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Finnish experience with OS - The Finnish national geoportal ECA E-Learning Session 21.6. 2011 Esa Tiainen, National Land Survey of Finland. Based on presentation Exploring new ways to build a Geoportal – case Finnish Geoportal by Jani Kylmäaho, National Land Survey of Finland, in
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Finnish experience with OS - The Finnish national geoportal ECA E-Learning Session 21.6.2011 Esa Tiainen, National Land Survey of Finland Based on presentation Exploring new ways to build a Geoportal – case Finnish Geoportalby Jani Kylmäaho, National Land Survey of Finland, in INSPIRE conference 2010, 23rd June, 2010 NATIONAL LAND SURVEY – DOWN TO EARTH
Contents • Finnish National Geoportal – Paikkatietoikkuna.fi • Pilot stage of the Geoportal –traditional developing project approach • Problems with the traditional approach • The Agile Way – how to adopt Open Source • The lessons learned NATIONAL LAND SURVEY – DOWN TO EARTH
Paikkatietoikkuna • National geoportal • INSPIRE Discovery Service + User interfaces for View, Download, Transformation and Registry Services • Pilot version released July 2009 • Improvements during 2009, totalling 1 year for the pilot • Open Source implementation • Liferay, Openlayers, ExtJS, GeoExt, PostgreSQL/PostGIS, GeoNetwork, GeoServer • Free distribution of source code • http://www.paikkatietoikkuna.fi/web/fi/avoin-lahdekoodi
Pilot stage of the Geoportal – the traditional approach • The Finnish Geoportal pilot was built during 2009 using a traditional requirement-based process • Based completely on Open Source software: • Partner surveys and analysis of what functionality is needed were made • Detailed requirements specification was written • A bidding process was started and a consultancy company contracted to deliver the defined Geoportal • The definitions were handed over to the consultant NATIONAL LAND SURVEY – DOWN TO EARTH
Problems with the traditional- 1 • Partner surveys and analysis of what functionality is needed? • It was not possible to capture all requirements at the same time despite of repeated surveys and analysis • Detailed requirements specifications? • It proved nearly impossible to write an accurate requirements specification for the entire duration of the project NATIONAL LAND SURVEY – DOWN TO EARTH
Problems with the traditional- 2 • Bidding process and consultancy company selection for delivery? • The competence of the consultant was assessed mostly based on references and the project plan provided • Definitions handover? • It was not properly ensured, that the consultant and the customer share a common understanding of the expected results NATIONAL LAND SURVEY – DOWN TO EARTH
Problems with the traditional- 3 • Results • Despite the communication during the development process • Resulted functionality not according to specifications • Some specifications had been misinterpreted • Difficult to control the overall quality • ..and as a final Bonus: • The agreement with the consultant somewhat limited the usage of the OS code developed General dissatisfaction and piles of unnecessarywork.. NATIONAL LAND SURVEY – DOWN TO EARTH
Conclusion - The Agile Way • ChooseAgilemethods* for development (scrum) • Payattention to the biddingprocedure • Involve the partners in the process • Fullyexploit the benefits of OpenSource *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development NATIONAL LAND SURVEY – DOWN TO EARTH
Release plan for the completedGeoportal View Service UI – Map Service for Citizens (May 2010) Embedded Map Service for Data Providers (June 2010)Download Service UI, files (September 2010) Discovery Service UI integration (October 2010)Download Service UI for WFS (November 2010) Tools for data producers to help with linking of Network Services (Dec 2010)Monitoring and Reporting tools (January 2011) Semantic search (February 2011) 2010 2011
Release completion of FinnishGeoportal View Service UI – Map Service for Citizens (June 2010 - released) Embedded Map Service for Data Providers (released August 2010)Download Service UI, files (released November 2010) Discovery Service UI integration (released November 2010)Registry Service &Download Service UI for WFS (released February 2011) Tools for data producers to help with linking of Network Services (2011)Monitoring , Reporting tools (2011) Semantic search 2010 2011
2010 NATIONAL LAND SURVEY – DOWN TO EARTH
