<div dir="ltr"><div id="gmail-magicdomid2" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-">Hello Import Mailing list,</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid3" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid4" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-">Here in Belgium, we are planning to integrate building footprints into OSM. The footprints are provided by the Flemish government under an open data license. One of our community members built a tool to facilitate this process</span><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7">: the tool </span><span class="gmail-">automate</span><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7">s</span><span class="gmail-"> merging the new data</span><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7"> of different sources</span><span class="gmail-"> with already existing data</span><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7"> in OSM, after which a volunteer can load it in JOSM to confirm and upload. The i</span><span class="gmail-author-a-mz73zz89zmvn6z67zz86zz82zz77zz66zkz80zmb">ntegration</span><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7"> itself will happen in small, supervised batches.</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid5" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-">Our </span><span class="gmail-comment gmail-c-rxvSr8cfhJ6p1OO5">entire</span><span class="gmail-"> community is enthusiastically waiting for this </span><span class="gmail-author-a-mz73zz89zmvn6z67zz86zz82zz77zz66zkz80zmb">integration</span><span class="gmail-"> to get started.</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid6" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid7" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-">With this email, we would like to inform the global community, seek feedback and adhere to the import guidelines. More details on this i</span><span class="gmail-author-a-mz73zz89zmvn6z67zz86zz82zz77zz66zkz80zmb">ntegration</span><span class="gmail-"> are given below.</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid8" class="gmail-ace-line"><b><br></b></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid9" class="gmail-ace-line"><b><span class="gmail-"># Data sources and licenses</span></b></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid10" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid11" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-">The data that we are </span><span class="gmail-author-a-z66zjz84zfvgez68zpqz82zz77z01z66ze">planning</span><span class="gmail-"> to i</span><span class="gmail-author-a-mz73zz89zmvn6z67zz86zz82zz77zz66zkz80zmb">ntegrate</span><span class="gmail-"> is merged from multiple sources published by the government (namely GRB, CRAB, 3D-gebouwenbestand). These are all published under an open and compatible license</span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z">[1</span><span class="gmail-">], which explicitly allows all reuse, including commercial.</span><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7"> There is a</span><span class="gmail-"> need for attribution to the AIV (Agentschap Informatie Vlaanderen - Agency of Information of </span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z">F</span><span class="gmail-">landers).</span><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7"> In earlier contact with them, they stated that a source tag and their mention on the OSM Wiki</span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z">[2</span><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7">] is sufficient.</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid12" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-"> The license was already verified as being compatible with the ODBL ea</span><span class="gmail-author-a-14z79z4mz83zz69z7z71zz77zu9qz79zz88z1">r</span><span class="gmail-">lier </span><span class="gmail-author-a-cz66zz78zz79zz90zuz70zz67zp5z122zz78zlwqe">for the import of stand-alone addresses (CRAB ) from the same source. </span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid13" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid14" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-">The government offers multiple data sets:</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid15" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid16" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-">- GRB (Grootschalig Referentie Bestand - </span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z">Large-Scale</span><span class="gmail-"> </span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z">R</span><span class="gmail-">eference </span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z">F</span><span class="gmail-">ile): Contains geometry on buildings; as measured by geographers. </span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z">Very</span><span class="gmail-"> high quality</span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z"> in most places.</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid17" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-">- CRAB (Centraal Referentie-Addressen Bestand - central addressess reference file): Contains all addresses </span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z">in</span><span class="gmail-"> Flanders</span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z">.</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid18" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-">- 3D</span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z"> </span><span class="gmail-">building data: a file containing heights, </span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z">etc.</span><span class="gmail-"> of all the buildings.</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid19" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid20" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-">Note that all these files only are about Flanders </span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z">–</span><span class="gmail-"> around half the surface area of Belgium.