[CivicAccess-discuss] Authenticity, accuracy and reliability of - non authoritative map sources

[Jason Darrah]

Love your post, Tracey.
Re-read it twice.
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From: civicaccess-discuss-bounces at civicaccess.ca [civicaccess-discuss-bounces at civicaccess.ca] On Behalf Of Tracey P. Lauriault [tlauriau at gmail.com]
Sent: December 21, 2009 9:54 AM
To: civicaccess discuss
Subject: [CivicAccess-discuss] Authenticity, accuracy and reliability of - non authoritative map sources

I have had the great privilege lately of speaking with a number of officials at our fine statistical agency and our mapping agencies.

A common theme is how managers, who are no longer subject matter specialists btw, think our agencies should just let google do the work for them.  They are also hearing from political leaders who think they can save money by simply letting google do the mapping and citizens do the analysis.  I even heard an ADM some time ago suggest we should just let pixar make our maps, just let disney do it! Meanwhile, the subject matter specialists (cartographers, geomaticians, statisticians) are working doubly hard to do their jobs and to keep their bosses and leaders alert to the reasons for maintaining the public service of producing reliable and accurate maps and data.  We also hear open data advocates say the similar things, such as, why not just let google make the maps, or we no longer will need journalists once the data are free, and can't citizens just do the analysis?

The idea of letting only the private sector and citizens do our data and mapping is becoming ubiquitous and give me the willies!

First, a private sector shop like googlemaps does not have the mandate to serve a nation and its citizens.  Just recently googlemaps removed the ice layer in the arctic.  It seems that the bathymetric lobby was very strong.  That is all fine and nice, however, that means people homes were wiped off the map.  So not only are lived on ice spaces melting away due to climate change, peoples stories and mashups disappeared because navigators want their data shown and well the Inuit did not lobby.  Googlemaps is doing like most, it is demonstrating its equatorial bias, and not focussing on un-populated areas, is posting the images it has and relies on the dbases it has access to.  Who would map the north if not for our own mapping agencies?  Who would map rural areas? Who would keep data up to date, ensure we have access to historical data, and who would ensure the data are accurate, precise and reliable?  Today I read the following:

Defunct Names on Online Maps - http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2009/12/defunct_names_o.php.  Entire neighbourhoods are wrong and these are available on googlemaps.

Secondly; we cannot rely on the private sector to do and share some analysis.  For instance, when was the last time we saw a company do a study on homelessness, poverty, and immigration, brown sites, etc.  Do you let the mining industry alone report on its clean practices (see Ecojustice Case - http://www.ecojustice.ca/media-centre/press-releases/court-victory-forces-canada-to-report-pollution-data-for-mines).  We also do not see the state do enough of that kind of analysis either, nor does the academic sector in Canada.  We also, cannot expect citizens, to do all of that work consistently.  We all see it, fads, we take an interest, we do a little something, we say something about it, then we get bored and move on.  The problems to be studied however, do not disappear.  But, if the data were more accessible, easier to find, were of good quality and reliable, with less restrictive licensing and at no cost, we might see more stories being told with them.  But that does not mean, that stories about those on the margins would be told more by regular citizens, as those are not the cool stories, but they might get told more by advocates and NGOs who have the mandate to stick to the issues.

Personally, I want my state agencies to gather good quality, reliable, authentic and accurate data to do their business of governing, and I want them to share those data at no cost, make them easier to find, with unrestricted user licenses or creative commons licenses with citizens.

We need only think of how the private sector failed to provide universal broadband in this country and to recall that the private sector needs a business case, the same is true for private sector owned satellites that aim their cameras at populated rich places, or how we cut the CBCs budget and see less Can Con, or how the media discusses public security by reporting crime, or reports homelessness without discussing the financial insecurity that was manufactured by a dismantling of Canada's social system.

Should we store all of our national data in a private sector offshore storage cloud? Ah, I think not!  Is the Internet our data archive?  Well it ain't doing a great job!

We have much work to do as citizens to participate in this thing we call democracy, and suggesting that private sector do our mapping and our statistical analysis is a dangerous idea indeed.  Flippant remarks like we do not need an official mapping or statistical agency or investigative journalism are very irresponsible and short sighted.  We need them to do their job, share and we need to do our job, and that is to use that information to inform public policy.

That is what participative democracy is.

--
Tracey P. Lauriault
613-234-2805
https://gcrc.carleton.ca/confluence/display/GCRCWEB/Lauriault
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