talk on conference website
Motivation
New, evolving technologies allow to host data and program code (smart contracts) on distributed blockchains. Beside other aspects, like validating geospatial data and their transactions, this technology might also be interesting for building distributed services for the ‘classical’ spatial data infrastructures.
Prototype
During the last months a prototype was developed to test the capabilities of smart contracts to distribute spatial data using the OGC API – Features specification and gain some experiences in its design, typical workflows, limitations etc.
The prototype is designed as smart contract on the ‘Internet Computer (IC)’ blockchain (see https://internetcomputer.org/). This allows to store program code and the spatial data in one container on the blockchain and execute it on demand.
To simplify the test, a fixed workflow is implemented.
1) Data providers upload a spatial dataset (currently glider GNSS tracks in the IGC format) on a simple webpage running within the container
2) The spatial data is persisted on the IC blockchain
3) Users access the data via OGC API – Features with their browser (html representation) or with their GIS
Presentation
In the presentation, I would like to share some experiences on developing geospatial interfaces in a blockchain environment and show the current state of the prototype. Especially the coding with the programming language ‘Motoko’, the exposed interfaces, and the distribution on the blockchain with its costs will be addressed.
I would further like to discuss use cases of the approach, e.g. a simplified data distribution for smaller data providers, and the potential extensions on this approach, like introducing a user management, adding metadata or integrating dynamic data sources.
Links
- Entrypoint (OGC API Features): https://mtlom-hiaaa-aaaah-abtkq-cai.raw.ic0.app/
- Github page (mainly Motoko code): https://github.com/janschu/igc_tools
Related:
- Internetcomputer (IC): https://internetcomputer.org/
- IGC - International Gliding Commission – GNSS Flight Recorders Spec: https://www.fai.org/sites/default/files/igc_fr_specification_2020-11-25_with_al6.pdf
- OGC API – Features: https://ogcapi.ogc.org/features/
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