My web presence

Sunday 16 March 2014

Releasing data really works, Part VI

Three months into posting data on my web service - Part V - I created a short list of free data for Great Britain on my Map Catalog called GB Freebie.

click image to enlage
While that post details the offering, let me go over some lessons learned in using Mapcentia stack on AWS:

  • both services operate as described on the package and are a pleasure to work with, really
  • upgrading AWS from Micro to Small allows to post rather large datasets at a nominal fee
  • geoJSON file formats are far easier to upload, and Esri, FME and QGIS offer tools for that
  • like any flat file format it has size restrictions, so that for ex. UK Counties needed splitting with the following county & coastline data densities varying the coverage area for a constant file size

click image to enlarge

  • the Mapcentia stack is on ongoing project that keeps improving its interface and capabilities
  • last but not least, info buttons in the table of contents allow to post metadata for all layers
So to reiterate my Map Catalog post's conclusion:  This further illustrates how relatively easy it is to post freely available datasets "with a little help from my friends" [...] So go ahead and explore more from RT Wilson, UN Data, Wikipedia or many others!

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