[00:00.000 --> 00:10.440]  Thank you for coming to my talk, I'm very glad that the room is so packed, so I hope
[00:10.440 --> 00:13.360]  that this will be of interest to you.
[00:13.360 --> 00:19.360]  So my talk is named OpenStreetMap, one geographic database to rule them all, mapping the railway
[00:19.360 --> 00:22.320]  network for the public with the public.
[00:22.320 --> 00:29.920]  And I will focus on OpenStreetMap and open data related topics for OSRD, which is an
[00:29.920 --> 00:36.560]  open source project developed by SNSF, the French Railway Company, which is part of
[00:36.560 --> 00:38.080]  the Open Rail Foundation.
[00:38.080 --> 00:45.800]  So there are many information about this here on the panel.
[00:45.800 --> 00:51.640]  Just a few reminders about why the railway company should invest in open data.
[00:51.640 --> 00:58.880]  I think you are all convinced that open data is the way to go for all of projects.
[00:58.880 --> 01:03.800]  But inside the railway companies, it's not always that obvious.
[01:03.800 --> 01:09.920]  So we want long distance trains across Europe, so we can construct together the transport
[01:09.920 --> 01:12.600]  network of the future on rails.
[01:12.600 --> 01:19.080]  We want to do European cooperation because we have railway infrastructure managers in
[01:19.080 --> 01:25.160]  all European countries that have the same needs, and yet we are still paying for different
[01:25.160 --> 01:29.600]  software providers for the same tools and the same data.
[01:29.600 --> 01:36.320]  And of course, we want free competition to prove that all of the train operators we work
[01:36.320 --> 01:38.040]  with are treated the same.
[01:38.040 --> 01:45.000]  So if we share the same source code and the same data, we can ensure that.
[01:45.000 --> 01:50.560]  I will dive into the specific need of OSRD, which is our project.
[01:50.560 --> 01:55.960]  Of course, you may have different data needs, so I will focus on these.
[01:55.960 --> 02:01.360]  If any in the room have other experience with other types of data, I will be very happy
[02:01.360 --> 02:03.920]  to discuss with you.
[02:03.920 --> 02:11.440]  So in OSRD, we have four main features, pass-finding or route compatibility check is to find a
[02:11.440 --> 02:15.560]  train pass in the European railway network.
[02:15.560 --> 02:21.320]  And in time calculation is to calculate the time that the train will take to go from point
[02:21.320 --> 02:28.000]  A to point B, conflict detection is to ensure that the train will not run into another train
[02:28.000 --> 02:34.640]  during its route, and short-term train planning is to add a new train into the timetable at
[02:34.640 --> 02:36.160]  the last minute.
[02:36.160 --> 02:41.720]  Maybe you were lucky to hear my colleague Elwa this morning talk about this topic.
[02:41.720 --> 02:47.080]  So to do these four features, we need a lot of data, tracks, geometry and topology at
[02:47.080 --> 02:55.680]  track level and not line level signals, switches, routes and detectors, which are kind of technical
[02:55.680 --> 03:04.560]  objects, electrification of the tracks, loading gauge, speed limits, slopes, curves, real-time
[03:04.560 --> 03:11.160]  position of trains, and stations can be useful for display use.
[03:11.160 --> 03:16.080]  So I've detailed the needs for each of the features, but what you can remind is that
[03:16.080 --> 03:22.480]  we need a lot of data, which is all geographic and in high quality.
[03:22.480 --> 03:28.120]  So the goal of this study and what I will show you today is we want to find and compare
[03:28.120 --> 03:34.480]  European level open data to choose the best source for our needs at OSRD, but also maybe
[03:34.480 --> 03:40.600]  for your needs if you're working with the same data needs in your projects.
[03:40.600 --> 03:47.360]  I've compared four data sources, the RIMF or Registrar of Infrastructure is a data source
[03:47.360 --> 03:52.240]  provided by the Agency for Railways of the European Union.
[03:52.240 --> 04:00.520]  Inspire is a European directive that's ensure to share geographic data across Europe.
