Open Geospatial Resources – Low-cost Mapping for sensible decision making

Open Geospatial Resources – Low-cost Mapping Opportunities for Sensible Decision-Making with Ronan Hennessy of Geoscene Ireland

With so many open and free geospatial resources currently available today, low-cost opportunities for SMEs and start-ups to use location-based information for data capture, spatial analysis, scenario-consideration, decision-making, and map generation are immense.

This talk will introduce the audience to professional and industry-standard free and open source software (FOSS) desktop/web tools, and Open Data resources that are widely used to address the spatial considerations of environmental policies and planning, as well as showcasing applications of open resource mapping to marine and land-use planning, geotourism, rural mapping and heritage projects, and public-participatory GIS.

If you are curious to know how open spatial data can be used to grow your potential, or interested to learn about accessible skills in using open technologies, this talk will certainly appeal to you.

And there will be plenty interesting maps on show too!

Ronan Hennessy fell into the field of geospatial information systems (GIS) and digital mapping in the early 2000s and has been there ever since. An advocate of open-source geospatial technologies and open data, Ronan considers the opportunities afforded by these no-cost resources of immense value to SMEs, NGOs and indeed everyone working with spatial data.

As well as teaching and researching at universities in Cork and Galway, he has contributed to projects of varying scales and themes: marine spatial planning, geotourism, and heritage study initiatives, seaweed harvesting surveys, environmental policy reporting, Irish language planning - and a soon to be published new geological map of Sceilg Mhichíl

UNESCO World Heritage Site.