[Ica-osgeo-labs] Urban Science - City Analytics - The Road Map Challenge

Sat Feb 28 02:39:42 PST 2015

Terrific all.

I'm in the process of developing a draft letter of inquiry to be sent to
NSF for a Research Coordination Network proposal. If you haven't yet, any
interested people/organizations, please add your name and affiliation to
the "Who in our Network..." section of the wiki [1].

I worry a little that the Urban Science\City Analytics might have too many
competing projects in this space already, but I think if we can focus on
some important research questions\areas (such as climate change
planning\resilience) AND a focus on how to build collective action (cross
sector, cross university) might provide some potential. Moreover, I think
the idea on the education side to collectively develop co-produced
"flipped" or blended learning materials, coupled with offering parallel
course where students build products or advance urban analytics using
universities or local towns/cities as service learning projects may be a
potential, unique selling point.

For instance, my colleague Sasha and I, had a student develop a web-based
campus tree inventory and management database (using ESRI products) as an
independent study [2]. This is just an example of what we can potentially
accomplish.

So I will continue drafting this letter, but I will need help on a section
about Urban Science/City Analytics.

Cheers all,

Charlie

[1] http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/GeoForAll_UrbanScience_CityAnalytics
[2]
https://umass-amherst.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=6b6bab7d2726462694bafbcc337cd981

Thanks,

Charlie

On Fri, Feb 27, 2015 at 10:02 PM, MELICK Brandt <bmelick at springfield-or.gov>
wrote:

