1. Re-inventing Spatial Data Management
intelligent middleware for understanding neighborhood markets
FOSS4G – September, 2006
Raj R. Singh, PhD
Research Scientist, MIT
Interoperability Program Director, OGC
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License

2. Problem Statement Why is it so expensive to manage spatial data?
Why should one know GIS to use spatial data?
Organizations do information management, not GIS
Spatial information is “touched” by many different kinds of professionals
Analysis is better done by its consumers--executives
intelligent middleware for understanding neighborhood markets
MIT Urban Information Systems Group

3. Audience Well-organized, mature community development groups
Those that work with them, such as local and regional governments, academics, large data providers
intelligent middleware for understanding neighborhood markets
MIT Urban Information Systems Group

4. High-level Tasks Identify geospatial data management (GDM) functions
Identify the types of users for those functions
Build applications that fit into those user’s skill set via Web services interfaces
intelligent middleware for understanding neighborhood markets
MIT Urban Information Systems Group

5. GDM Functions Data gathering
Editing, or adding institutional knowledge
Mapping
Reporting, publishing
Sharing knowledge
intelligent middleware for understanding neighborhood markets
MIT Urban Information Systems Group

6. Tech Talk All applications use simple REST Web services
Postgresql/PostGIS
PHP programming by MIT and Traverse Technologies
Mapserver for mapping
2 Javascript WMS clients: Mapbuilder & quickWMS
intelligent middleware for understanding neighborhood markets
MIT Urban Information Systems Group

7. Data Gathering
Data changes, so the gathering strategy must allow for updates without destroying local edits
Strategy: make data synchronization with external parties a separate function that can’t break local data sets
Future: working with state agency’s WFS service to develop synching
intelligent middleware for understanding neighborhood markets
MIT Urban Information Systems Group

8. Editing Different editing environments for different user types
GIS application
SQL jockey
Neighborhood expert
Neighborhood resident
intelligent middleware for understanding neighborhood markets
MIT Urban Information Systems Group

9. Rule Editor Made for power users Type in any sensible SQL
Changes are saved as update rules and applied as needed. They DO NOT change the original data
intelligent middleware for understanding neighborhood markets
MIT Urban Information Systems Group

10. Property Editor Changes tied to a primary key
editable property selected
simple click on map to change a value (with attractive Google Maps-style dialog box)
intelligent middleware for understanding neighborhood markets
MIT Urban Information Systems Group

11. Reporting Web service request:
Request=QueryReport& name=harvard_ownership_allston& tablename=harvard_ownership_allston& studyarea=allston& xsl=
XSL parameter is very important. It lets us transform the XML response into something else. For example we use this to create HTML that MS Excel can read.
intelligent middleware for understanding neighborhood markets
MIT Urban Information Systems Group

12. Reporting in Microsoft Excel
Web service request in Excel to bring in data
Use native Excel charting functions
Changing the underlying report and refreshing the Excel request updates everything!
intelligent middleware for understanding neighborhood markets
MIT Urban Information Systems Group

13. Mapping Maps created from a report Basic thematic shading control
WMS interface interface allows interoperability with Web publishing, inclusion in other mapping programs.
intelligent middleware for understanding neighborhood markets
MIT Urban Information Systems Group

14. Mapping - Javascript WMS Client
intelligent middleware for understanding neighborhood markets
MIT Urban Information Systems Group

15. Sharing Next step is to work on sharing
Strategy: take advantage of Rules being well-formed and atomic. Create a set of Web service operations for managing Rules sharing, paying attention to privacy and data set applicability
intelligent middleware for understanding neighborhood markets
MIT Urban Information Systems Group