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Geospatial Free and Open Source Software in the 21st Century pp 175–189Cite as

Building Location-Based Mass Collaboration Systems: Challenges and Opportunities

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography ((LNGC))

Abstract

With the rise of Web 2.0 and social computing, we have been witnessing a revolution in the way spatial information is being accessed and utilized. However, the paradigm that governs the generation of spatial information products such as GIS applications has not changed much. The rise of web-based mass collaboration offers an opportunity to develop a new paradigm for creating and sharing spatial information products. To illustrate this, we developed wikiGIS, a location-based mass collaboration system that is designed to generate spatial knowledge products through self-organization, decentralization, and peer-to-peer mass collaboration. Open source software tools provide a natural fit for implementing such location – based mass collaboration systems. In this paper we review the design and development of wikiGIS, analyse the suitability of existing open source tools, and identify key challenges for tools that support location-based mass collaboration systems.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Centre for Earth Observation Sciences (CEOS), University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada

    Arie Croitoru

  2. School of Business (Management Information Systems), University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada

    Ofer Arazy

Authors
  1. Arie Croitoru
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  2. Ofer Arazy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Arie Croitoru .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Research on Urban Sciences and Techniques (IRSTV) FR CNRS 2488, Ecole Centrale de Nantes, 1 rue de la Noé, 44321, Nantes Cedex 3, France

    Erwan Bocher

  2. Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38010, San Michele all’Adige, Italy

    Markus Neteler

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Croitoru, A., Arazy, O. (2012). Building Location-Based Mass Collaboration Systems: Challenges and Opportunities. In: Bocher, E., Neteler, M. (eds) Geospatial Free and Open Source Software in the 21st Century. Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-10595-1_11

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