</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid21" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid22" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-">Note that these datasets are in use already for years as background layer in both JOSM and iD. Most of the buildings and roads are thus already aligned to them.</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid23" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid24" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z">[1] </span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z gmail-url"><a href="https://www.agiv.be/~/media/agiv/producten/grb/documenten/grb%20open%20data%20licentie.pdf">https://www.agiv.be/~/media/agiv/producten/grb/documenten/grb%20open%20data%20licentie.pdf</a></span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid25" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z">[2] </span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z gmail-url"><a href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Contributors#Belgium">https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Contributors#Belgium</a></span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid26" class="gmail-ace-line"><b><br></b></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid27" class="gmail-ace-line"><b><span class="gmail-"># Community support</span></b></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid28" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid29" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7 gmail-comment gmail-c-pl10xkIKK6kJHRTc">Th</span><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7">ere is a widespread support for this integration, especially amongst the active community members</span><span class="gmail-">. </span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z gmail-comment gmail-c-Nen2DfFrnRXb7NVm">Not only will </span><span class="gmail-comment gmail-c-Nen2DfFrnRXb7NVm">OSM contain _all_ the addresses from Flanders once the integration is completed, </span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z gmail-comment gmail-c-Nen2DfFrnRXb7NVm">it</span><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7 gmail-comment gmail-c-Nen2DfFrnRXb7NVm"> will </span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z gmail-comment gmail-c-Nen2DfFrnRXb7NVm">also </span><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7 gmail-comment gmail-c-Nen2DfFrnRXb7NVm">have accurate geometries for e</span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z gmail-comment gmail-c-Nen2DfFrnRXb7NVm">ach</span><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7 gmail-comment gmail-c-Nen2DfFrnRXb7NVm"> building. As</span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z gmail-comment gmail-c-Nen2DfFrnRXb7NVm"> a</span><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7 gmail-comment gmail-c-Nen2DfFrnRXb7NVm"> bonus, other actors (such </span><span class="gmail-comment gmail-c-Nen2DfFrnRXb7NVm">local municipalities</span><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7 gmail-comment gmail-c-Nen2DfFrnRXb7NVm">)</span><span class="gmail-comment gmail-c-Nen2DfFrnRXb7NVm"> will</span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z gmail-comment gmail-c-Nen2DfFrnRXb7NVm"> also</span><span class="gmail-comment gmail-c-Nen2DfFrnRXb7NVm"> be more likely to trust and start using OSM internally, as the </span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z gmail-comment gmail-c-Nen2DfFrnRXb7NVm">governmental</span><span class="gmail-comment gmail-c-Nen2DfFrnRXb7NVm"> data </span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z gmail-comment gmail-c-Nen2DfFrnRXb7NVm">will be</span><span class="gmail-comment gmail-c-Nen2DfFrnRXb7NVm"> already there.</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid30" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid31" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-comment gmail-c-N91VVymcvDtm213e">A</span><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7 gmail-comment gmail-c-N91VVymcvDtm213e"> lot of</span><span class="gmail-comment gmail-c-N91VVymcvDtm213e"> active members</span><span class="gmail-"> support this project (such as Joost Schouppe, Xivk, Polyglot, G</span><span class="gmail-author-a-q7z84zz80z6gv0z73zz84z2iz83zdpc">lenn Plas</span><span class="gmail-">, JBelien, Midgard, Tim</span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z"> </span><span class="gmail-">Couwelier, Seppe</span><span class="gmail-author-a-34z71z3qdbz73z0z67zz87zgpz80zz85z8">, Escada</span><span class="gmail-"> ...)</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid32" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-">Although technicals have been discussed thorougly, nobody is opposed to the i</span><span class="gmail-author-a-mz73zz89zmvn6z67zz86zz82zz77zz66zkz80zmb">ntegration</span><span class="gmail-"> itself (especially because of the benefits).</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid33" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid34" class="gmail-ace-line"><b><span class="gmail-"># This i</span><span class="gmail-author-a-z66zjz84zfvgez68zpqz82zz77z01z66ze">n</span><span class="gmail-">t</span><span class="gmail-author-a-z66zjz84zfvgez68zpqz82zz77z01z66ze">egration</span><span class="gmail-"> is necessary</span></b></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid35" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid36" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7">A</span><span class="gmail-">s the data is freely available, this data has been leaking into OSM for years now, by various actors. </span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid37" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-">Some have manually traced hundreds of buildings, others have obtained the shapefiles and added them to OSM </span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z">–</span><span class="gmail-"> </span><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7">so</span><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7 gmail-comment gmail-c-p7VIHifMitrDz3As">metimes</span><span class="gmail-comment gmail-c-p7VIHifMitrDz3As"> government officials themselves</span><span class="gmail-">!