How And Why Governments Should Use

OpenStreetMapPete Lancaster

Warwickshire County Council

Why on earth doesn’t every public website use

OpenStreetMap?

Reasons I’ve heard:● Existing contracts● ‘Exact’ data needs to be mapped on

top of ‘exact’ OS maps● Legacy systems● Better in-house knowledge of Google

Maps, Bing, etc● OSGB to WGS84

Existing contracts

● Suppliers come and go○ That’s why most contracts are fixed lengths

● How much is your contract really worth?○ Is a £20,000 solution, with £10,000 ongoing support

really viable in 2013? Really? Really?

● Web and data analysis teams know their stuff○ Chances are - your web team or data analysis unit

are already using open alternatives, or are keen to learn

Existing contracts

Still a good reason?

‘Exact’ data needs to be mapped on top of ‘exact’ OS maps

● How ‘exact’ is OpenStreetMap?○ Truthfully, it varies

■ In Warwickshire, thanks to Mappa Mercia, it’s very good (and beats Google Maps for accuracy)

■ In Birmingham, it’s also very good, also thanks to Mappa Mercia

○ OpenStreetMap is as exact as the group updating it were when they mapped it■ Warwickshire CC staff have updated

OpenStreetMap (a Warwick group is currently being pulled together)

○ For typical web map uses - it’s just fine

‘Exact’ data needs to be mapped on top of ‘exact’ OS maps

Still a good reason?

Legacy systems

● Existing map system too ingrained to ‘break out’ of○ I hereby challenge you to prove this○ I also challenge you to show us how using

OpenStreetMap with OpenLayers won’t save you time, effort, pain and money

● Old systems were probably good at the time they were brought in○ Their time has passed○ Mapping moves on - just as the rest of the world

does

Legacy systems

Plan for the future - the systems you use today won’t be the ones you use tomorrow.

Still a good reason?

Better in-house knowledge of Google Maps, Bing, etc

● Knowledge is transferable

○ Take what you know in one system, and apply it to another

● The principles are the same

○ I knew nothing about OpenLayers before I started using it - and I’ve built four mapping systems using it (to date)

Better in-house knowledge of Google Maps, Bing, etc

*this took around three weeks of dedicated work to get it working, starting with zero knowledge and including the time it took to get the data, port it from Symfony2 to WordPress, have meetings about approaches, etc.

Still a good reason?

* Be More Dog campaign - O2 Mobile

OSGB to WGS84 (or whatever format)

● You’re kidding right?○ Think ahead - use systems that don’t force you to

only display / generate data in one format○ I can’t begin to list all of the ways to convert your

data, but:■ OpenLayers has conversions built in■ PHP libraries exist to make the task easier for

batch jobs of large datasets■ Or just use a flexible recording and editing

system that can export to different standards

● This, frankly, is just the worst excuse○ Give me your web credentials at the door

Still a good reason?

So let me put it another way.

There is no good reason that public sites don’t use

OpenStreetMap today.

So do it.

(if you’re, y’know, stuck for ideas…)

Now, how can Governments use OpenStreetMap?

Roll a WordPress plugin for a high profile event, like an election

Roll a WordPress plugin for a high profile event, like an election

● Built in pieces, as part of other projects, over the course of a year

● OpenLayers and OSM were only part of it

● RaphaelJS

● Google Fusion Tables

● End product was produced completely in-house

Roll a WordPress plugin for a high profile event, like an election

● Using OpenStreetMap will go down very well

○ BBC praised on the coverage during the day○ Positive feedback received from residents before,

during and after the election

● OpenLayers and Raphael examples are in abundance and will suit your project perfectly

● Google Fusion Tables can open up your data immediately

Roll a WordPress plugin for a high profile event, like an election

● Roughly 40% of traffic for a week (139,905 views)

● 2nd largest peak event for the site (snow disruption came first)

● Used as main visualisation tool within count centres

● Worked with OSM administrators to ensure they were aware of possible traffic spikes

Switch out your most popular maps for OpenStreetMap versions

Libraries

Country Parks

Switch out your most popular maps for OpenStreetMap versions

Switch out your most popular maps for OpenStreetMap versions

● People love the clarity

○ It’s often surprising to look at the reaction of people using a non Google or Microsoft map - they like what they see

○ The extra information on the base map (such as bus stops, car parks, etc) also goes down well

● Plus, you could just ‘roll your own’

○ Cloudmade

Or you could just...

● Use an OpenStreetMap base as a starting point for a transport mapping project

● Map your locality’s parish / town councils and their coverage

● Create a tool to show end users how funding is apportioned between areas

● Give opened up MP expenses data real meaning

The world is your oyster.

Thanks for watching.

Hit me up on Twitter:@peteweb

Contact the E Services Team via:webmaster@warwickshire.gov.uk

Have a look at some samples in action:http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/electionshttp://countryparks.warwickshire.gov.uk

Images from / copyright of:

● Slide 3: http://www.scenicreflections.com/download/280359/Thinking_Cat_Wallpaper/

● Slide 7: http://cheezburger.com/239193856

● Slide 10: http://cheezburger.com & http://petedpeswebthings.com

● Slide 13: http://maverickphilosopher.typepad.com/maverick_philosopher/2013/04/cat-blogging-friday-skeptical-cat.html

● Slide 16: http://www.collegehumor.com/embed/6901149/o2-commercial-cat-inspired-to-be-more-dog & http://www.o2.co.uk

● Slide 18: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/grumpy-cat/photos

● Slide 21: https://twitter.com/MrT

● Slide 32: http://petedpeswebthings.com

● Slides 6, 9, 12, 15, 23, 27, 28: http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk, http://openstreetmap.org, http://geofs.warwickshire.gov.uk