webpage portfolio for open source GIS work
Open Source GIScience is comprised of two primary components – free software and free code editing/writing capabilities. Whereas free software has no monetary cost and lets anyone around download and use the program, the free software movement theoretically permits anyone to modify, enhance, and release new code. Free, outward-facing software (such as QGIS) is developed through open-source coding projects to which anyone can contribute. The web and desktop applications for Github are some of the primary tools for documentation of open-source software development. In essence, Git is a collaboration platform that allows code developers to simultaneously create and edit workflows. However, there are some cases where free software are not open source for users to write their own software tools (such as Google Earth Engine). There are opportunities to share code repositories and tools, but at the end of the day, the centralized power of Google is still in charge of which tools are included in the program.
As explored by Rey (2009) and Singleton et al. (2016), academia stands to benefit greatly from the advent of open source software and the congruent software development movement. While academics often use spatial analysis tools to advance their research, there are fewer scenarios where researchers design their own GIS tools to complete their research goals. On the other hand, the development of open GIScience software is often completed in the private sector. Open source coding products, such as R and spdep, can help academics move away from GUI-based software and create more reproducible research. Perhaps the greatest risk within open-source software development is the high barrier-to-entry for folks unversed in coding and spatial analysis development. Even for myself, a frequent user of GUI-based GIS platforms, I feel mildly intimidated in writing my own code for geographic analyses. I believe that free, GUI-based software, such as QGIS, can help in bridging the divide between proprietary and open-source software, as it is user-friendly AND allows users to create and share their own tools. This intersection of academic and “private-sector” use of Open GIScience can lead to more transparency and accountability in spatial analysis, supporting a new generation of spatial analysts to imagine a more collaborative academic world.
I believe that our classroom learning can go hand-in-hand with the principles of Open GIScience, albeit with some modifications to how we observe the honor code with one another. Open GIScience has an incredibly important role in academia, encouraging collaboration between students to solve real-world problems by inventing solutions that have never been created before. It could be fascinating to work in small groups throughout the semester to develop publically-available tools, all while regularly creating blog posts documenting our individual contributions – I would struggle to think of a challenge that is better suited for students studying spatial analysis at a liberal arts college. While I recognize that much of this course is structured around independently editing shared problems, the open-access nature could make it challenging to keep students accountable to the honor code. I believe that all students will oblige with the honor code, but to maintain accountability, we would benefit from writing explicit guidelines and strategies, as agreed to by course participants.
While there are many vaild concerns of accountability and documentation within open-source software development, I believe that openly-accessible and reproducible code can help advance our spatial analysis into a more equitable and inclusive era. Open GIScience allows for community creativity, allowing people to share their findings and build on the work of others. The collaborative nature of open-source software and lack of centralized authority is an affront traditional, Western forms of project management. Nevertheless, Open GIScience presents challenges to governments, private businesses, and communities looking to analyze spatial data. Without well-documented and standardized procedures, governments may be hesitant to use to non-proprietary software that could present internal security breeches. Open source software allows anyone to develop code and programs, possibly allowing developers to cause active harm to certain communities with no one to hold them accountable (e.g. scraping data about Indigenous sites without consent provided by the Nation). These interplays of security and privacy are questions that have yet to be addressed within the Open GIScience community. I will be interested after this course to identify solutions within the Open GIScience ecosystem for encouraging accountability while not limiting creative, community-based action.