[04:00.520 --> 04:06.880]  Then we can find open data platforms of infrastructure managers, but there are one data platform for
[04:06.880 --> 04:13.240]  each company, so it can be quite confusing to find the good data and of course they all
[04:13.240 --> 04:15.440]  use different formats.
[04:15.440 --> 04:29.040]  And finally, OpenStreetMap, which is as you all know, I hope, collaborative database of
[04:29.040 --> 04:32.600]  geographic feed data, and it feeds all of our needs.
[04:32.600 --> 04:37.680]  We want open data, we want a data model which is consistent across Europe so that we don't
[04:37.680 --> 04:41.480]  have to change the parameter of our tool in each country.
[04:41.480 --> 04:46.320]  We want a data model that can evolve if we want to add a new feature.
[04:46.320 --> 04:55.840]  Of course, we need English documentation, easy data access, and a wide data perimeter.
[04:55.840 --> 04:57.720]  Let's try to access some data.
[04:57.720 --> 05:06.160]  So here I am on the Inspire website, I can find a broken link in a mixed language.
[05:06.160 --> 05:11.520]  Another example of Inspire data, which is supposed to have good metadata.
[05:11.520 --> 05:18.080]  Here you can see the link to access the data, which is in the middle of the page, so very
[05:18.080 --> 05:20.320]  easy to find.
[05:20.320 --> 05:27.080]  And finally, another example, I could go on and on about this, but this is a page in,
[05:27.080 --> 05:33.480]  I think, Swedish, but it cannot be translated nor copy and paste in any translator.
[05:33.480 --> 05:37.640]  So you have to click and download the data, hoping for the best.
[05:37.640 --> 05:42.920]  This is not to blame the people that have created these pages, but just to share that
[05:42.920 --> 05:49.920]  finding open data can be very time consuming and very difficult, especially if you, as
[05:49.920 --> 05:55.280]  me, don't talk all the European languages.
[05:55.280 --> 05:59.440]  Then once you have downloaded the data, we can try to assess data quality.
[05:59.440 --> 06:04.400]  For example, this is the railway network in Italy that I've downloaded from the Inspire
[06:04.400 --> 06:05.400]  dataset.
[06:05.400 --> 06:12.360]  And as you can see, there's supposedly a railway tunnel that links Tivita Vecchia and
[06:12.360 --> 06:13.600]  Sardinia.
[06:13.600 --> 06:17.800]  So I was very surprised by that.
[06:17.800 --> 06:23.560]  I checked on the official RFI website, which is the Infrastructure Manager for Italy.
[06:23.560 --> 06:28.560]  And in the official website, we cannot find this underwater tunnel.
[06:28.560 --> 06:37.040]  So of course, I was not allowed to travel across all Europe to check all the data quality
[06:37.040 --> 06:41.320]  that I've downloaded, so, yes?
[06:41.320 --> 06:51.640]  In some place, it is true, but there it is not.
[06:51.640 --> 06:58.720]  So first question we want to ask is for all the open data sources that I've found, are
[06:58.720 --> 07:02.320]  they compatible with OpenStreetsMap?
[07:02.320 --> 07:08.520]  In many cases, this is the case, but unfortunately, for the Creative Commons license, we must
[07:08.520 --> 07:14.160]  ask the provider if the attribution in OpenStreetsMap is good enough.
[07:14.160 --> 07:23.440]  So this can take more time, and it's not as easy as other type of licenses.
[07:23.440 --> 07:28.400]  So if you publish open data, it's important to check if the license is compatible with
[07:28.400 --> 07:30.440]  OSM.
[07:30.440 --> 07:34.600]  And as you can see, unfortunately, there are still many European countries where I have
[07:34.600 --> 07:37.600]  found no open data source at all.
[07:37.600 --> 07:43.080]  So maybe it's because I don't speak the language, but still, it's problematic.
[07:43.080 --> 07:47.240]  Then I've done a little quantitative comparison of the data I've found.
[07:47.240 --> 07:54.640]  So this is a comparison of track length total for one country, so by country and by source.