</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid38" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid39" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-">By having the i</span><span class="gmail-author-a-mz73zz89zmvn6z67zz86zz82zz77zz66zkz80zmb">ntegration</span><span class="gmail-"> process in place, we can make sure that the data is properly integrated, properly attributed and backreferenced for future updates. </span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid40" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid41" class="gmail-ace-line"><b><span class="gmail-"># Process</span></b></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid42" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid43" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-author-a-q7z84zz80z6gv0z73zz84z2iz83zdpc">Glenn Plas</span><span class="gmail-"> has been building an awesome tool that combines the best of all the datasets. If a building is already present in OSM, then the tags of OSM are kept and the GRB geometry is taken.</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid44" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid45" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-">If no building is already there, the tool tries to estimate the best fitting tags depending on the size of the building, the landuse, ... These speed up mapping tremendously </span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z">but</span><span class="gmail-"> are meant</span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z"> only</span><span class="gmail-"> as suggestions to the mappers.</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid46" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid47" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-">Furthermore, the tool is not intended to 'simply add everyting at once', but rather to map on a street-by-street basis: a mapper loads the data in the tool, crosschecks with OSM and confirms the integration. The data loaded in one such cycle </span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z">are</span><span class="gmail-"> around a few streets. This way, manual verification is done while the </span><span class="gmail-author-a-mz73zz89zmvn6z67zz86zz82zz77zz66zkz80zmb">integration</span><span class="gmail-"> is going, preventing accidents </span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z">from</span><span class="gmail-"> happen</span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z">ing</span><span class="gmail-">.</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid48" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid49" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-">The tool would be used by a select group of community members, wh</span><span class="gmail-author-a-z66zjz84zfvgez68zpqz82zz77z01z66ze">o</span><span class="gmail-"> would apply these integrations in locations that they know. We may even organize one or more mapathons for the integration.</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid50" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid51" class="gmail-ace-line"><b><span class="gmail-"># Documentation</span></b></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid52" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid53" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-">The process has been [documented extensively on the wiki](</span><span class="gmail-url"><a href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/GRBimport)">https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/GRBimport)</a></span><span class="gmail-">.</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid54" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-comment gmail-c-rucoFUsPbYLfX2um">The tool has been tried and tested</span><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7 gmail-comment gmail-c-rucoFUsPbYLfX2um"> already; Glen is working on even more improvements. </span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid55" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid56" class="gmail-ace-line"><b><span class="gmail-"># Wrapping up</span></b></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid57" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid58" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-">All</span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z"> things</span><span class="gmail-"> considered, this </span><span class="gmail-comment gmail-c-tSomM3g4vWjHyUdi">i</span><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7 gmail-comment gmail-c-tSomM3g4vWjHyUdi">ntegration</span><span class="gmail-"> is go</span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z">i</span><span class="gmail-">n</span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z">g</span><span class="gmail-"> improve OSM</span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z"> in Flanders</span><span class="gmail-"> tremendously. Two years (!) of thought, discussion and development have already gone in</span><span class="gmail-author-a-wz87zz90zz66zz82zt3itz84z5r8z80z4z69z">to</span><span class="gmail-"> the tool, so we feel that the time has come to actually </span><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7">test the tool on some scale</span><span class="gmail-">.</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid59" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid60" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-author-a-dz78zz77zz84z80jwz67z68t65f7">We are</span><span class="gmail-"> looking forward to your feedback.</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid61" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid62" class="gmail-ace-line"><br></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid63" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-">With kind regards,</span></div><div id="gmail-magicdomid64" class="gmail-ace-line"><span class="gmail-">Pieter Vander Vennet</span></div></div>