Open Data Platform for Data Integration, Visualisation and Map Design

The current trend in the EU is to open access to public sector information which is provided either for free or for marginal cost, and reuse it in various applications. Information technologies enable people to access, process and analyse spatial data from various sources, help to design on-demand maps and provide information for decision makers. However, the provision of data varies across different authorities, and combining heterogeneous data is not an easy task. We present an Open Data Platform that enables people to integrate, harmonise and visualise spatial planning and other data. The platform connects to the approach of real cartography and aims to enable non-cartographers to correctly design maps and gain new information in a user-friendly way based on modern technologies and robust data storage. This chapter mainly tackles the issues of heterogeneous data integration, harmonisation and visualisation. Ongoing research aims to explore new methods of data reuse and cartographic visualisation, following the trends of modern cartography.