[07:54.640 --> 08:00.880]  As you can see, I have found data on OpenStreetsMap for all of the European countries, but not
[08:00.880 --> 08:06.360]  an open data source that is not OSM for all countries.
[08:06.360 --> 08:11.280]  And even more, what we can see on the graph is that in every country, the OpenStreetsMap
[08:11.280 --> 08:18.240]  data shows more tracks than the open data data.
[08:18.240 --> 08:23.360]  So even if there is open data available, it seems that the OpenStreetsMap data is more
[08:23.360 --> 08:26.760]  complete.
[08:26.760 --> 08:37.200]  Then I tried to design an indicator to see if all the useful data was available for OSRD
[08:37.200 --> 08:38.200]  needs.
[08:38.200 --> 08:42.120]  So you can see the same data needs that I've presented before.
[08:42.120 --> 08:45.120]  And I have classified them by necessity.
[08:45.120 --> 08:52.440]  So we require tracks and signals to make OSRD run, and then the other data are optional,
[08:52.440 --> 08:57.360]  which means if we have them, this is good, and we will have a better result.
[08:57.360 --> 09:03.400]  But if we don't have them, we can still run our tool and have partial results.
[09:03.400 --> 09:12.200]  So I've designed an indicator, which is good if we have the two required data and two optional
[09:12.200 --> 09:19.840]  data or more, then an OK indicator if we have part of the required data.
[09:19.840 --> 09:28.400]  The required indicator can be one and a half if we have partial data.
[09:28.400 --> 09:33.600]  It's quite complicated, but I have shared the full methodology on the blog, and I will
[09:33.600 --> 09:36.440]  send you the link after, so don't worry.
[09:36.440 --> 09:42.920]  What you have to remember is that this indicator will give you an overview of if the available
[09:42.920 --> 09:47.120]  data can be used for OSRD needs.
[09:47.120 --> 09:49.480]  So what are the results of this study?
[09:49.480 --> 09:52.920]  First, what we can do is open data.
[09:52.920 --> 09:57.680]  Unfortunately, as you can see, the map is not so green.
[09:57.680 --> 10:05.440]  So there are a few countries where you can do OK or poor implementation of OSRD using
[10:05.440 --> 10:09.840]  open data, excluding OpenStreetMap.
[10:09.840 --> 10:14.400]  And then we can see the map for the OpenStreetMap data.
[10:14.400 --> 10:15.400]  It's better.
[10:15.400 --> 10:19.480]  It's not that better, but it's better.
[10:19.480 --> 10:27.120]  So there are many countries that were read in the first map that are now green, and there
[10:27.120 --> 10:31.520]  are many countries that were gray that are now red.
[10:31.520 --> 10:34.760]  So it's not that good, but it's better.
[10:34.760 --> 10:40.760]  What we can see is that OpenStreetMap is the database we should use and improve because
[10:40.760 --> 10:45.280]  it's currently the best standard across Europe.
[10:45.280 --> 10:51.920]  So as I've said, you can look at the full data and methodology on our blog.
[10:51.920 --> 10:59.200]  So there is the detailed analysis for each country, as well as the sources for each
[10:59.200 --> 11:00.920]  open data set that I found.
[11:00.920 --> 11:08.680]  So if you're interested in one country, specifically, you can check out this.
[11:08.680 --> 11:14.400]  I'd like to thank the people that have done the icons for this presentation, and also
[11:14.400 --> 11:20.240]  a special thanks for the QGIS community that have allowed me to make the maps and most
[11:20.240 --> 11:21.520]  of the analysis.
[11:21.520 --> 11:27.640]  So maybe if there are QGIS developers there, thank you so much for your work.
[11:27.640 --> 11:31.320]  And finally, if you want to contact us, there are emails.
[11:31.320 --> 11:35.160]  You can learn more about the OSRD project on our website.
[11:35.160 --> 11:39.160]  You can chat with us, and if you're a railway company, you might be interested in joining
[11:39.160 --> 11:42.960]  the Open Rail Foundation, so let us know.
[11:42.960 --> 11:43.960]  Thank you for listening.
[11:43.960 --> 11:52.560]  Thank you.