2010 http://www.paikkatietoikkuna.fi/web/en
The Agile Way - 1 • Choose Agile methods for development • Task Definitions are written in form of a Product Backlog which evolves throughout the entire project • Results are demonstrated after each sprint – new functionality e.g. every 2 weeks • Continuous testing - mistakes or wrong choices you make will show up soon • The priorisation process ensures that the critical and most cost-beneficial functionality is implemented first (80/20 rule) • Control of the project through constant progress monitoring NATIONAL LAND SURVEY – DOWN TO EARTH
The Agile Way - 2 • Pay attention to the bidding procedure • Identify the key competences required for producing the outcome • Evaluate the competence of candidate developers – actually you hire the resources for software development • Developers willingness to current developments - OS software is constantly developing • Consider having the programmers work at/nearby your location (hired resource) NATIONAL LAND SURVEY – DOWN TO EARTH
The Agile Way - 3 • Involve the partners in the process • Gather user requirements constantly • Use your partners as testers • Make it a joint venture ”This is our common Geoportal” • Create Win-Win benefits ”If you open your View Service, I’ll provide you with an embedded map service” • Make sure partners see the benefits they will get – continuous communication NATIONAL LAND SURVEY – DOWN TO EARTH
The Agile Way - 4 • Fully exploit the benefits of Open Source • Ensure liberal licensing policy in the consultancy agreement • Distribute your source code – ”Code developed using public funds should be public”! • Contribute to the OS community (establish own OS group as necessary) for sustainablity • Seek joint projects with organisations with similar needs for developing new features • Utilize common components and platforms NATIONAL LAND SURVEY – DOWN TO EARTH
The outcome • Good quality • Time and effort not wasted due to continuous testing, regular ”checkpoints” and releases • Benefits to the whole SDI in form of • Readily applicable OS components • Accelerated Network Service availability • Cost savings, efficient use of Public Sector data and money • Satisfied partners, management AND developers NATIONAL LAND SURVEY – DOWN TO EARTH
..But don’t forget to: • Make sure the overall goal (Vision) is crystal clear • Plan the architecture in advance • Choose technologies and development principles • Allocate resources for User interface and Usability desing as well as continuous testing • Use collaborative & communications tools, such as Wiki, Jira, Skype… • Allocate enough time for project management, especially for Product Backlog maintenance • Commit yourself and others to the project! NATIONAL LAND SURVEY – DOWN TO EARTH
OS-components used in geoportal • Liferay – publishing system • OpenLayers – user interface for maps • Geoserver – storage of spatial datasets and maps (+ GeoTools-library application) • PostgreSQL/PostGIS - database server, iBATIS SQL-library • ExtJS – interactive internet (browser) applications • GeoExt – geospatial extentions on Openlayers with ExtJS (capabilities on WMS, WFS) • GeoNetwork – store, manage, and show metadata for datasets and services - discovery service • GeoWeb-Cache for maptiling • Atlassian-tools to support scrum management - Currently EUPL and MIT license; previously (GNU) GPL 3.0: http://www.paikkatietoikkuna.fi/web/fi/ohjelmistokomponentit
More OS sources to apply, e.g.: • http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki • http://www.geomajas.org/ • http://community.esdi-humboldt.eu/ • The HUMBOLDT GeoModel Editor, which you can use to develop rich Conceptual Models for your geodata. • The HUMBOLDT Alignment Editor, an application that helps you map and transform complex database and application schemas • The Workflow Design and Construction Service, a web service that delivers executable geoprocessing workflows for data harmonisation • The Conceptual Schema Translation Service, a Web Processing Service for transforming data from one application schema to another • The Edge Matching Service, a WPS that deals with inconsistencies in geometry
Thank you for your interest! Questions / feedback? jani.kylmaaho@nls.fi esa.tiainen@nls.fi The Finnish Geoportal Paikkatietoikkuna has won the Quality Innovation of the Year award in the category for public sector and non-profit corporations in a competition organized by Excellence Finland. http://www.paikkatietoikkuna.fi/web/en