The acceptance of volunteered geographic information (VGI) as a valued and useful source of information for governments is growing at all levels. Put simply, VGI is “crowdsourced” geographic information provided by a wide range of participants with varying levels of education, knowledge and skills. Although VGI has been shown to be reliable and accurate when compared to official or government produced data sets, the progression towards their adoption and wider use is slow. This report is based on a six-month study of the use of VGI by government and aims to provide a guide for the successful implementation of VGI, and to ensure that crowdsourced information is fit for purpose.
