Open sourcing the mapping microcosm

The state of computer mapping (aka GIS) in planning is like a microcosm of the need for open source approaches in planning more generally. You’ve got a small group of experts, with tangible skills and access to resources, and a larger group of people who could benefit from being in a network of skills exchanges. Could GIS in planning be the live action test bed for some of the open source planning principles we’ve discussed?

Luckily, the GIS community is already open, friendly and prone to collaborative approaches (see, for example, the active northeastern discussion lists). And since GIS involves very clearly defined skills, it is actually easier to head towards openness than ’softer’ skills - e.g. I have a specific tool that I can share, you need a specific dataset that I can explain or maybe pass on to you.

The greater NYC region has great mapping organizations and GIS people, but also many organizations who haven’t got into doing their own mapping - maybe the learning curve is too steep, or there are costs involved, or they just don’t realize how easy GIS has become… Enter the NYC GIS Collaborative, a living example of open source ideals in real planning. The collaborative works in three ways:

1. connect fledgling GIS users with answers or training resources. Mailing lists are amazing if you know what to ask, or what is possible. User groups have similar barriers to getting started. What if experienced GIS users could host (real world or virtually) open salons, for all questions about mapping, data, gis? Make it easy to reach answers - not get someone to finish your project, just give initial answers to the basic orientation questions.
2. share physical resources. Rather than large-format color printers sitting unused most evenings and weekend, why not make these resources available to other non-profits, or project partners, or others? Assuming that costs and security issues can be resolved, can a network approach to the final output stage — printing — lower the barrier to entry, reduce the bumpiness of availability, and give more groups the ability to produce materials that match their ambitions?
3. create a one-stop GIS in a box disc. The explosion in alternative GIS tools is amazing. But it also increases that initial paralysis. Where to start? GIS in a box (or disc) provides a suite of tools for getting going: open source tools, demos of commercial packages, data viewers and converters, tutorials, NYC map templates, public datasets, links to data repositories… Sure, it’s all online - but have you tried assembling it, with limited resources? How many people really understand all the options that are available. Maybe it’s not a disc - maybe a torrent, or a big list of links. But whatever form GIS in a box takes, it contains enough to enable someone to easily get started.

The Collaborative isn’t about pushing open source GIS software - though, there’s some cool stuff that should definitely get included on any disc. It’s not about creating a new organization either. Instead, it’s about energizing existing systems to build a network of people and resources and data, to demonstrate how collaborative and open planning methods can be beneficial to everybody involved - for our short term and long term goals.

Next steps?

• Some of the network building could be carried out by Planning Corps. Other possible organizations? Connections with educational institutions?
• If you have a resource - say, a plotter, maybe consider sharing it?
• If you’re interested in thinking about the GIS disc, let’s talk.