1. SotE or SooE? Some implications of online spatial and interactive technologies, and the practices it supports, for State of the Environment reporting? Presentation to the State of the Environment reporting forum Hobart Function and Conference Centre 16 November 2012 Alister Clark PhD Candidate School of Geography and Environmental Studies University of Tasmania Supervisors: Dr Lorne Kriwoken, Dr Jon Osborn, Dr Kate Booth and Dr Richard Mount

2. PLACES The “Open” Geospatial Web 2.0 Photos Text Sites PEOPLE News Video Embed Share Link

3. Social practices / movements User generated content / ‘Produsers’ – create, add, share, link, reuse, adapt Distributed QA / curation – filter, tag, rate, comment, review. Social networking Crowdsourcing, mass collaboration, folksonomy VGI, Neogeography, Neocartography Crowdfunding, Microfinance, Microwork, Gov 2.0, Emergency 2.0, Where 2.0, etc.

4. What does this mean? The world on our desktops c. 2005 The world in our hands c. 2010? More ways information is created and distributed. Information can be added to, reused, adapted, curated in almost anyway – complex adaptive systems properties… The context – space, time, social - from which and for which that information was produced can be made transparent

5. Issues with wider participation Data / information quality – accuracy, relevance, bias, representation, comparability etc. Access, motivation, literacy, time. Concerns over security, privacy, intellectual property Antisocial / malignant actions – vandalism, misinformation, vilification etc. Who is an expert /, who decides?

6. Downloaded 19/6/2012 from http://www.ala.org.au/http://www.ala.org.au/ Interact Contribute Share Reuse Adapt

7. Rich, contextual, free, open information What is Where, When, Who says so?

8. Contribute to planning for Victoria’s Parks (http://www.weplan.parks.vic.gov.au/home)http://www.weplan.parks.vic.gov.au/home Help monitor fish movements http://www.redmap.org.au/.

9. www.feralscan.org.au www.myswan.org.au www.climatewatch.org.au www.firenorth.org.au www.birdata.com.au

10. Concerned about Coal Seam Gas Mining? http://csg.getup.org.au/ Interested in food sustainability? http://www.localharvest.org.au/

11. Connecting Country http://www.connectingcountry.org.au/interactive.html

12. Current Australian GW2 initiatives: Mainly focussed on a particular subject matter – value added if integrated / “mashed up” Mostly control the manner of interaction: subject matter, form of the subject matter Open in some ways to a greater or lesser extent, but limited ability to interact outside given structure, sometimes to reuse or adapt Trend is towards more applications and more openness?

13. Opportunities for SooE Reporting Access a greater range of data / information Reporting is “live” continuously updated Construct SOE more collaboratively Support multiple / alternative views Use geography to integrate across subjects, domains, physical / values, qual. / quant. Use context - spatial, time, social context to make bias more transparent Use existing platforms (SenseT) – for live, dynamic, interactive and inclusive SooE.

14. Issues for SOE Requires a mix of social and technological expertise and resources challenges current organisational culture – authority, control, mode of operation Change from plan and control, to engage and co- create / guide. Unanticipated / unintentional consequences are an opportunity and a risk Field new and very dynamic Australian awareness / understanding?

15. Origins and history 1993- first web based GIS - OGC interoperability standards - barriers: bandwidth, complex software and poor user interfaces. 2000 - Web 2.0 emerges - removal of selective availability of GPS signal - increased computing power vs. cost, speed, better software and interfaces - crowdsourcing, P2P production, user generated content 2005- Geospatial Web 2.0 emerges - Google Earth and maps launched - GPS enabled smart phones develop - Mapping API’s – “mapping mashups” - Neography, Volunteered Geographic Information