Build local capacity and be independent of any
vendor.
We will soon release
GeoNode 1.0
Vision
Theory
Context
What does
GeoNode
actually do
?
Give a reason to participate
A major problem with SDI
is that people
lack incentives to use it
Problems with Portals




No benefit to registering
Few real users
No recognition or reward for the effort
Uses stick, not carrot
SDI
GIS
SDI
GIS
Embed SDI
in the real work of
GIS practitioners,
and it will have more impact.



Provides styling and cartography tools
Users can use the tools on data they upload
GeoNode provides a reason to participate



Map composer makes Maps
Maps are an important content type
They bind together ecosystem of geospatial
content
Maps, Data and Users form
an web to be browsed
Generic search engines
(like Google, Bing)
can crawl and rank these pages.
Users Have Identity


People fill out user profiles to establish
identity on the web
Profiles are also useful data
Meanwhile, Metadata Pain
Good metadata for geospatial data is important
but hard to produce.


GeoNode has user profiles and features them
prominently
Those profiles have ISO metadata fields
within them
Metadata Made Easy
Metadata Published
Metadata is published
with open standard
CSW
using GeoNetwork
Open standards and API's


Data published by GeoServer in OGC Services:
WMS, WFS, WCS
Metadata published by GeoNetwork in CSW
KML for Google
We use open standards for data access.
GeoNode also has open APIs
HTTP
HTTP
HTTP



GeoNode's components interact through
clean API's
Others can build apps around GeoNode
Or swap out components (Drupal...?)
Make Content Portable
Let Users Control Content


Content owners control access with easy user
interface
Deep data security extends to OGC services
We are building GeoNode
to accommodate
any institution's access policy
All these features are included in
the current 1.0 release candidate.
Vision
Theory
Context
Reality
Future
We have
even more ambitious
plans for GeoNode
moving forward
The partnership investing in GeoNode is growing
The roadmap expands
with the vision and needs
of its partners
Use the Social Network
The Social for Search
04/26/10
04/26/10



Record statistics on usage
Let users comment on and rate content
Use that information to improve search
results
The Social for Quality


Ratings affect user reputation
Will encourage quality content on SDI
Groups Matter
04/26/10
04/26/10
Organizations will have a presence
Allows organizational
endorsement of data
SDI Features
There are also features specific to
Spatial Data Infrastructure
on our roadmap
Editing
Federation
04/26/10
Frequently
Asked
Questions
What's it made of?
HTTP
HTTP
HTTP
04/26/10
What about INSPIRE?



GeoServer needs WMS 1.3 to meet INSPIRE
standards
OpenGeo has found partners to fund this
development
It is coming soon
Open Data Skepticism
Isn't GeoNode an open data platform?
Doesn't open data raise concerns about
data quality and data security?
Open Data Optimism
Yes, GeoNode is designed to promote open data.
Open Data Optimism
Features like
User reputation
Organizational endorsement
Flexible security
address data quality concerns
Open Data Optimism
GeoNode supports
the continuum
of openness with a common platform
for institutional GIS and neogeography
What about Features X,Y,Z?
We welcome your
investment
in new GeoNode features
and
involvement
in the developer community.
GeoNode Action
How to Try It
Play with the
live public demo at
http://demo.geonode.org
(Warning: Unstable)
How to Install It



Follow instructions in README at
http://github.com/geonode/geonode
Email questions to mailing list
geonode@librelist.com
Talk to developers in #geonode IRC channel
Tell us about your experience
geonode@librelist.com
Your comments will help us
Improve it
How to Buy It
If you want to use
GeoNode in production
you may want
professional quality support
How to Buy It
Contact OpenGeo at
inquiry@opengeo.org
Or visit our booth
How to Buy It
(OpenGeo has a
network of regional partners
and is looking for others)
How to Invest In It
Is GeoNode perfect
for you except that it needs
one more feature?
How to Invest in It
Contact OpenGeo at
inquiry@opengeo.org
Or visit our booth
How to Join It
•
•
•
•
Contributing Organizations: OpenGeo,
World Bank, Civic Works
We hope others will join the developer
community
Patches welcome
Community growth a priority
Developer Community
•
•
•
•
Join Us!
Email geonode@librelist.com to join the
mailing list
IRC: #geonode
See the issue tracker at
–
http://projects.opengeo.org/CAPRA
If you have
any questions
about GeoNode
Feel free to email
seb@opengeo.org
Or ask them now.
Any questions?