Over the past 18 months we have explored how to help people use maps, apps and storytelling to build more inclusive communities and stronger civic networks. We are doing that by:

• creating social spaces for learning and developing collaborative projects online and at events.
• bringing together specialists in mapping, data, civic technology and storytelling, with activists from London communities and networks
• demonstrating how collaborative maps, supported by other methods, can underpin community development and network building.
• building maps and communication systems to underpin this work and make London a Networked City

During the exploration we developed the idea of a Community of Practice (CoP), through which people could learn from each other and also find opportunities to collaborate on projects. The CoP could support and expand the work of the Networks Partner role recently advertised by the Hub for London. The responsibilities for the role amount to a highly ambitious programme for network building and communication systems development that is likely to be beyond the capacity of one person.

• More About the Community of Practice
• The Networks Partner role

Before and during a Networked City event at Newspeak House on March 27 2018 Drew Mackie and David Wilcox invited those attending, and others interested, to contribute their profiles and connections to a map, using the front-end Sumapp survey tool, and Kumu mapping software.

The results shown here come from the 141 questionnaires issued the week before the Newspeak House event, a further set of 10 invitations sent out at another event to people who expressed interest and two further requests since then.

The sumApp software allows us to track how many people have opened the questionnaire (52%) and how many connections they have made.

• Invitations sent: 153
• Questionnaires opened: 83
• Connections made: 361

Connection types:

• Constant: 30
• Frequent: 83
• Occasional: 248

The map below shows:

• People who have returned the questionnaire
• Invitees who have not completed the questionnaire but have been cited by people who have returned the questionnaire

Some respondents suggested that further contacts NOT on the questionnaire’s ‘card set’ should be invited. As the survey progresses we will invite these and add them to the ma

Note that the configuration of the map will change as new nodes and connections are added. 

Of course the map shown doesn't mean much in paper form. The online version can be accessed here, by those on the map who have a password, and can be interrogated to show:

• The information and attributes associated with each node (click on the node - some data will be suppressed such as email address).
• Who is most central
• How nodes cluster because of the way they collaborate
• How nodes share attributes

The map opening screen above shows a sidebar with a brief description and a list of nodes which has been generated by the software. Clicking on a title will take you to that node on the map and highlight it. The map itself shows the nodes of respondents and the connections they have cited in the questionnaire. Some nodes have images that have been added in the questionnaire or are attached by ‘gravatar’ to the node’s email address. The circle of outlying nodes is largely composed of respondents who have not specified any connections and have not been cited by other nodes.

The screen above shows an individual highlighted node with its scrolling descriptive sidebar.