GeoData Solutions

The thought of returning to conflict sparked by recent events have made me re read the saddest book I have ever read. It is a book called Lost Lives and it details practically every person who was killed in our “troubles“. The book gives a paragraph on each person detailing how and where they were killed, it reminds you that behind the statistics and news headlines there was once a 3 dimensional person.

Following on from this book and attempting to do the same thing (and a lot more) on the web is the CAIN Web Service (Conflict Archive on the INternet). They are currently starting a new project which “…will involve mapping location data related to victims and commemoration onto the Web. Some of the work will involve using proprietary software, such as Google Maps/Earth, to provide users with enhanced ways of manipulating, visualising and interpreting the data. In addition Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software will be used to analyse the data and to produce high quality maps”.

It has been many years since my last visit to Rathlin Island so I thought the next trip could be combined with a mapping party to add some detail to the rather blank map in OpenStreetMap.

Map of Rathlin Island before the mapping party

Some useful links.

Rathlin Island Ferry Ltd
Soerneog View Hostel – unsure if it has WiFi yet
Further accommodation on the island – unsure if these have WiFi yet
Ardaghmore B&B Ballycastle
Rathlin Development & Community Association

Get in touch for more details. See you there?

Opendatani is the Northern Irish equivalent of data.gov in the US and data.gov.uk in the UK, however it appears to have stalled since it launched in July this year with a grand total of 4 datasets available.

The example below is one of these datasets mapped. A simple illustration, but makes it fairly easy to find your nearest health and social care provider in Northern Ireland rather than navigating through a badly designed website or scrolling down a list. We need more datasets like this!

View full map