local
Your Mapper - Know Your Neighborhood
Three major empowering things would be improved in the world if this project happens.
One: Empowering local public citizens to learn about their neighborhood and take action when they identify a need. Citizens can view interesting things happening around their home and office on a map, and get notified when new things happen.
Two: Empowering local people to collect information that is currently locked up in government databases, and use our toolset to load that data and make it geographically and visually accessible to the public.
Three: Empowering local websites, blogs, news organizations, and companies by allowing them to embed searchable, interactive maps on their site as a service to their site audience.
Your Mapper is an online news organization that empowers people to obtain and load information in their home town, and make it available to their neighbors. We provide the tools that make this happen.
People who load the data (called "Mappers") only have to decide on what data they want, contact their local government agency for it, and assemble it into a spreadsheet. Once the spreadsheet is ready we provide the tools to load it into Your Mapper, turn it into a public searchable map, and let the Mappers manage the data online and updates to the data.
People who look at the the online maps (called "Citizens") can type in any address in the United States, and see a list of all the maps available. They can subscribe to feeds and updates and downloads. Each map will have meta information provided by the Mappers, and Citizens can rate the quality of the data and map content, leave comments, flag inappropriate data, and save their favorite maps.
The community aspects and rating system ensures that the best maps bubble to the top of the site, and even allow Mappers in the same city to 'compete' to load the highest quality, most valuable information to for the Citizens.
Local websites and businesses (called "Community Sites") can choose which maps they might like to put on their own websites, choose the starting point, map size, and other options, and with a little cut & paste can have these maps on their site in no time.
The core idea behind Your Mapper is to create an easy way to make public information that has long been locked up in internal government databases, and present it to the world in a way that is visually appealing, easy to understand, and local.
Examples of these kinds of datasets would be crime, restaurant health reviews, traffic accidents, building permits, sex offender registries, property values, and pollution sources, or anything that can be linked to a physical address or location.
Because each government office stores each of theses items internally in very different formats, it would take too many resources to create a relationship with these local agencies and obtain data dumps on a regular basis. Your Mapper empowers concerned citizens to collect and share this information, since they know their town or city and have a good idea of what others living there would want to see made public.
I do not believe that altruism alone is enough to encourage local Mappers to load and maintain quality local data, so Your Mapper actually compensates the Mappers based on the amount of website advertising and embedded map revenue generated that is specifically related to their maps. This would empower the Mappers to become "local experts," much like Google's Knol project and Helium.com does.
Currently I run an online news service called Metro Mapper, which provides interactive maps of crime, restaurants, sex offender locations, and historic sites to the citizens of Louisville, Kentucky and the surrounding area. We have a set of internal tools that allow us to load data quickly and turn it into useful maps for the public.
Your Mapper would make these tools available for public use, and extend Metro Mapper nationally. An essential social community layer would be added on top of Metro Mapper to allow Mappers and their maps to be rated, flagged, and commented on.
Your Mapper would leverage our existing technology and reporting tools for Community Sites to embed the maps quickly and easily on their own site.
I consider Metro Mapper to be a proof of concept for a local municipality using some high-profile datasets, and the first step to creating the truly groundbreaking, national, and more robust service of Your Mapper.
Business Manager/Partner
A skilled business person who understands new web technologies and would be a good compliment to my existing skill sets and experience.
PHP Developers
PHP and MySQL programmers who are excited and knowledgable about internet programming, AJAX, user interface, and "Web 2.0" concepts. Security, database scalablity, and performance are all important issues to consider.
People Person
The forward facing part of the service, forging initial relationships with government agencies, courting local Mappers, working with Community Sites, and generating interest in local areas and the press.
Examples of some datasources for the Mappers to tap.
