2019:Partnerships/Linking OpenStreetMap and Wikidata
 | This is an Accepted submission for the Partnerships space at Wikimania 2019. |
Description
Wikidata and OpenStreetMap (OSM) are collaborative open data projects that contain structured data for real world places and things. Adding links between the projects makes the data more useful, but doing this by hand is laborious. I've written a software tool that automates much of the process.
Editors of OSM can use my software to search for a place or region, generating a list of candidate matches from Wikidata, which can then be checked and saved to OSM.
Linking the two projects isn't without controversy. They use different licenses which raises questions about what information from one project can be copied to the other.
I will talk about the benefits of linking, the process of finding matches, the community response - including the controversy - and how people can get involved.
The software is available at https://osm.wikidata.link/
Relationship to the theme
This session will address the conference theme — Wikimedia, Free Knowledge and the Sustainable Development Goals — in the following manner:
Good maps are essential for sustainable development.
Combining the knowledge stored in Wikidata and OSM will be particularly helpful for Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. The following three targets will benefit from the combined knowledge:
- 11.3 By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries
- 11.4 Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world's cultural and natural heritage
- 11.a Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning
Session outcomes
At the end of the session, the following will have been achieved:
The audience will have an understanding of how different collaborative open data projects can work together and the role of software assisted editing.
Session leader(s)
Session type
Each Space at Wikimania 2019 will have specific format requests. The program design prioritises submissions which are future-oriented and directly engage the audience. The format of this submission is a:
- Lecture
Requirements
The session will work best with these conditions:
- Room: space with a projector and screen, a lecture theatre would work well
- Audience: any number of people, no prior knowledge required
- Recording: content and format is appropriate for recording and sharing