One of the recurring issues that Ciência Aberta Ubatuba platform has been facing is related to the visibility, use, durability and interoperability of geo-referenced data produced about the territory. The availability of open and shareable geo-referenced data in the region is central to promote social participation in ongoing processes in the territory, such as the revision of Ecological-Economic Zoning (ZEE) in the region, the Plan for Hydrographic Basins and the Management Plan for APAMLN (Marine Environmental Preservation Area on the Northern Coast of São Paulo State).

Different projects often put their efforts into collecting and organizing these information for various purposes. Sometimes, they share the results among themselves, make maps available on the internet and present them in events. Less frequent is these initiatives being able to share such information in an open and structured way which allows its reuse, cross-breeding, public checking. Even wishing to do so, they end up facing barriers in technical, resource or knowledge terms.

Aiming at promoting the exchange of experiences on producing and using such informations, as well as delineating strategis of sharing data and knowledge accumulated by various initiatives, we decided to organise a workshop sobre dados georreferenciados. We invited people who had interest in these issues, as well as professionals whose experience would add to the construction of local strategies for sharing open geo-referenced data, with a focus on the northern coast of São Paulo. The workshop took place on the 20th of may 2016, in Tancredo Neves school, in Ubatuba, and counted with relevant projects both in local and national scale.

The first part of the workshop started with presentations about digital infrastructure for sharing geo-referenced data in Brazil. Hesley PI (IBGE / PhD candidate in IBICT-UFRJ) explained the possibilities of INDE, the National Infrastructure for Spatial Data, a public platform created in 2010 by a consortium of 23 nationwide and some regional organs, with the goal of enabling the exploration and sharing of data generated by various institutions. After him, the Datageo team, from the regional Environmental Authority in the State of São Paulo (Ana Maria, Edgard Joseph and Igor Redivo) presented the Datageo portal, and brought about some reflections on how to promote the dialogue between “old” systems and new technological possibilities.

Then, the experiences of three institutions whose activities encompass Ubatuba's territory were presented. Gabriela Sartori, from APAMLN, spoke about building cartographic information together with local communities, as well as drawing attention to some particularities stemming from working with maps on the marine environment. Fabio Pincinato, from CBH-LN (Northern Coast Comitee of Hydrographic Basins), reported on the ways in which many projects end up sharing data, often in a very informal way. He pointed out that one thing missing was a “web server” to allow the sharing of data. Pedro Chaltein, from OTSS (Observatory of Healthy and Sustainable Territories in the Bocaina region), pointed out the relevance of establishing a closer relation between geo-referenced data and social cartography, and how these resources can help qualifying processos of struggl for territory from the region's traditional communities.

The second part of the workshop was an open discussion willing to delineate collective strategies for the sharing of geo-referenced data. The formation of a working group was suggested, in order to develop prototypes using free/open software such as GeoNetwork and GeoServer, whilst starting to build a longer term project that allows the permanent availability of shared data, possibly by establishing a consortium of institutions that applies to join INDE, the national infrastructure. As an immediate proposal, the group would meet again two weeks later to organise action plans.

Some issues to be faced by such initiative were appointed: modes of adhesion, institutional and governance settings; integration or compatibilization of standarts; web infrastructure; metadata compatibility.

• Notes from Ciência Aberta Ubatuba team during the workshop.
• Slides:
  • Slides INDE
  • Slides Datageo
  • Slides CBH
  • Slides APAMLN
  • Slides OTSS
• Ongoing research: Mapas Digitais
• Audio documentation of the workshop (two parts, in portuguese)

~~DISQUS~~