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I am studying Tech Governance since 1992 and focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) since 2018. I am heavily  introducing the axis of poli...

Wednesday 10 January 2018

Book for free download: Mapping and the Citizen Sensor (2017)

Maps are a fundamental resource in a diverse array of applications, from everyday activities (route planning through the legal demarcation of space, scientific studies, such as those seeking to understand biodiversity and inform the design of nature reserves for species conservation....) For a map to have value, it should provide an accurate and timely representation of the phenomenon depicted and this can be a challenge in a dynamic world. This is the challenge that Giles Foody, Linda See, Steffen Fritz, Peter Mooney, Ana-Maria Olteanu-Raimond, Cidália Costa Fonte & Vyron Antoniou seek to comand in the book. Mapping and the Citizen Sensor. London: Ubiquity Press, 390 pp.  Just published  (2017). (DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/bbf.a. License: CC-BY 4.0)

Download full text (pdf, 390 pages):  https://doi.org/10.5334/bbf 



This book reports on some of the key issues connected with the use of citizen sensors in mapping. It arises from a European Co-operation in Science and Technology (COST) Action, which explored issues linked to topics ranging from citizen motivation, data acquisition, data quality and the use of citizen derived data in the production of maps that rival, and sometimes surpass, maps arising from authoritative agencies.


Mapping activities have benefitted greatly from recent advances in geoinformation technologies. Satellite remote sensing now offers unparalleled data acquisition and authoritative mapping agencies have developed systems for the routine production of maps in accordance with strict standards. Until recently, much mapping activity was in the exclusive realm of authoritative agencies but technological development has also allowed the rise of the amateur mapping community. The proliferation of inexpensive and highly mobile and location aware devices together with Web 2.0 technology allows the emergence of the citizen as a source of data. Mapping benefits from vast amounts of spatial data as well as people able to provide observations of geographic phenomena, which might inform map production, revision and evaluation. 

The great potential of these developments is, however, often limited by a number of concerns. The latter span issues from the nature of the citizens through the way data are collected and shared to the quality and trustworthiness of the data. 



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