[Open-data-census] open geodata from OpenStreetMap as an incorrect source for two ODI geodata datasets

Mon Dec 15 20:17:16 UTC 2014

Hi again,

as   a  continuation  from  my  previous email I'd like to provide two
examples from geodata field (my field of expertise). They sort of stem from
the  confusion that at least some people misread ODI as open data (any
sources), but not open government data.

==National Map==

Q: Can we use OpenStreetMap as a National Map dataset?
Example: Poland  lists  http://openstreetmap.org.pl  as  National  Map (Mor
pointed out that this is legacy error from 2013).

A: No, we can't. No matter how we like OSM, this is NOT a governmental
dataset,  though it might contain some government data and can be used
by   governments (I  believe  even  as  a  National  Map  equivalent
in some countries).

Suggestion: Add this to FAQ

==ZIP codes==

Q: In 2014 there appeared the qualification for this dataset stating that:

"A database which gives a location in terms of the name of a town or a
street  without  lat/long  co-ordinates  is  not considered acceptable
unless  the  name  of the town or street can be further converted to a
latitude  and  longitude  by  means  of  other  open  data (eg an open
gazetteer with latitude and longitude attributes)."

If   one  read  it verbatim, it could be interpreted as "take you list
of  official  zip  codes  with addresses - run through OSM geocoder  -
here  is  your  9/9 point dataset". And  as we have OSM now everywhere,
essentially the qualification for the zip codes dataset can be reduced
to:

"A database of postcodes/zipcodes with associated addresses."

A (from Christian Villum): Help-text phrase about Postcodes is a bit ambiguous, because you're
right  that it can fully be understood in a way that allows the use of
third  party data to connect addresses with geo-location data. However
what is meant is that the "other open data" referred may only be from
a  third  party  if  the  interconnection  is done *on* the government
portal. In other words, only if the government provides the correlated
data  (their  own  postcode/address  data  with, say, OSM geo-location
data) on  the official source/portal will it qualify for inclusion in
the Index.

Suggestion: Fix the qualification to become something like this:

"A database which gives a location in terms of the name of a town or a
street  without  lat/long  co-ordinates  is  not considered acceptable
unless  the  name  of the town or street can be further converted to a
latitude  and  longitude  by  means  of  other  open  data (eg an open
gazetteer    with   latitude   and   longitude   attributes)  and  THE
RESULTING JOINT DATASET IS OBTAINABLE FROM GOVERNMENT WEBSITE."

Hope it will sort some of the criticism out.

---------
Maxim Dubinin

[Open-data-census] open geodata from OpenStreetMap as an *incorrect* source for two ODI geodata datasets

[Open-data-census] open geodata from OpenStreetMap as an incorrect source for two ODI geodata datasets