Alexandra Fonseca
Engineer
Directorate General for Territorial Development
Portugal

Biography
Alexandra Fonseca is a researcher at DGT. She currently develops research on Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) and its role in Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) and other areas. She has a PhD in Environmental Engineering and is part of the Center for Environmental and Sustainability Research team (FCT-UNL). She has been involved, for several years, in projects exploiting ICT for environmental concerns (e.g. public participation, SDI, citizens as environmental sensors, geo-referenced multisensory learning, geovisualization, multimedia GIS). She is delegate in GEO-ADC, was part of the INSPIRE Expert Group and has actively participated in the Portuguese National SDI development team (SNIG), 1991-1999.

Abstract
The GEOCID and Senses@watch Experience: Lessons Learned for VGI-SDI Integration

Co-Author: Cristina Gouveia, Dr., CENSE & Ydreams

SDI have been proposed since the late eighties as a way to promote the use of GI. Many organizational models for SDI development have emerged but most models were based on a top-down approach. However, the evolution of ICT and Internet has created a shift in traditional GI markets and SDI institutional and organizational models. Information applications and gadgets that are location aware became very popular. The possibility to browse the Web through geo-referenced content became a reality. The use of Virtual globes allow the production of geo-referenced data and applications that were once restricted to professionals. The evolution into the Web 2.0 created a new Web generation based on the user participation - users are no longer simple consumers but now interpret and produce new information. As a result, VGI emerges, as the generic name given to citizen-supported creation and maintenance of geographic data sets. Parallel with these technological developments, institutions that traditionally were responsible for collecting and updating GI data sets faced institutional and economic challenges that pressured for emergence of crowdsourcing initiatives, where citizens contribute to maintain the official data sets. The emergence of VGI invites to a new reflection the role of bottom-up model in the SDI context. This approach may enhance the degree of accessibility and applicability of the information within the SDI. By enlarging its audience with the participation of citizens acting independently and addressing the needs of local communities it may contribute to the collective creation of maps that can help to fill gaps in official data or improve possibility of receiving near-real-time information. However, several challenges need to be addressed to tackle with the idea of integrating VGI datasets into SDI. This paper discusses two projects around the use of SDI where the authors were involved, GEOCID and Senses@watch, considered pioneer at the time they were developed. The aim is to identify questions that need answers in the VGI-SDI domain crossing the actual concerns and challenges and the lessons learned from the two projects.