The scale of VGI in map production: a perspective of European National Mapping Agencies

Olteanu-Raimond, Ana-Maria; Hart, Glen; Foody, Giles M.; Touya, Guillaume; Kellenberger, Tobias; Demetriou, Demetris

Abstract

The perspective of European National Mapping Agencies (NMA) on the role of citizen sensing in map production was explored. The NMAs varied greatly in their engagement with the community generating volunteered geographic information (VGI) and in their future plans. From an assessment of NMA standard practices, it was evident that much VGI was acquired with a positional accuracy that, while less than that typically acquired by NMAs, actually exceeded the requirements of the nominal data capture scale used by most NMAs. Opportunities for VGI use in map revision and updating were evident, especially for agencies that use a continuous rather than cyclical updating policy. Some NMAs had also developed systems to engage with citizen sensors and examples are discussed. Only rarely was VGI used to collect data on features beyond the standard set used by the NMAs. The potential role of citizen sensing and so its current scale of use by NMAs is limited by a series of concerns, notably relating to issues of data quality, the nature and motivation of the contributors, legal issues, the sustainability of data source, and employment fears of NMA staff. Possible priorities for future research and development are identified to help ensure that the potential of VGI in mapping is realized.

Citation

Olteanu-Raimond, A.-M., Hart, G., Foody, G. M., Touya, G., Kellenberger, T., & Demetriou, D. (in press). The scale of VGI in map production: a perspective of European National Mapping Agencies. Transactions in GIS, https://doi.org/10.1111/tgis.12189

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 4, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Jan 25, 2016
• Deposit Date: Nov 4, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 4, 2016
• Journal: Transactions in GIS
• Print ISSN: 1361-1682
• Electronic ISSN: 1467-9671
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/tgis.12189
• Keywords: neogeography, Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI), crowd sourcing, map production and updating
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/771734
• Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/tgis.12189/abstract
• Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Olteanu-Raimond, A.-M., Hart, G., Foody, G. M., Touya, G., Kellenberger, T. and Demetriou, D. (2016), The Scale of VGI in Map Production: A Perspective on European National Mapping Agencies. Trans. in GIS., which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/tgis.12189. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
• Contract Date: Nov 4, 2016