Grants:IdeaLab/OSMdata: a Wikidata-like editor for OpenStreetMap

Idealab

OSMdata: a Wikidata-like editor for OpenStreetMap

Create a new editor for OpenStreetMap (OSM) using a MediaWiki + Wikibase install

idea creator• CristianCantoro

volunteer• Airon90

this project needs...

volunteer

developer

created on20:04, 3 September 2014 (UTC)

Project idea

Create a Wikidata-like new editor for OpenStreetMap (OSM) using a MediaWiki + Wikibase install

What is the problem you're trying to solve?

Increase content on OpenStreetMap (we can reuse that), test Wikidata to 60x scale, spread Wikibase to other projects.

What is your solution?

Currently Wikidata hosts more than 43M statements. On the other hand OpenStreetMap has 2.7 billion objects (nodes, ways and relations) in it. Every object in OpenStreetMap has some features which are expressed using key-value pairs, for example to say that this relation is named "Colosseum" you have to add to it the following data: name=Colosseo. Analogously Wikidata uses properties and values to enrich its items.

The idea is to use a MediaWiki + Wikibase install to build a tag editor for OpenStreetMap. Every object in OSM could be reference in OSMdata using OSM id and object type as identifier such that, for example:

• openstreetmap.org/node/428339558 becomes item N428339558
• openstreetmap.org/way/5013364 becomes item W5013364
• openstreetmap.org/relation/1834818 becomes R1834818

The benefits of such an endeavour are:

• Providing a tool to the community of OSM, a free/libre/open project whose data are going to be used in Wikimedia projects. It should be noted also that MediaWiki + Wikibase has a stronger multilingual support that could greatly benefit OSM (official key, value tags in OSM are in English);
• OSM will benefit from the improvements made to Wikibase (e.g. RDF export), using a MediaWiki install a new pool of developers (which is today familiar with wikis) can start collaborating with OpenStreetMap;
• Increase collaboration among the two project using the well-known interface of MediaWiki+Wikibase;
• Increasing reuse of MediaWiki and Wikibase, and developing another big project where they are in use thus strengthening their ecosystem;
• Testing Wikibase to a scale of 60x its current size;

Goals

The main goal is to develop a Wikidata-like editor for OpenStreetMap.

To do so we need a system that:

• can synchronize with OSM databases (both in read and write)
• allows to login using OSM Oauth or Wikimedia Oauth

OpenStreetMap already offer the minutely diffs that can be used to keep up to the OSM database.

To get to this point we need to:

• extend the functionality of Wikibase such that it is possible to say item with different label other than Qxxx (to get Nxxx, Wxxx, Rxxx)
• develop a MediaWiki extension to use OpenStreetMap login on a MediaWiki install (see for reference Extension:TwitterLogin)

Get Involved

Participants

• --CristianCantoro (talk) 09:10, 12 September 2014 (UTC)

Endorsements

1. I'm not a developer so I can help in translation, in using the platform, spreading the news, and so on ★ → Airon 90 13:20, 4 September 2014 (UTC)
2. Definitely a wonderful idea. It would be awesome to make OSM data to be more reusable on Wikidata - and viceversa. Moreover, I think that such editor could help a lot the further development of Wikivoyage (an old and OT thought of mine). --Sannita - not just another it.wiki sysop 13:21, 10 September 2014 (UTC)