In future, the city of Bonn would like to make its urban data available on a modern Urban Data Platform(UDP) (see also UDM project information).
In contrast to the old geodata portal, the UDP will contain a metadata catalog. This describes data sets and makes it easier to search for data. Dashboards and sensor data will also be provided in the UDP. The UDP should also be expandable for future, currently unknown data processing.
The new Urban Data Platform was designed from February to October 2023 in order to start planning/implementing the new UDP. The main participants in the process were the Urban Data Management (UDM) team and KernBlick, who were commissioned by the city of Bonn.
What did the conception phase involve?
- The technical, organizational, security and data protection requirements for the new system were recorded and architecturally prepared.
- In a second step, the solutions for these requirements were found.
- Finally, the costs for the solutions were determined and the sequence of their development was defined.
The technical concept combines the building blocks of large open source projects into one platform.
The City of Bonn is no longer solely responsible for a specific technical solution, but can build on the successes and knowledge of large developer communities such as the "Masterportal" geoportal.
High speed through low code
One forward-looking step is the introduction of a low-code platform as a development environment for new UDP web applications.
"Low-code" means that developers do not need extensive programming knowledge to create a functional web application. Instead, they can assemble a user interface and the underlying functionality from individual components within the low-code environment. This should significantly speed up the configuration of applications compared to conventional development.
Before the UDP concept can go live, there are still a few challenges to overcome. The migration of existing applications and data to UDP is a challenge, especially for more complex applications. The migration is currently expected to take around five years.
As a next step, the UDM team will gather experience with the new components. An MVP (Minimal Viable Product) is available as a test system for this purpose, in which all designed elements are already integrated.
The team is currently in the preparatory phase of implementation. In 2024, the focus will be on creating the technical foundations and migrating the first applications on this basis.