InstaPlace: Going Online for the Best of Offline.

Team Name

GSG Govhackers

Team Members

Project Description

InstaPlace is focussed on developing a sense of place for our young people, which is the fundamental way in which they can understand who they are. The region in which someone grows up, the places they visit and the relationships they form are crucial in this process.

InstaPlace seeks to support our young people in developing this sense of place by offering a platform that lets young people become content creators for their local communities. They can share real, 'offline' experiences by uploading short videos (no longer than 90 seconds) to the InstaPlace Community.

Young people can tag their Experience Videos based on interest groups. Videos are also aligned to data-points which will help other users to find great experiences and help them to find their 'place' in their local community.

Transportation is a significant factor for young people. Recognising that this is difficult, especially in regional and remote Western Australia, the platform will integrate options for young people to map out their journey to points of interest using public transport such as bus routes and walking paths.

A future version of the platform will include options for bicycle sharing to allow more transport options for our young people.

InstaPlace is all about supporting young people to become resilient through connection to place and community and to find great offline experiences where they live.

Data Story

The InstaPlace app sources data from OpenStreetMaps to create a platform where young people can upload Experience Videos from key locations around their city. It's about connecting users of the platform with 'place' through social expression online, supported by open data.

Users of the platform find experiences through a quadrant model focussed on Cultural, Historical, Entertainment, and Recreational experiences.

The OpenStreetMap will have a series of overlays making use of open datasets that support Content Creators of the platform and provide additional data from government sources.

Current datasets provide cultural experiences by using Heritage Council of Western Australia Aboriginal Heritage Places data. Environmental data is sourced from CSIRO with a focus on the dataset 'Atlas of the Living' which allows users to develop a sense of place connected to the environment. Users of the platform can access points of interest data from this dataset, as well as add to it within the InstaPlace platform.

Department of Transport transportation routes recognises the need for viable transportation options that are easy for young people to access. Future versions of our platform will use data to facilitate bicycle-sharing at bus stops and public transport hubs.

To support mental health outcomes for young people, access to Department of Health health services and establishment data as an overlay will be included. This data overlay will be displayed to all users all the time, as a prompt to driving positive mental and physical health outcomes.

Data will also be sourced from the Community Information Exchange to provide users an overview of realtime events happening in the local community. This will also allow local government to provide Events as a point of interest overlay.

The use of data will drive the InstaPlace platform to be a simple 'one-stop' to use for Content Creators to share experiences happening in their local communities. It will make it easy for those searching for an experience in their local town to find something that suits their interests.

The economic development of small businesses will be supported as Content Creators are incentivised to upload videos frequently to maintain access to in-store discounts from those InstaPlace Supporter small businesses.