[Fwd: Re: [HOT] Collective assessment of need for public high-res imagery of Chile]

[Jean-Guilhem Cailton]

Forwarding this (with Mike's approval).

-------- Message original --------

Sujet :	Re: [HOT] Collective assessment of need for public high-res imagery of Chile
Date :	Wed, 3 Mar 2010 10:22:38 +0100
De :	jamesmi...@googlemail.com <jamesmi...@googlemail.com>
Pour :	Jean-Guilhem Cailton <j...@arkemie.com>
Copie à :	h...@openstreetmap.org
Références :	<4B8E268D...@arkemie.com>

On Wed, Mar 3, 2010 at 10:06 AM, Jean-Guilhem Cailton <j...@arkemie.com> wrote:

 David,

Thank you for your answer.

David Stevens a écrit :

Finally I do want to point out that the norm is not to have access to free imagery for wider public use. Right now we at UN-SPIDER are looking at getting imagery for two other disasters which are not receiving wide attention: the landslide in Uganda and the emerging situation in Kiev with possible record floods over the next couple of weeks.

There are, for instance, very significant OSM mapping efforts going on in Albania and Kosovo. Flooding in Albania resumed, after the initial January event. More imagery would have been nice there too.

If the information you have access to makes you think that OSM volunteers efforts would be useful in specific parts of the World, please let us know. I am sure there is enough variety within the OSM community to find interests for collaborating on various events and contexts.

Thanks for mentioning that.
Also I would like the thank David Stevens who has been a great support as well.
We of course would love to have better sources of information. I dont see it as a problem to have limited access if we can get it. We have now a server for access control no problem.

I see albania and kosovo as being in a eternal crisis, also econonmic one, for that reason alone the publication of the any data would have a direct impact on the local enconomy.

OSM is the best thing that can happen to a region like that, we have been able to bring together all types of people and also act as an arbiter and clearing house for data that would otherwise never be shared.

I think that it will just take some time for the people in the local adminstrations to see the benefits, and I can imagine that the very few people who make a living off of GIS in those areas or in the area of relief are not that thrilled about public access. this will create also natural inhibitions for the adoption of new methods.

It just a matter of time before people see the real benefits of sharing, some will be on the forefront, others more cautious.

mike