VGI-Analytics 2017

VGI-Analytics - Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI): Integration, ANALYsis, and applICationS

Tuesday, 9th May 2017, Wageningen University, The Netherlands at AGILE 2017


VGI-Analytics 2017 is the 4th workshop in a series of AGILE pre-conference workshops

Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) and social media data have become part of our everyday lives over the past few years. Whereas in the early beginnings of crowd-sourced data the data collection took place primarily on isolated VGI and social media platforms, contribution patterns are beginning to be more intertwined between different platforms. This means that crowd-sourcing applications begin to offer opportunities to share data between them during data collection and contribution, for example, by tweeting an Instagram image or by viewing a Mapillary image layer while editing OpenStreetMap data. Recent data contribution trends show also that geographic data are beginning to be linked across different VGI and social media platforms. As an example, users started to cross-link OSM point of interests (POIs) and street features (e.g. street lamps, sidewalk information) based on Mapillary photographs. This cross-linkage of data between different platforms brings new opportunities and challenges, including questions of data quality and the formation of user communities across platforms. It can also be observed that the number of VGI and social media platforms is continuously growing, providing new data sets to be analyzed.

All these changes in the VGI world bring new opportunities and challenges, including questions of data quality and the formation of user communities across platforms. This workshop provides an opportunity for interested researchers to share ideas and findings on cross-platform data contributions, innovative analysis approaches, current data fusion methods, real-world applications using cross-linked data, and novel crowd-sourcing and social media platforms.

This workshop provides an opportunity for interested researchers to share ideas and findings on cross-platform data contributions, innovative analysis approaches, current data fusion methods, real-world applications using cross-linked data, and novel crowd-sourcing and social media platforms. It allows participants also to discuss technical questions and innovations on data access. One portion in the workshop is dedicated to a collaborative session, where break-out groups will discuss some specific aspects of cross-linked VGI data.

VGI-Analytics 2017: Paper submission

The workshop offers two formats for paper submission:

  1. CLOSED: Workshop Short Paper (2000 to 3000-word manuscript)
    Submission Deadline 28th March 2017.
    Authors are requested to follow the formatting guidelines for short paper submissions on the AGILE 2017 call for papers page and use the Word .doc template or the Word .docx template provided. Short papers should be submitted directly via e-mail to Dr. Peter Mooney at Peter.Mooney@nuim.ie. Accepted short papers will be published here on the workshop Website.
  2. Special Issue Journal Full Paper (maximum 20 pages)
    Submission Deadline 9th June 2017
    Full paper submissions will be considered for presentation at the workshop as well as for inclusion in a special issue of the Geo-spatial Information Science (GSIS) journal to appear in late 2017. To submit a full paper please follow the manuscript preparation and submission guidelines of the Special Issue Call for Papers.
    Authors are requested to also notify Dr. Peter Mooney at Peter.Mooney@nuim.ie that you submitted a full paper.

VGI-Analytics 2017: The Organisers

The VGI-Analytics 2017 workshop will be organised and co-chaired by:

VGI-Analytics 2017 Workshop Topics and Themes

The VGI-Analytics 2017 workshop will discuss, but not be limited to, the following workshop topics and themes:

VGI-Analytics 2017: Important Dates

VGI-Analytics 2017: A pre-conference workshop series

VGI-Analytics follows on from a very successful pre-AGILE conference workshop in Helsinki in June 2016 with 30 attendees registered called Link-VGI: LINKing and analyzing Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) across different platforms. Please see the workshop web-page for LinkVGI 2016. LinkVGI is also published as a data descriptor from the hands-on session. Indeed the workshop organisers have been working together in this general research areas for several years now. In 2015 the RICH-VGI workshop (enRICHment of volunteered geographic information (VGI): Techniques, practices and current state of knowledge) was organised before AGILE 2015 in Lisbon, Portugal. An earlier pre-AGILE conference workshop ACTIVITY (Action and Interaction in Volunteered Geographic Information) was held in Leuven in May 2013 before AGILE 2013. A journal paper was produced after this workshop on the key outcomes of the workshop

VGI-Analytics 2017: Workshop Timetable

The workshop will be a full day workshop. We intend to begin at 09:30 and finish at around 17:00. This will allow workshop delegates to either return back to their accommodation before the evening reception or to explore the university grounds or city of Wageningen. We aim to attract a high number of attendees.

The outline of the workshop is as follows below. The timings have been designed so that they work with the timetables of the other pre AGILE workshops for the purposes of coffee breaks and lunches. Papers will be available in the coming days. After the workshop presentations and other materials will also be openly accessible from this webpage.

