Case Indonesia: Oskari can help utilizing spatial data anywhere!
Oskari has been developed for quite some time now and it already has a lot of satisfied users. Many different organizations in Finland have utilized and understood the potential of this map framework for their spatial data needs and have taken the latest and greatest features of Oskari in use.
Sitowise offers a wide variety of services that make use of Oskari. We have had the privilege and opportunity to take part in the development of the framework. We have seen how different organizations can benefit from the features that Oskari offers. Lately, we have also had a great opportunity to take Oskari abroad, so to speak, as we were part of a project that aimed at making spatial (and other) data more available and accessible in Indonesia.
What is Satu Data Portal?
The World Bank, in close collaboration with Sitowise, designed and implemented a new kind of data solution that aims at helping local government agencies and other parties in Indonesia to make use of the vast amount of data available from different sources. Because of the many abilities and maturity of Oskari it was selected to be used as the geoportal part in the architecture of this data portal solution called Satu Data Portal (or One Data Portal in English). And because openness and Open Source in general were one of the key requirements for the system, Oskari was an ideal fit for the job.
While Oskari works in the implemented solution as the geoportal, it was decided to use another widely known Open-Source solution, CKAN, as the data portal part of the architecture. During the project Sitowise implemented an integration between the two systems and designed the server infrastructure in close collaboration with a local partner, Geo Enviro Omega, in Indonesia. In addition, we worked closely with a company called CAPSUS in Mexico. CAPSUS created a set of advanced analysis tools on top of Oskari. These tools were integrated into the Satu Data Portal seamlessly.
In a nutshell, Satu Data Portal utilizes CKAN as the main interface for storing and viewing information and metadata about basically any data (including spatial data). When the stored data is spatial data, e.g., an OGC Web Service API or actual data files (shapefile or GeoJSON), it will be published to the geoportal with an automated process built specifically for this solution. This enables the users to visualize and view their data on a map in Oskari and make use of all the tools Oskari provides without the need to maintain the spatial data in two different places manually.
The key features of the Satu Data Portal solution were:
- Portal for viewing, analyzing, combining, and publishing spatial & non-spatial data
- Integrates with national level and local data and services
- Access & user group management
- Aligned with defined processes, roles & responsibilities
- Open Source (based on Oskari.org & CKAN framework), open & standard API’s
Thoughts about Oskari overseas
The project was interesting and included a trip (well, several, but one of which I was lucky enough to join) to Indonesia where we got to present our solution to various government agencies, representatives of two different cities (Balikpapan in Borneo and Denpasar in Bali) and a variety of other parties in Jakarta. Oskari raised a lot of interest and was well received. There was a lot of discussion about how impressive it is that we have this kind of Open-Source solution developed by the National Land Survey of Finland. And because it was an integral part of the project to provide a solution that the cities and other parties would be able to maintain and develop even further themselves, the active developer community of Oskari was also welcomed with open arms.
I personally think this project made it clear that there is much need for the kind of well-made, mature, and actively maintained Open-Source geoportal solution that Oskari is, even world-wide. By spreading the word about Oskari and its abilities, there are almost endless possibilities for the framework in the future. Not to mention how cool it is that we can widen our community beyond the borders of Finland.
By: Jani Levonen