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• More to data libre than the semantic web
  2004-09-20 09:08:53  Tyler Mitchell | [Reply | View]
  
  
  I know what you mean about geocaching.com - not a team building experience. :) I didn't get any response to my request for the entire geocaching.com database, even though I would be willing to pay for it.
  Your statement "Own your data" is what really caught my attention. On the geodata front this is something I have been mulling over for a while now. Most of our regional data (British Columbia) is locked up behind government doors. There are some good initiatives that are helping open it up, but for the private citizen, there isn't much hope of getting good data for free.
  I propose a grassroots data collection effort. It could, oddly enough, take the form of a geocaching.com style site. Users worldwide could upload GIS data files or enter coordinates to store information and, ideally, digitizing their own info into online base maps. I've got a global base map started at http://spatialiq.com/maps/apps/global but haven't got to doing any upload/entry interface yet (yes, the interface is spartan :). It would start with some simple point data, then moving toward other types of features over time. Individual efforts on the street of your hometown with a GPS can garner some awesome info. i.e. http://mapitout.com/restaurants is the results of GPS'ing more than 900 local (to him) restaurants.
  
  I can use open GIS standards to make it available to everybody else. Anyway, that's my dream, probably worth it for my next weblog.
  
  ~~Tyler