Mapping Hacks

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Chapter 7, Names and Places

#78 What to Do if Your Government Is Hoarding Geographic Data

HACK

HACK

#78

What to Do if Your Government Is Hoarding

Geographic Data Hack #78

Geospatial data is a priceless public resource, but few national governments

see it that way. How can you get free and fair use of it?

If you’re not based in North America, you’re probably flipping through this

book thinking, “Almost all these hacks are based on U.S. data! How can I

make my own maps of London/Karachi/Accra/Quito”?

This isn’t regrettable cultural arrogance on the part of the authors; it is a

reflection on the lack of geographic data available in the public domain.

Even the world maps and gazetteers built in this book are mostly derived

from data published by U.S. intelligence agencies, not from local sources.

National mapping agencies are in a difficult position. They provide an essen-

tial public service and are arguably part of the core machinery of govern-

ment, along with roads, street lamps, and schools: the kinds of services that

would not be adequately provided by market forces alone. But mapping

agencies are squeezed by commercial pressures; because they have a clear

potential revenue model, they are liable to be privatized. Citizens who paid

handsomely in taxes for the initial data collection now pay to have it sold

back to them piecemeal, without access to or means to contribute to the raw

data from which ...