OSM Example: Disaster Mapping
One of the most successful application of OpenStreetMap(OSM) is the crowdsourced mapping after 2010 Haiti Earthquake.
Maron(2007) first suggested the potential of OSM for humanitarian work. He indicated that "the map was built on open data that could be readily changed by anyone with knowledge of a geographical area, and access."(Soden & Palen, 2014)
OSM, also called "Wikipedia of maps", enable people around the world to join the process of building an elaborate online map together. Research found out that even the effort was contributed by multiple people, the quality of maps are generally high. (Haklay 2010a, Mashhadi & Capra 2013)
There are two major benefit of online mapping. First, it only takes little time to develop various maps with a great amount of volunteer. Second, it allows individuals to provide real-time information of local conditions. (Zook, Graham, Shelton, & Gorman, 2010)
Reference:
Maron, M. (July 16, 2007). State of the Map! http://brainoff.com/weblog/2007/07/16/1258
Soden, R., & Palen, L. (2014). From crowdsourced mapping to community mapping: The post-earthquake work of openstreetmap haiti. In COOP 2014-Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on the Design of Cooperative Systems, 27-30 May 2014, Nice (France) (pp. 311–326). Springer. Retrieved from http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-06498-7_19
Zook, M., Graham, M., Shelton, T., & Gorman, S. (2010). Volunteered Geographic Information and Crowdsourcing Disaster Relief: A Case Study of the Haitian Earthquake. World Medical & Health Policy, 2(2), 6–32. http://doi.org/10.2202/1948-4682.1069
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