Possible ways of using volunteered geospatial information based on the GeoSmartCity project example

Abstract

Over the past years Spatial Information Systems have become an indispensable tool for local authorities as well as for surveyors, cartographers and for all people dealing with geographic information in their daily work. Most often data gathered and used to ingest these systems are collected by highly qualified staff designated for this task by several binding legal acts. These are also responsible for defining the way in which databases related to spatial information are organized and managed.
However, some new trend could be seen recently which is intended to make Spatial Information Systems more open for the public use, thus non-qualified individuals would be able to gather and provide some data. This process is especially observed when we consider the Smart City paradigm. There are numerous technical solutions proposed in relation to this idea which in consequence are intended to allow citizens co-determination in managing the urban space, chiefly by means of mobile devices. There are limitless range of possible ways of designing and using such applications and it depends only on one’s invention. A great example of exploiting the opportunities given by mobile technologies combined with Spatial Information Systems is the GeoSmartCity project realized by several European cities.
It assumes setting up a HUB responsible for gathering and managing spatial data provided by the project partners. The data are to be related to one of two scenarios: concerning green energy and underground utility networks. This should lead to a situation in which citizens will be able to e.g. report any failure they would have spotted and concerning utility networks or to indicate any newly built objects with information on their thermal insulation. The last situation can be exploited by the projected system to help evaluate the power efficiency of buildings.
As a consequence, citizens will fully participate in the process of developing their surroundings. Moreover, a mobile application designed for the underground scenario will use the Augmented Reality, so users can have a graphic view of all the pipes and cables around them including basic information on them. To sum up, it can be said that projects, such as the GeoSmartCity one, exemplify the possible ways of taking advantages from volunteered geospatial information.