Open source map making and sharing (in French)

Yves Baudouin, UQAM
Simon Ouellet, UQAM

Since computer assisted map making came into use in the 1960’s in Canada, and up until the beginning of the 21st century, the wide range of software developed has been mostly commercial. With the Internet opening up to the civilian domain in the early 1990’s, the variety of applications has been extended, as have the sharing and consultation tools. However, one can see that an Open source environment has always existed, responding to different mapping needs, and is now evolving in significant ways. Hence, map libraries must also take into account and reflect this parallel environment. Of course, the financial aspect is a key element in the choice of this environment, as is the user’s desire for autonomy and knowledge-sharing. This phenomenon has grown worldwide; from North America to Europe, Africa and Asia, public institutions, organizations and businesses now turn to Open source software as an effective solution to their needs due to the level of maturity and stability of this environment. In fact, it is not uncommon for international (United Nations, World Bank, etc.) calls for tender to require that open source solutions be included in the propositions. In the following presentation, we will thereby demonstrate several Open source tools in an attempt to illustrate how this environment functions.