[Sci-tech-public] NOW WITH DATE/TIME: Worldmap: A Spatial Infrastructure to Support Teaching and Research (BROWN BAG TALK)

[Michelle Baildon]

The WorldMap platform http://worldmap.harvard.edu<http://worldmap.harvard.edu/> is the largest open source collaborative mapping system in the world, with over 13,000 map layers contributed by thousands of users from Harvard and around the world. Researchers may upload large spatial datasets to the system, create data-driven visualizations, edit data, and control access.  Users may keep their data private, share it in groups, or publish to the world.
The user base is interdisciplinary, including scholars from the humanities, social sciences, sciences, public health, design, planning, etc.  All are able to access, view, and use one another's data, either online, via map services, or by downloading.
Current work is underway to create and maintain a global registry of map services and take us a step closer to one-stop-access for public geospatial data. Another project is working on tools to support the visualization of spatial datasets with over a billion features. Current collaborations are underway with groups inside Harvard, such as Dataverse, HarvardX, and various departments, and with groups outside Harvard, such as Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania. Major additional contributors to the underlying source code include the WorldBank, the U.S. State Department, and the United Nations.
The source code for the WorldMap platform is available on GitHub https://github.com/cga-harvard/cga-worldmap<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=https://github.com/cga-harvard/cga-worldmap&k=AjZjj3dyY74kKL92lieHqQ%3D%3D%0A&r=yQ8m8To9b1nwNozW9luGQxeYlRUwXdmDMKNVdzjfv%2BU%3D%0A&m=bFXFS7gfgc5%2BTtZtylz8%2Bvzg064UkC2a3QnlOJuA5no%3D%0A&s=e691c77b47ad60f2ab1a320d3e6fde64a2ed5ec2e23a2a97ebef494083c1ddcb>.


Date/Time:  Wednesday, September 17, 2014, 12-1pm
Location: E25-202

Discussant: Ben Lewis is system architect and project manager for WorldMap<http://worldmap.harvard.edu/>, an open source infrastructure that supports collaborative research centered on geospatial information. Before joining Harvard, Ben was a project manager with Advanced Technology Solutions of Pennsylvania, where he led the company in adopting platform independent approaches to GIS system development. Ben studied Chinese at the University of Wisconsin and has a Masters in Planning from the University of Pennsylvania. After Penn, Ben helped start the GIS Lab at U.C. Berkeley, founded the GIS group for transportation engineering firm McCormick Taylor, and coordinated the Land Acquisition Mapping System for South Florida Water Management District. Ben is especially interested in technologies that lower the barrier to spatial technology access.

Information Science Brown Bag talks, hosted by the MIT Libraries' Program on Information Science, consists of regular discussions and brainstorming sessions on all aspects of information science and uses of information science and technology to assess and solve institutional, social and research problems. These are informal talks. Discussions are often inspired by real-world problems being faced by the lead discussant.

For more information, contact:
Randi Shapiro, shapiror at mit.edu<mailto:shapiror at mit.edu>



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