By Naomi Bloch In British Columbia, researchers have been using a crowdsourced mapping tool to capture positive employment experiences of individuals with intellectual disabilities. Geothink co-applicant Jon Corbett, an associate professor at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus, is one of several UBC contributors to the participatory research project. Recently, the group published findings from its two-year pilot … Read More
Twitter Chat: Civic Participation on the Geoweb
All cylinders were firing by the time we wrapped up our Nov. 23 Twitter chat on meaningful civic participation on the geoweb. There were many parallel conversations that we hope will continue among participants and the wider Geothink community into the future. Here we share a few highlights, as well as a transcript of the chat. We should ask what criteria define “civic … Read More
Spotlight on Recent Publications: Open Data and Official Language Regimes
By Naomi Bloch Teresa Scassa is a Geothink co-applicant researcher and Canada Research Chair in Information Law at the University of Ottawa. In a recently published paper, Scassa and co-author Niki Singh consider some of the challenges that arise for open data initiatives operating in multilingual regions. The authors use Canada’s federal open data initiative as a case study to … Read More
GIS & the Global Community: Humanitarian Mapping
By Naomi Bloch Today, November 18, marks the 16th annual GIS Day. Throughout the week, Geothink has been presenting a series of posts looking at some of the ways in which our collaborators, partners, and friends around the world are critically examining and using GIS as a tool for civic engagement and understanding. The community snapshots presented this week highlight diverse perspectives and uses for GIS. … Read More
GIS on Campus: Join Claus Rinner for GIS Day at Ryerson
By Naomi Bloch This Wednesday, November 18, marks the 16th annual GIS Day. Throughout the week, Geothink will present a series of posts looking at some of the ways in which our collaborators, partners, and friends around the world are critically examining and using GIS as a tool for civic engagement and understanding. The community snapshots presented this week highlight diverse perspectives and uses … Read More
GIS in the City: Toronto on the Map
By Naomi Bloch This Wednesday, November 18, marks the 16th annual GIS Day. Throughout the week, Geothink will present a series of posts looking at some of the ways in which our collaborators, partners, and friends around the world are critically examining and using GIS as a tool for civic engagement and understanding. The community snapshots presented this week highlight diverse perspectives and uses … Read More
An Expert's View on Civic Participation on the Geoweb
By Naomi Bloch As an early warm-up to our November 23 Twitter chat — What does meaningful civic participation on the geoweb look like? — we asked Geothink Head Renee Sieber to share her perspective. Here are a few highlights. More access, more communication I think we’re in an environment where we’ve really broadened opportunities for citizens to participate through social media, through … Read More
GIS in the Classroom: Geography and the Law
By Naomi Bloch This Wednesday, November 18, marks the 16th annual GIS Day. Throughout the week, Geothink will present a series of posts looking at some of the ways in which our collaborators, partners, and friends around the world are critically examining and using GIS as a tool for civic engagement and understanding. The community snapshots presented this week highlight diverse perspectives and uses … Read More
Moving Forward with Canadian Census Data
By Naomi Bloch Chloropleth maps of National Household Survey global non-response data at the dissemination-area level courtesy Scott Bell. Global non-response rates > 50% resulted in suppression of data for that spatial unit. All maps are classified using a quantile classification scheme. As we move forward (and backward) with the 2016 return of Canada’s long-form census, questions remain for everyone who … Read More
Geothink Student Evan Hamilton Explores Canadian Municipal Open Data and the Role of Journalism
By Naomi Bloch Data journalists are some of the most active users of government open data in Canada. In his recently defended thesis, Evan Hamilton, a master’s student in the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information, examined the role of data journalists as advocates, users, and producers of open data. Hamilton’s thesis, titled “Open for reporting: An exploration of open … Read More
The Long-term Impacts of the Short-lived National Household Survey
By Naomi Bloch On November 5, Navdeep Bains, Canada’s new Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (now that’s a mouthful!) confirmed the rumours that the country’s mandatory long-form census will be reinstated in 2016. But what are the long-term consequences of the interruption in mandatory data collection caused by 2011’s National Household Survey (NHS)? How significant is this short-lived … Read More
Spotlight on Recent Publications: Critical Reflections on Outcomes from Three Geoweb Partnerships
By Naomi Bloch Exploring university–community partnerships Participatory geospatial technologies have the potential to support and promote citizen engagement. This great promise has led to more collaborations between academics and community partners interested in pursuing this aim. In their recently published paper, “A web of expectations: Evolving relationships in community participatory geoweb projects,” four Geothink researchers and their colleagues cast a reflective eye … Read More
Journalism: Storytelling in the Geodata Age
By Noami Bloch The rise of more accessible geospatial web tools along with expanding sources of open data have fostered a potent—if somewhat techno-utopian—civic vision. For those immersed in understanding this new digital landscape, one question often surfaces: who’s truly putting these resources to use? The most reliable answer is perhaps an obvious one. “Journalists are making huge use of … Read More
Crosspost: Being Philosophical About Crowdsourced Geographic Information
This Geo: Geography and Environment blog post is cross-posted with permission from the authors, Renée Sieber (McGill University, Canada) and Muki Haklay (University College London, UK). By Renée Sieber and Muki Haklay Our recent paper, The epistemology(s) of volunteered geographic information: a critique, started from a discussion we had about changes within the geographic information science (GIScience) research communities over the … Read More
Geothink Student Twitter Chat on Location and Privacy on the Geoweb
Laura Garcia, PhD student at the University of Ottawa under Prof. Elizabeth Judge (University of Ottawa), recently conducted a Spanish language Twitter chat with students at Los Andes University. Discussion revolved around privacy issues especially in location-based services on the Geoweb 2.0. Using the hashtag #locationmine, participants discussed how location is both ‘mine’ in the sense of being very personal … Read More
Geothoughts 7: Unpacking the Current and Future Value of Open Civic Data
By Naomi Bloch Geothink co-applicant researcher Peter A. Johnson is an assistant professor of Geography and Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo. Johnson and his students have been working with Geothink government partners across the country to examine the state of civic open data projects in Canada. In our latest podcast, he discusses how the seemingly desirable ethos of open data … Read More
Geothink Newsletter Issue 8
This issue marks the halfway point for the grant. Included are some reflections on our progress, as well as features on our researchers. If you have feedback or content for the newsletter, please contact the editor, Peck Sangiambut. Geothink Newsletter Issue 8
Geothoughts 6: Who Stands to Gain in Canada's Sharing Economy?
By Naomi Bloch The rise of the web-enabled sharing economy is leading to much hope about potentially new sources of income and new ways for communities to connect and share resources. In the process, however, more consumers appear to be turning to global tech companies to acquire convenient, local services. This July, Alberta residents were warned that drivers who use … Read More
Geothink Video Interview 3: Our Experts Take on Crowdsourcing
By Drew Bush We’re excited to bring you our long-awaited video interview that features Geothink’s experts discussing issues of authenticity and accuracy with crowdsourced data. Data collected through crowdsourcing methods increasingly has replaced traditional forms of data collection. This video features Geothink Head Renee Sieber, associate professor in McGill University’s Department of Geography and School of Environment; Daren Brabham, assistant … Read More
Crosspost: How is your Toronto neighbourhood portrayed in the news? Check it out using these interactive maps
This post is cross-posted with permission from April Lindgren and Christina Wong at Local News Research Project. By April Lindgren and Christina Wong Introduction Concerns about how neighbourhoods are portrayed in the news have surfaced regularly in the Toronto area over the years. But are those concerns valid? Interactive maps produced by the The Local News Research Project (LNRP) at … Read More