A case for Open Data: Why is PHIVOLCS' VFS Atlas in PDF and not Google Maps?

By BEA MONTENEGRO, GMA News

Published May 21, 2015 4:23pm

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) Valley Fault System (VFS) Atlas, launched on May 18, is a collection of detailed maps illustrating cities and barangays affected by the fault. Conceived as a way to help inform the public of potential danger, the VFS Atlas is available in PDF format for free from PHIVOLCS’ website.

But no sooner had PHIVOLCS unveiled the document that the agency was quickly besieged by public complaints over its inaccessibility.

However, as far as PHIVOLCS Director Dr. Renato Solidum, Jr. is concerned, there's a very sane reason to this madness.

Exercising caution

“How sure are you that other people will not displace the fault line drawings?” Solidum said in an interview with GMA News Online.

One of his agency's main concerns is that the minute details of the VFS’ placement on a topographic map could be lost or otherwise misrepresented when the data is exported.

He said that even a pinpoint displacement on a map could translate into meters in real-life measurements—a veritable disaster in the making for people relying on the maps for accurate information. Solidum believes that releasing the Atlas in a secure and uneditable format means making sure that this doesn’t happen.

PHIVOLCS thus chose to publish in PDF format to prevent anyone from manipulating the data in the maps. The agency also requires pre-download registration so as to ensure accountability.

And so, despite numerous complaints from the public concerning the difficulty of downloading and viewing the Atlas, PHIVOLCS stands by its use of the non-editable PDF file format instead of open platforms such as Google Maps because it is simply exercising caution.

The case for Open Data

"But how do I know that some intern in their employ didn't mess things up?" argues Levi Tan Ong, an app developer and open data advocate. He points out that errors—not necessarily intentional, even just inadvertent—could happen at any stage in a document's development.

Ong's advocacy of the Open Data framework stems from his close work with the Philippine government's own open data portal, data.gov.ph. The site is the local counterpart of other similar initiatives around the world, notably in the US (data.gov) and the UK (data.gov.uk).

The Open Data movement itself is a global initiative to enable and facilitate wider public access to information from government and across numerous disciplines.

For Ong and other open data advocates, releasing the Valley Fault Atlas in PDF format is a bad move on PHIVOLCS’ part because it makes the data inscrutable for errors. Also, as made apparent in the wake of public outcries, it makes the Atlas difficult to download and to open.

It's not impossible that errors could have been made even before the maps were released, so making the atlas open-sourced would enable the public to “audit” the maps for themselves.

"If PHIVOLCS makes their work open-sourced, the public can audit it for themselves. PHIVOLCS can also require anyone who uses their data to make their own work open-sourced so that both the agency as well as the public can fact-check," Ong explained.

Making the information open-source would also enable third-party developers to help make the data more understandable. “Because normal end-users are unlikely to be able to consume this information (as a PDF atlas), third parties can just make interfaces for that information—be it an app, or a website,” Ong said.

"We've already proven with data.gov.ph that you can easily get a lot of third parties to consume raw data," he concluded.

Status quo, for now

For now, there are no plans on PHIVOLCS' part to open the raw VFS Atlas data to the public. However, neither has the agency moved to take down third-party visualizations—such as those of Nababaha.com and Quake Alarm Philippines—although PHIVOLCS continues to urge the public to use the original Atlas as the definitive, if not the only, source of VFS information. — TJD, GMA News

Tags: valleyfaultsystem, valleyfaultsystematlas, opendataphilippines, opendata