Volunteered Geographic Information System Design: Project and Participation Guidelines

José-Pablo Gómez-Barrón,Teresa Iturrioz,Ramón Alcarria,Miguel-Ángel Manso-Callejo

doi:10.3390/ijgi5070108

José-Pablo Gómez-Barrón, Teresa Iturrioz + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi5070108

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Abstract

This article sets forth the early phases of a methodological proposal for designing and developing Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) initiatives based on a system perspective analysis in which the components depend and interact dynamically among each other. First, it focuses on those characteristics of VGI projects that present different goals and modes of organization, while using a crowdsourcing strategy to manage participants and contributions. Next, a tool is developed in order to design the central crowdsourced processing unit that is best suited for a specific project definition, associating it with a trend towards crowd-based or community-driven approaches. The design is structured around the characterization of different ways of participating, and the task cognitive demand of working on geo-information management, spatial problem solving and ideation, or knowledge acquisition. Then, the crowdsourcing process design helps to identify what kind of participants are needed and outline subsequent engagement strategies. This is based on an analysis of differences among volunteers’ participatory behaviors and the associated set of factors motivating them to contribute, whether on a crowd or community-sourced basis. From a VGI system perspective, this paper presents a set of guidelines and methodological steps in order to align project goals, processes and volunteers and thus successfully attract participation. This methodology helps establish the initial requirements for a VGI system, and, in its current state, it mainly focuses on two components of the system: project and participants.

Highlights

Web 2.0 [1] technologies, such as wikis, blogs and mashups, make it possible for people to become decentralized content producers over the Internet, and this is the case for the generation and massive dissemination of geographic data online
We studied the domain of Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) with a focus on the general processes that support and enable the social and technical production of GI and knowledge by volunteers
By reflecting on these processes it is possible to analyze and characterize the three components implied in this particular type of information system: technology, people and organization; the latter, in the case of VGI systems, is usually implemented by a project pursuing a defined goal

Summary

Introduction

Web 2.0 [1] technologies, such as wikis, blogs and mashups, make it possible for people to become decentralized content producers over the Internet, and this is the case for the generation and massive dissemination of geographic data online. In the Geoweb, the Internet is used to deliver geographic information (GI) and maps [3], acting as a platform for gathering, analyzing and sharing geo-data This platform can be used by distributed networks of individuals, and can serve the needs of the collaborative efforts and collective intelligence of online communities working voluntarily to further shared goals. The handling and production of GI over the Geoweb has benefited from the development of affordable personal GPS receivers with increased positional accuracy, broadband communications and geo-enabled mobile devices. Tigatrapp App Tigafotos Platform Idea Collection Map Online Voting Understanding

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