South Korea to redraw its maps with open source

Now this is very exciting. South Korea is going to be redrawing its maps with the help of an old friend of mine – open source software.

South Korea will try to tackle one of its lingering problems–a chaotic street and address system–through a new open-source project.
The Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs has formed a team to normalize the country’s street addresses, and then create a database around the information. In the end, the country hopes to have an address and digital mapping system that conforms to international standards.
The project, which will continue through 2009, is expected to cost $3.7 million in 2006 and $4.5 million in 2007.
The South Korean address system can be, to residents and visitors, confusing. Addresses often combine street numbers and land lot numbers. Seoul and other metropolitan areas have also grown rapidly in recent decades. Rather than using addresses, most people rely on maps generated by computers, in-car navigation systems and cell phone calls to people at the intended destination to figure out where to go. The confusion contributes to the omnipresent gridlock in Seoul…. Source: News.com