Time PeriodWorkshop Activity
  09:30 - 09:45 Workshop Opening: Welcome and some introductions from the organisers   Download Slides (PM)   Download Slides (LJ)
  09:45 - 10:30 Invited Joint Keynote Presentation: "People, Patterns, and Populations: Considering multiple perspectives in the spatial analysis of VGI"
Professor Robert Feick (University of Waterloo, Canada) and Dr. Colin Robertson (Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada)

Abstract: As research into VGI matures and expands to include multiple platforms, a greater variety of representations, and a broader range of applications, the development of a 'VGI Analytics' requires new conceptual models and frameworks to underly the development of algorithms and spatial tools. In the 10 years since Goodchild's 2007 paper, the line between VGI and GI proper has continued to blur. In this paper we revisit the underlying tenets of VGI in an attempt to build up a three-part model of VGI analytics, considering the people that produce VGI, the aggregate patterns they produce, and the ways that these patterns (mis)-represent larger populations. We consider how geographical expertise relates to spatial knowledge production and representation in VGI datasets, and in turn, the analysis of VGI with traditional geospatial tools. Case studies from citizen science and geosocial media data are used to illustrate problems and articulate potential solutions

  10:30 - 11:00 COFFEE (This is in parallel with the other workshops)
  11:00 - 12:30 SESSION 1: VGI-Analytics Research Papers
  1. Exploring vernacular perceptions of spatial entities: Using Twitter data and R for delimiting vague, informal neighbourhood units in Inner London, UK. Author: Luke Clasper (University of Salford) [ Download Paper]   Download Slides
  2. DeepTags: Integration of Various VGI Resources Towards Enhanced Data Quality Author: Ahmed Loai Ali (University of Bremen) and Rami Al-Salman [ Download Paper (12 MB)]   Download Slides
  3. The Inevitability of Calibration in VGI Quality Assessment Author: Franz-Benjamin Mocnik (Heidelberg University), Alexander Zipf, Hongchao Fan [ Download Paper   Download Slides ]
  4. Experiences with VGI in challenging circumstances Authors: Mustafa Hameed (University of Newcastle) and David Fairbairn,     Download Slides
Presentations will be a maximum of 20 minutes in duration with around 5 minutes for questions. In some cases presentations may be shorter by prior agreement.
  12:30 - 13:30 LUNCH (This is in parallel with the other workshops)
  13:30 - 14:20 SESSION 2: VGI-Analytics Research Papers (cont)
  1. Where to catch ‘em all? – A geographic analysis of Pokémon Go locations Authors: Levente Juhász (University of Florida) and Hartwig Hochmair [ Download Paper] [Online Slides ]
  2. Analysing tweets describing during natural disasters in Europe and Asia Authors: Kiran Zahra (University of Zurich) and Ross Purves [ Download Paper   Download Slides
Presentations will be a maximum of 20 minutes in duration with around 5 minutes for questions.
  14:20 - 14:30 Planning outline for the Collaborative Session    Download Slides
  14:30 - 15:30 Collaborative Session - the idea here would be to break the workshop up into 4 - 5 small groups. Each group would be led by one of the organisers or an experienced academic/researcher. Then each group would try to tackle some of the current challenges in VGI-Analytics with the view of working towards the draft for a multi-author journal paper. At the end of the session each group will have gathered together a roughwork document of ideas, formulations, plans, etc to bring their paper forward after the workshop. Very often one of the negative aspects of workshops is that the potential energy for collaboration and future networking diminishes after the workshop is finished. A tangible and shared collaborative output like this could help build capacity for sustaining this collaboration. This is also an excellent opportunity for PhD students and other young researchers to work and collaborate with more experienced academics/researchers.

Outputs from the Collaborative Sessions will be publicly available soon!

There were three breakout groups:
  1. Privacy, ethics and legal issues in VGI-Analytics [Leader: Peter Mooney]
  2. VGI Data Quality – where are we now, where are we going? [Leader: Franz-Benjamin Mocnik]
  3. Software and Technical Aspects and Challenges in VGI Analytics [Leader: Levente Juhász]
  15:30 - 16:00 COFFEE (This is in parallel with the other workshops)
  16:00 - 16:30 Feedback and Discussion: Short feedback and summary from each group leader. Discussions from the floor
  16:30 - 17:00 Closing: Workshop Closing - summary and overview of the day from the Workshop Chair. Plans for the future.

VGI-Analytics 2017: Directions and Logistics

The workshop will take place on Tuesday 9th May 2017 as a pre-conference workshop at AGILE 2017 in Wageningen University, The Netherlands.

The AGILE 2017 website will contain information and directions of how to travel to Wageningen University.

REGISTRATION for the VGI-Analytics 2017 will be handled directly with your registration for the AGILE 2017 conference. This webpage will not provide a facility to register for the workshop. There will be a small registration fee for this workshop which is collected by AGILE.