Capitalising on Web 2.0 features, Google Maps, Wikimapia, OpenStreetMap among others, are free services that allow non-spatial people to relate and contribute to the creation of maps. Such services integrate and generate contributions from a wider audience, and facilitate collaboration in the spatial domain. Using online volunteers as vanguards, these services rely on volunteered GI to identify and verify locations. Volunteered GI makes use of principles like “people are inherently good”, “greater good will always prevail” and “I know my locale best” to verify information. Also referred to as crowd sourcing due to its information retrieval and verification process, volunteered GI has defined new methods for data capture and verification. These trends also established inclusion of yet another newer dimension in GI science and have coined the term – Neogeography.
I guess this is what geospatial people refer to as breaking newer barriers and setting newer standards. Kudos to all things geospatial!!
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