Improving Access to Canadian Healthcare Using Open Data with Scott Bell

By Drew Bush If you ask a Canadian what makes them most proud of their country, free and easily accessible healthcare would often be near the top of the list. But for one Geothink researcher, this commonly held narrative has been disproven and led him to help those in need of better healthcare. “People in the north and some rural … Read More

Call for Papers (Book): Geoweb Policy, Law, and Ethics

Hello everyone, We are putting together a draft prospectus for consideration by the University of Ottawa Press for their Law, Technology and Media book series. The edited volume will focus on the legal, policy, regulatory, and ethical issues arising from the geoweb. Anticipated issues that the volume will cover include privacy, surveillance, IP, licensing, open data, the public/private divide, citizen … Read More

Geothink Video Interview 2: Ever Wondered Why Geothink?

By Drew Bush Geothinkers, have you ever wondered how Geothink got its start? Or perhaps you are someone who just stumbled on this site and might be wondering what is Geothink? Wonder no longer. Today we bring you two video interviews with Geothink Head Renee Sieber, associate professor in McGill University’s Department of Geography and School of Environment. She’ll not … Read More

Geothoughts Conversations 1: Debating and Defining the Emergent Field of Crowdsourcing Civic Governance

By Drew Bush One of the hallmarks of any academic conference are the conversations that take place in-between sessions, in the hallways and over meals. In our first Geothink Conversations we aim to give you a flavor of these discussions at Geothink’s now concluded 2015 Summer Institute. This month’s conversation features Geothink Head Renee Sieber, associate professor in McGill University’s … Read More

Geothink Researcher Peter Johnson Honored with Early Researcher Award from the Government of Ontario

By Drew Bush Peter Johnson, assistant professor of Geography and Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo, was honoured with the Ontario Government’s Early Researcher Award for his project, Measuring the Value and Impact of Open Data. Johnson was one of two professors in his department that were funded. In the project, Johnson will build partnerships with stakeholders, develop case … Read More

Geothink Newsletter Issue 7

This issue, we bring an update from the recent Annual General Meeting and Summer Institute at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario. We detail some of the outcomes of the meeting. If you would like to be featured in the next newsletter, do not hesitate to get in touch with the editor, Peck Sangiambut. Geothink Newsletter Issue 7

Crosspost: Green Cities and Smart Cities: The potential and pitfalls of digitally-enabled green urbanism

This post is cross-posted with permission from Alexander Aylett, from UGEC Viewpoints. Aylett is an Assistant Professor at the Centre on Urbanisation, Culture and Society at the National Institute for Scientific Research (UCS-INRS) in Montreal, Quebec. By Alexander Aylett Since its early days, the discourse around “smart cities” has included environmental sustainability as one of its core principles. The application … Read More

A Deeper Dive into Crowdsourcing – Geothink Summer Institute Day 2

By Drew Bush Day two of Geothink’s Summer Institute began with a deeper dive into crowdsourcing led by Robert Goodspeed, assistant professor of Urban Planning at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. In the morning, he presented hot topics in his own research including crowdfunding, formal crowdsourcing and the crisis-mapping tool Ushahidi. “In my world, … Read More

Laying Out the Challenge – Geothink Summer Institute Day 1

By Drew Bush The day began with a warm welcome from Geothink Head Renee Sieber, associate professor in McGill University’s Department of Geography and School of Environment. By afternoon, the City of Ottawa had presented the 29 students attending Geothink’s Summer Institute at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada with the challenge of engaging its citizens with city natural … Read More

Geothink Summer Institute to Kick-off Monday, June 15, 2015!

By Drew Bush Get ready Geothinkers, this year’s Geothink Summer Institute will run from June 15-16, 2015 and will be held at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario. Check in at our Summer Institute web site, where we’ll be live tweeting the day’s events. The agenda is jam-packed with big names in the emergent field of crowdsourcing, which one … Read More

A First Hand Account of McGill University’s Team-CODE’s Experiences in the 1st Annual ECCE App Challenge hosted by Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI)

By Jin Xing I was one of three Geothink students who competed in the Environmental Systems Research Institute’s (ESRI) ECCE 1st Annual App Challenge hosted by the institute’s Canada Centre of Excellence. Team CODE-McGill, which consisted of McGill University students Matthew Tenney, Carl Hughes, and myself placed second in the competition that concluded on March 20 with the announcement of … Read More

RECODE Open Data Youth Leader – My View on A Week of Open Data Events

By Suthee Sangiambut This article contains personal reflections from Geothink’s Newsletter Editor and Student Coordinator, Suthee Sangiambut. This year’s Canada Open Data Summit and International Open Data Conference confirmed that open data and open government are quickly becoming mainstream topics for all sorts of disciplines and subject areas. I consider myself part of the open data community, due to my masters … Read More

Spotlight on Recent Publications: Exploring the Hyperbole Behind Crisis Mapping Through Chronic Community Development Issues

By Drew Bush In a paper published this month, Geothink researchers critically examined the role that crisis mapping software such as Crowdmap can play when used to instead facilitate development issues in three Canadian communities in Vancouver and Montreal. They argue that such platforms hold many technological constraints, including an intrinsic short-term feel that makes it difficult to deploy on … Read More

Geothink at the International Open Data Conference – Day 2

By Suthee Sangiambut This Friday saw the conclusion of the International Open Data Conference (IODC) 2015, with an atmosphere of optimism and celebration. Attendees came from all corners of the world in numbers far greater than previous conferences—one indication that the open data movement may be gaining momentum. On this final day, stories of open data implementation were shared from … Read More

Geothink at the International Open Data Conference 2015 – Day 1

By Suthee Sangiambut The 2015 International Open Data Conference (IODC) opened today, May 29, at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa. Below, we detail the conclusions from several panel discussions on open cities. In fact, open cities were the featured topics in two of the day’s panel sessions. While a number of case studies were given, panelists emphasized that few cities … Read More