Community-based geoportals: The next generation? Concepts and methods for the geospatial Web 2.0

This article studies how geoportals can benefit from the Web 2.0 features by defining related concepts, by emphasising advantages and caveats of such an approach, and proposing appropriate implementation strategies.

Abstract

The Web is going social, as shows the huge success of Social Networking Sites, but also the adjunction of community-based features on major existing websites. At the same time, technologies and standards making the web systems interoperable, like Web Services, RSS, XML, etc., have reached maturity. Social dimension and interoperability are the cornerstones of an emerging paradigm for information creation and sharing: the Web 2.0.\n\nGeoportals are World Wide Web Gateways that organise content and services related to Geographic Information. They are hence the most visible part of Spatial Data Infrastructures (i.e. distributed systems that allow acquiring, process, distributing, using, maintaining, and preserving spatial data). Today¿s Geoportals are focusing on interoperability through the implementation of standards for discovery and use of geographic data and services.\n\nRecent papers are arguing for deeper integration of the Web 2.0 paradigm with the geospatial web. This article aims to provide an overview supporting the next generation of developments for Geoportals, by defining the related concepts, by emphasising advantages and caveats of such approach, and proposing implementation strategies.