Crime Map: http://www.metromapper.org/index-crime.php
Bridge Saftety Ratings: http://www.metromapper.org/index-bridges.php
Local Restaurants (a Community Site): http://www.louisville.com/entertainment/dining.aspx
City with Easy-to-grab Datasources (Washington DC): http://data.octo.dc.gov/
Downloadable Crime Stats: http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/police/pages/-4258-/
My Green Map: Sharing your Sustainable Worldview
Since 1995, Green Map System has engaged communities worldwide in charting a sustainable future. Now, we’re taking the next step by merging local knowledge and our freshly updated iconography with a Google Map mashup to create an open interactive Green Mapmaking website that will inclusively help people worldwide quickly share their own selection of sustainability sites, pathways and resources online. The resulting interactive Green Maps will be viewable from our own and many other websites, starting in mid-2008. With open commentary, green ratings, multimedia elements, 'impacts index', mobile access, on-site markers and more, everyone will be able to get involved.
My Green Map (working name) will give a powerful voice to thousands and ensure that an enormous diversity of successful sustainability activities and critical issues are shared with the broadest audience possible. It will merge the booming ‘local first’ and green development movements with social networking and interactive mapping. It will draw from a rich data source: thousands of green living, nature, social and cultural resources already charted on 335 published Green Maps, used by millions both near home and while traveling.
Our network of 450 locally-led map projects in 50 countries will be the first to add sites to My Green Map. Each of their mashups will be linked to profiles and the locally-designed Green Maps already viewable at GreenMap.org. Once technical and financial barriers to participation have been overcome, we intend to phase in public mapmaking and behavior change assessment, mobile formats, thematic worldviews, and more. Thus, the N2Y3 Mashup Challenge can play a key role in promoting inclusive participation in sustainable community development around the world.
My Green Map will welcome people to a fresh green perspective of cities, towns and villages. In a familiar Google Map format, it will enable people of all ages to explore or share comprehensive citywide maps; theme maps, such as cycling routes & resources or social justice sites; mapmaking workshop outcomes and eco-tourism maps.
Color-coded universal Green Map Icons will connect people instantly with sustainable living, nature, culture and social sites, helping them make better choices as they shop, dine, commute, work and play. The mapmaker's site description will be openly discussed, updated and translated by the public – they can add a green rating, an image or video and a personal change testimonial that provides evidence of the site's – and the map's – real impacts on community well-being and our common future. Alongside the maps, this will inspire more personal, policy and culture change.
Because My Green Map's mashups will be linked to GreenMap.org's multilingual profiles, users will be able to delve into the motivations and methodologies behind this community-media movement, exploring how grassroots, professional and youth Green Mapmakers are empowered by our adaptable full-scale Green Mapmaking resources. These public interactions will expand local project networks, too.
From a social change perspective, My Green Map offers tremendous hope to people of all backgrounds and communities everywhere.
Since 1995, we have built strong relationships with hundreds of environmental and social equity advocates on 6 continents. Collaboratively, we have:
• developed our eco-cultural .ORG and adaptable youth and professional mapmaking tools
• published multilingual websites, books and DVDs
• produced mapmaker gatherings, public workshops, tours and presentations
• supported decentralized Green Map Hubs in Indonesia, Japan, Latin America and other places.
Our work has received special recognition and positive press locally, nationally and globally, as GreenMap.org's News section attests.
At the heart of it all is the set of Green Map Icons, which is thought to be the world's only universal symbol system for maps. Updated during a 5-year inclusive process, Version 3 of this living lexicon was just released. Viewable at GreenMap.org/icons, these 170 symbols will identify, promote and link My Green Map's sites.
Our small, flexible team includes digital developers, designers, social change agents and collaborators in NYC, Bucharest, Yogyakarta, Tokyo and Victoria BC. We have seed funds and capacity to move from the alpha site at GreenMap.org/ogm to a mid-year public launch, but the fully integrated self-sustaining vision - from mapmaking tool to encyclopedic Global Green Map – needs financial, infrastructure, Drupal/PHP, Google API and mobile developers, business, marketing and legal support.
By prioritizing practical ways to democratically involve many more people – from rural elders to OLPC youth to urban digerati – we can exchange crucial information that helps whole communities take action. Get involved! This synergistic mashup makes local resources for sustainable community development accessible to all, and has potential to truly revolutionize the way people from all over the world perceive and interact with their communities.
