Integration of Open Data (OSM)
lokalkauf.org is a non-profit platform. Through its non-profit status, lokalkauf wants to achieve the maximum social impact. Only if we create sustainable social value, will we have achieved this goal. This is why we would like to take the path of Open Data at this point. In doing so, we would like to strengthen the social aspect of our vision. Namely to be a free, transparent online marketplace for small businesses. Open Data and OSM and lokalwirkt.de help us to come closer to this goal. By using OSM data, for example, we want to simplify the registration process for the retailer. Furthermore, we would like to reach more retailers with our non profit project. But we do not only want to take but also to give! Trader data that is updated on our platform by dealers should of course flow back into the OSM pool with the dealer's consent. This is the basic principle of Open Data, which we would like to actively support at this point.
https://lokalwirkt.de also a project of #wirvsvirus has developed a fantastic REST API, which we would like to use at this point to implement a bidirectional data flow from OSM and into OSM. Through the partnership with lokalwirkt.de we want to strengthen the idea of a sustainable ecosystem. Every autonomous project contributes its parts to this global ecosystem and thus increases its added value!
At this point many thanks to Ernesto from Lokalwirkt.de
OSM Data Import allows importing the data from the OSM data pool via https://lokalwirkt.de interfaces to http://lokalkauf.org . We want to integrate the Open Data strategy into our platform on the one hand and benefit from it on the other. Above all, this enables lokalkauf.org to simplify the registration process for traders, since a large part of their master data is already contained in the OSM data set. In the best case, they only need to assign a password and the rest is already there.
The interfaces provided by lokalwirkt.de will be used for this purpose. Since the basic principle of OpenData is not only taking but also giving, there will also be a data export, which exports the data back to OSM via the lokalwirkt.de interfaces.
The OSM data must be processed and classified before it can be found on the platform. The OSM data contains not only the trader data relevant for lokalkauf.org, but also irrelevant data, such as schools, police stations or even sports fields. Depending on the category, this data must be classified in advance in order to import only the relevant data into the system.
A further processing step is the qualification of the data. A kind of completeness index is to be formed, which defines the completeness of a data set. Depending on this completeness index, the visibility of this data in the system can be controlled. For example, the retailer should only be displayed in the system if his data record is at least 85% full. The 100% does not refer to the OSM attributes but to the domain-specific requirements of the lokalkauf.org platform. This needs to be defined even more precisely.
The OSM data in GeoJSON (RFC 7946) should be transformed or normalized into the lokalkauf.org format before import. This enables central data storage in the lokalkauf system. The system also still allows direct registration of the dealers. Depending on the dealer's permission, the data should also be exported back into OSM. The essential attributes of the OSM data, such as osm_id or osm_modified, must be retained to enable a bi-directional synchronization mechanism.
The registration is to be extended, with the aim of simplifying matters for the trader. For this purpose, a job or process is to be implemented that sends the trader an invitation by e-mail. The e-mail contains a personalized link that takes the trader to a simplified registration view. There, the trader can see all his master data that has already been imported into the system using OSM Import. In the best case, the retailer only needs to enter a password and is logged in to the system.
The changes to the master data are to be exported back to OSM via lokalwirkt.de interfaces. There will also be a job that does this at regular intervals. The data in the domain-specific data format will be transformed into the OSM( GeoJSON) Format.
in a separate job, the missing data can be filled in and imported back into the system.
It is important that the data flow between OSM and lokalkauf.org is bi-directional. This is the only way the Open Data principle works. It means that the data does not simply have to be deleted and new data uploaded, but that intelligent synchronization mechanisms have to be implemented, because the data has to be updated and restored from two different directions. This is a special challenge for which a detailed specification is still to be developed.