> Excellent recommendation Jim.  Perhaps we consider "developing the
> database" as finding common web service exchange standards (content and
> structure), i.e., keeping as much of the data in its native format and in
> native maintenance environment and using spatial ETL to publish
> OGC/ASPRS/etc standard services.  The basic idea being - a quilt of
> standardized services rather than a polithera of distinct and out of date
> data holdings.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Feb 27, 2015, at 12:33 PM, "James Miller" <miller at ittc.ku.edu<mailto:
> miller at ittc.ku.edu>> wrote:
>
> I just finished reading the "OGC Smart Cities Spatial Information
> Framework" document. It seems like an excellent and obvious framework to
> which we should relate whatever we wind up doing. It would seem that there
> is wide and rapidly growing use of CityGML and related standards. I would
> really like to see the document they say that OGC is working on  now
> ("Rapid Model Building for Venue Owners") that they say lays out the steps,
> costs, etc. involved in creating a CityGML description.  I searched the OGC
> web site a bit, but could not find it.
>
> I suspect that large parts of any effort will be detailed legwork creating
> databases and the like.  But - as others have suggested - if we are looking
> for NSF money to help fund our work, we will need to identify basic
> research questions that we identify and propose to solve. NSF does not fund
> basic development.  I am not an end user, so I can't list them right now.
> But once we identify the area (e.g., management of cities and regions for
> climate resilience as suggested in an earlier email), we should be able to
> identify solid research problems in the usual way by exploring use cases,
> required queries, types and sources of data and related computations, etc.
>
> I look forward to the process.
>
> Jim
>
>
> James R. Miller, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
> University of Kansas (2001 Eaton Hall)
> 1520 W. 15 Street; Lawrence, KS  66045-7621
> 785-864-7384 (Eaton); 785-864-7728 (Nichols); 785-864-3226 (FAX);
> 785-864-4620 (EECS Office)
> jrmiller at ku.edu<mailto:jrmiller at ku.edu> ;
> http://people.eecs.ku.edu/~miller
> ________________________________
> From: "Thomas Mueller" <Mueller at calu.edu<mailto:Mueller at calu.edu>>
> To: "Charles Schweik" <cschweik at pubpol.umass.edu<mailto:
> cschweik at pubpol.umass.edu>>, "Patrick Hogan (ARC-PX)" <
> patrick.hogan at nasa.gov<mailto:patrick.hogan at nasa.gov>>
> Cc: ica-osgeo-labs at lists.osgeo.org<mailto:ica-osgeo-labs at lists.osgeo.org>,
> "Varun Chandola (chandola at buffalo.edu<mailto:chandola at buffalo.edu>)" <
> chandola at buffalo.edu<mailto:chandola at buffalo.edu>>, "Gabor Remetey" <
> gabor.remetey at gmail.com<mailto:gabor.remetey at gmail.com>>, "Giuseppe
> Conti" <Giuseppe.Conti at trilogis.it<mailto:Giuseppe.Conti at trilogis.it>>,
> "Jim Miller" <miller at ittc.ku.edu<mailto:miller at ittc.ku.edu>>, "MELICK
> Brandt" <bmelick at springfield-or.gov<mailto:bmelick at springfield-or.gov>>
> Sent: Friday, February 27, 2015 1:41:35 PM
> Subject: RE: [Ica-osgeo-labs] Urban Science - City Analytics - The Road
> Map        Challenge
>
> Charlie
>
> Thanks for the email.  Yes, I intend to read the documents this weekend
> and hopefully will have some ideas on a research question, etc.
>
> As far as focal points, I like the climate change resilience part - under
> that section we could discuss the issue of mapping or managing rolling
> brown outs, etc.  Just an idea
>
> Tom
>
> ________________________________
> From: ica-osgeo-labs-bounces at lists.osgeo.org<mailto:
> ica-osgeo-labs-bounces at lists.osgeo.org> [
> ica-osgeo-labs-bounces at lists.osgeo.org<mailto:
> ica-osgeo-labs-bounces at lists.osgeo.org>] on behalf of Charles Schweik [
> cschweik at pubpol.umass.edu<mailto:cschweik at pubpol.umass.edu>]
> Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2015 8:55 AM
> To: Hogan, Patrick (ARC-PX)
> Cc: ica-osgeo-labs at lists.osgeo.org<mailto:ica-osgeo-labs at lists.osgeo.org>;
> Varun Chandola (chandola at buffalo.edu<mailto:chandola at buffalo.edu>); Gabor
> Remetey; Giuseppe Conti; Jim Miller; MELICK Brandt
> Subject: Re: [Ica-osgeo-labs] Urban Science - City Analytics - The Road
> Map Challenge
>
> Hi Patrick, Chris, colleagues:
>
> I'm working on a draft letter to one or more US NSF directorates to
> explore whether they would have interest in a full proposal to support an
> International Research Coordination Network on "Commons-based Peer
> Production for Urban Science and City Analytics". This email by Patrick
> provides a start to what the task of this RCN might be
>
> Questions:
>
> 1) Is the OGC smart cities framework [1] that Patrick pointed out
> something we can use as a "foundation" for this network (I haven't yet read
> it fully, but it looks very useful)? Is there one or more people on this
> list who were involved in the development of that framework?
>
> 2) Can we define some focal areas of Smart Cities we'd want to concentrate
> on? Key application areas? For instance, the management of cities and
> regions for climate resilience might be one? Or support for the deployment
> of environmental sensors (e.g., water pollution monitoring, flood
> monitoring, etc)?
>
> 3) NSF, of course, is often looking for key, basic science, research
> questions that need to be addresses. Can we perhaps on the wiki come up
> with a list of really key research questions? There is a Research Questions
> section that is blank right now on the wiki [2]
>
> 4) Does anyone know of efforts in the past to try and create a
> collaborative network like this that were unsuccessful and why? I recall
> years ago an effort to develop collection action in local government open
> source (not geo specific) that failed - I forget what it was called. But
> answering the question of "why do we need this network?" is key. I have a
> lot to say but would welcome points here (perhaps on the wiki? [2])
>
> Any reactions in response to the group or me individually are appreciated.
