Coproducing spatial information: Exploring government approaches and motivations at the local level

Recent government initiatives like e-government and open government have led to broader adoption of geospatial tools including mapping platforms to access, use, and analyze open data. These advancements open channels for coproduction in the form of sharing information, change notifications, opinions, or requests to government, based on citizen observation and local knowledge. Though current government initiatives have substantial potentials for coproduction, the practical adoption and implementation of such practices vary reflecting the purposes, contexts, and motivations of those involved. This paper aims to understand how local governments are following different approaches to coproduce information with citizens and what motivates local governments in this process. We report findings based on interviews with 11 cities from the USA and Canada, which reveal four main approaches: the collection of new data, observation of changes, collection of opinions, and observation of preferences involving both explicit and implicit processes. Although these four approaches result from interactions between citizens and government, our findings also indicate a key role to be played by technology and partner organizations.

GIS and RS intelligence in delineating the groundwater potential zones in Arid Regions: a case study of southern Aseer, southwestern Saudi Arabia

Proterozoic basement aquifers are the primary source of water supply for the local populations in the Aseer (also spelled “Asir” or “Assir”) province located in the southwest of Saudi Arabia (SA) since high evaporation rates and low rainfall are experienced in the region. Groundwater assets are receiving a lot of attention as a result of the growing need for water due to increased urbanization, population, and agricultural expansion. People have been pushed to seek groundwater from less reliable sources, such as fracture bedrocks. This study is centered on identifying the essential contributing parameters utilizing an integrated multi-criteria analysis and geospatial tools to map groundwater potential zones (GWPZs). The outcome of the GWPZs map was divided into five categories, ranging from very high to negligible potential. The results concluded that 57% of the investigated area (southwestern parts) showed moderate to very high potentials, attributed to Wadi deposits, low topography, good water quality, and presence of porosity and permeability. In contrast, the remaining 43% (northeastern and southeastern parts) showed negligible aquifer potential zones. The computed GWPZs were validated using dug well sites in moderate to very high aquifer potentials. Total dissolved solids (TDS) and nitrate (NO32−) concentrations were highest and lowest in aquifers, mainly in negligible and moderate to very high potential zones, respectively. The results were promising and highlighted that such integrated analysis is decisive and can be implemented in any region facing similar groundwater expectations and management.

INNOVATION IN TEACHING: THE POLIMAPPERS COLLABORATIVE AND HUMANITARIAN MAPPING COURSE AT POLITECNICO DI MILANO

Collaborative projects imply a wide variety of skills, ranging from technical abilities to teamwork and problem-solving attitudes. Innovative teaching programmes focused on the use and promotion of open-source geospatial tools represent a key element in developing such transversal abilities. OpenStreetMap (OSM) brings into play open and collaborative dynamics that build a critical ecosystem where single contributions are part of collective intelligence. This initiative led to the foundation of structured contributors groups such as PoliMappers, the first European YouthMappers chapter based in Politecnico di Milano (Italy). Pursuing the objective to build a responsible student-led community of Free and Open Source Software users, in 2021 PoliMappers organised the course entitled “Collaborative and Humanitarian Mapping”. The programme is structured into 7 meetings and aims to introduce university students to the OSM environment with a focus on the potential of open data and related geospatial tools, especially in the humanitarian field. It has seen the participation of the World Food Programme, Open Knowledge Foundation, TECHO Colombia, IMM Design Lab, Map for Future, UN Mappers, Spazio Vita Niguarda Onlus, Ledha Milano, AUS Niguarda Onlus and Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team. Enrolled attendants’ contributions have been assessed with tools for quality review and statistics. Also, Q&As and suggestions to the attendants have been collected to detect common issues. The paper presents the course, from the design to the assessment of the students’ activities, and the lessons learned in this experience in such a way to provide some guidance to those who want to organize similar initiatives.

Use of Geospatial Tools in Morphometric Analysis and Prioritisation of Sub-Catchments of the Soungrougrou (Casamance Basin)

The prioritisation of catchments, particularly in the context of catchment plans and management programmes, is part of water resources development. In fact, morphometric analysis assisted by geospatial technology is carried out by prioritising sub-catchments according to their natural resource availability characteristics. Information on the geomorphology and erosion factors of the study area is used in the area in the preparation of local models of ungauged sub-catchments, which otherwise lack an adequate hydrological database. The objective of this paper is to use geographic information systems (GISs) in morphometric analysis to prioritise sub-catchments of the Soungrougrou (a tributary of the Casamance River). In this respect, the integrated methodology involving morphometric aspects from geospatial technology is used. To carry out the geospatial research, basic mathematical equations used in a GIS environment were used to measure a series of aspects of hydrology such as flow length, flow length ratio, bifurcation ratio, drainage density, drainage texture, flow frequency, elongation rate, circularity ratio, form factor, relief and relief ratio. The results divided the whole catchment into three priority areas, namely high, medium and low. The results are relevant for establishing soil and water conservation plans in the Soungrougrou basin, as well as adequate groundwater production and management. The high category (sub-basins 6, 8, 14, 17 and 18) is subject to maximum soil erosion, which requires immediate intervention to avoid possible natural hazards.

Geospatial Tool and Geocloud Platform Innovations: A Fit-for-Purpose Land Administration Assessment

The well-recognized and extensive task of mapping unrecorded land rights across sub-Saharan Africa demands innovative solutions. In response, the consortia of “its4land”, a European Commission Horizon 2020 project, developed, adapted, and tested innovative geospatial tools including (1) software underpinned by the smart Sketch maps concept, called SmartSkeMa; (2) a workflow for applying unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV); and (3) a boundary delineator tool based on the UAV images. Additionally, the consortium developed (4) a platform called Publish and Share (PaS), enabling integration of all the outputs of tool sharing and publishing of land information through geocloud web services. The individual tools were developed, tested, and demonstrated based on requirements from Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Zanzibar. The platform was further tested by key informants and experts in a workshop in Rwanda after the AfricaGIS conference in 2019. With the project concluding in 2020, this paper seeks to undertake an assessment of the tools and the PaS platform against the elements of fit-for-purpose land administration. The results show that while the tools can function and deliver outputs independently and reliably, PaS enables interoperability by allowing them to be combined and integrated into land administration workflows. This feature is useful for tailoring approaches for specific country contexts. In this regard, developers of technical approaches tackling land administration issues are further encouraged to include interoperability and the use of recognized standards in designs.

Geospatial tools : for the visualization and analysis of local news distribution

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) enable the integration, mapping, and analysis of data across numerous domains. It has been estimated that 80 per cent of all data collected by governments and businesses contain geographic references, and the news media are no exception. We will explain how we conceptualize news items as spatial data points and illustrate how GIS can be used to manage and analyze them using a sample of geographic references from local news items published in the Toronto Star newspaper. The analysis makes use of cartographic mapping for visual analysis of local news distribution and geospatial tools for quantitative–statistical analysis of emerging patterns. The objective of this paper is to illustrate how computer-based mapping tools can be used to analyze the geographic distribution of news in order to identify concentrations and gaps in local news coverage within a given area and thus better understand issues and trends in local news reporting. Keywords : geographic distribution, GIS, local news, spatial point pattern analysis