DestinE and the QGIS community: understanding user needs and experiences

In September of this year, the DestinE PlatformSelf-standing DestinE system component, interfacing with the More Use Cases (DEUC) project hosted a workshop at the 2024 QGIS User Conference in Bratislava, Slovakia. The workshop was aimed at QGIS users who may be interested in learning how to use Destination Earth (DestinE) in their work.

The Quantum Geographic Information System (QGIS) is free and open-source software that allows users to visualise, analyse, sample and process geospatial data. The QGIS User Conference brings together users from around the world and updates the community on QGIS capabilities.

During the DEUC workshop, the team introduced the DestinE initiative to attendees, while Serco, the company leading the development of the DestinE platform, showcased the services available at that point in time. The platform was opened for user registration in October, and users can now explore the full service portfolio.

The DestinE team highlighted the benefits of using the platform for QGIS users and, in an effort to encourage collaboration between the two groups, drew attention to the similarities between DEUC and the QGIS user community.

Participants then gave their opinions on the usefulness of DestinE for their work. Attendees appreciated the potential of DestinE and gave some especially useful suggestions for improvements to the interface for easier navigation, including clearer service descriptions. Ensuring data quality was recognised as a key requirement, along with the need for transparent validation processes, especially for public-sector data.

Users highlighted the potential business applications of DestinE and stressed the importance of the platform maintaining long-term reliability. They also emphasised the value of having continuously updated data sources and expressed particular interest in real-time data.

The DEUC team also engaged with attendees in a dedicated booth, where they discussed user experiences, gathered recommendations and promoted the advantages of DestinE for QGIS users. The interactions and conversations that took place throughout the conference were of major significance for the DestinE platform development team, who are working towards building a platform across a broad spectrum of multidisciplinary users. 

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