>
> Charlie
>
> [1]
> http://gisuser.com/2015/02/ogc-smart-cities-spatial-information-framework-white-paper-announced/
> [2] http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/GeoForAll_UrbanScience_CityAnalytics
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 26, 2015 at 2:36 AM, Hogan, Patrick (ARC-PX) <
> patrick.hogan at nasa.gov<mailto:patrick.hogan at nasa.gov>> wrote:
> Dear OSGEO,
>
> Urban Science - City Analytics is going to take a lot of work.
> But I can't think of more fertile ground for engaging a world in a
> mutually beneficial enterprise with practical and positive results than
> this.
>
> How hard the climb will be a measure of how much we want to accomplish.
> If easy, then not much, or maybe we really are all pulling each other up.
>
> We need a groundswell for a world in mutually constructive dialogue,
> working in unison towards a common goal.
> This is something our planet dearly needs at this very precarious time in
> one species' very short history (~150k years, we're just babes).
> We are a species consuming resources at an unsustainable rate (a future in
> jeopardy),
> and polluting our biosphere (our life support system) as if we didn't need
> it.
>
> What Can We Do?
> I hope we can design/architect an OSGEO software solution that excites the
> world community.
> We need municipalities around the world engaged in a partnership with us
> and us with them.
> What can we do for them? The OGC Smart Cities SI Framework and others is a
> big-picture bird's-eye view:
>
> http://gisuser.com/2015/02/ogc-smart-cities-spatial-information-framework-white-paper-announced/
> And also these:
> http://www.cmap.illinois.gov/
> http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/smarter_cities/overview/
> There must be more of these, help us find them please!
>
> Some Recent History:
> When NASA took on the mantle of going to the Moon, there were several
> independent projects designing and testing their idea for a Moon-shot.
> From that group some projects were selected to go forward while others
> were mined for their gems to go into the remaining projects.
> This process continued until there was only one 'project,' Apollo. Apollo
> was not one program, but the cumulative result of several 'competing'
> projects.
>
> Our Task:
> We need to develop a road map, the requirements doc, for what this Urban
> Science - City Analytics (CitySmart) program looks like.
> The requirements doc will likely be based on information in the
> 'framework' documents above
> This road map needs to allows for some early successes so we can get
> buy-in from 'real' municipalities to work with us to keep value-added on
> target.
> Then we will need a cadre of software development teams (or individuals)
> providing their solution in response to the road map.
> As we collectively together evaluate these, some will be asked to mashup
> until in the end we have one OSGEO CitySmart app. This app will have an
> open API for the menu system, for drag-n-drop of functionalities, so that
> each city can tailor it for their use, and the world community can continue
> to optimize old functionalities and design new ones (proprietary or open
> source).
>
> Who Will Do This?
> Maybe we can ask an academic or other organization to provide us with the
> road map (specifications/requirements), such as these two:
> http://sustainablecities.aau.dk/
> https://rd-alliance.org/
> If anyone knows of an organization or university who would be interested
> in designing the road map for city management per the 'framework' document
> links above, please let me know.
>
> The Road Map Challenge (a proposal):
> Here is 'a' plan (not 'the' plan, this 'plan' will change depending on
> feedback from all of us).
> An OSGEO Challenge with a NASA crystal bull for the award, just like the
> Europa Challenge, http://eurochallenge.como.polimi.it/, and of course
> NASA T-shirts.
> We need YOU (whoever you are) to design the requirements doc for the Urban
> Science - City Analytics (CitySmart) program.
> We will rank these and the number one vote getter will get the crystal
> bull (after they mashup the best of what is in all of the road maps into
> theirs).
> We will ask the Region and Theme Chairs to do the voting.
> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/GeoForAll
> And if there are special needs for the cities in the respective Regions,
> we need to hear about those requirements.
>
> What Next?
> The next challenge, the OSGEO SmartCity Challenge, will be to build
> according to those requirements and put a smile on the face of every
> municipality! And something the whole world can be proud of together, while
> experiencing the benefits of living in a smarter city. The City of
> Springfield Oregon has already shown us the path,
> http://www.nsdinow.org/SDI_Now_02/Technical_Support.html. Are there
> others?
>
> -Patrick
>  (650) 604-5656<tel:%28650%29%20604-5656> (office)
>  (650) 269-2788<tel:%28650%29%20269-2788> (cell)
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
>
>
> --
> Charlie Schweik
>
> Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
> Dept of Environmental Conservation and Center for Public Policy and
> Administration
>
> Personal website: http://people.umass.edu/cschweik
> Publications: http://works.bepress.com/charles_schweik/
>
> Author, Internet Success: A Study of Open Source Software (MIT Press,
> 2012) - see http://tinyurl.com/d3e4545
>
> --------------------------------------------
> Q: Why is this email five sentences or less?
> A: http://five.sentenc.es
>
>

-- 
Charlie Schweik

Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Dept of Environmental Conservation and Center for Public Policy and
Administration

Personal website: http://people.umass.edu/cschweik
Publications: http://works.bepress.com/charles_schweik/

Author, Internet Success: A Study of Open Source Software (MIT Press, 2012)
- see http://tinyurl.com/d3e4545

--------------------------------------------
Q: Why is this email five sentences or less?
A: http://five.sentenc.es
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