Open Mapping Guru Fellowship Journey

Introduction

Disasters, climate change, and various natural calamities profoundly impact the lives of humans, animals, and the environment. If we do not take action, the planet we call home becomes a place of fear and uncertainty. While we cannot prevent all natural occurrences, we can work towards a better future by addressing the mitigating factors that make Earth a more resilient place to live. Solutions come in many forms—distributing food, clothing, and financial support to those affected. One crucial method is through Open Mapping. Recently, the importance of Open Mapping has grown exponentially. From voluntary mappers to local government bodies, the significance and impact of Open Mapping are increasingly recognized. OpenStreetMap (OSM) serves as a platform for mapping purposes, while the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) leverages mapping for humanitarian causes. Since 2019, I have been an active mapper, experiencing the profound journey of becoming an Open Mapping Guru and participating in the Open Mapping Guru Fellowship Program. This journey has been dedicated to enhancing the quality of mapping, focusing on validation to ensure accuracy and reliability.

Fellowship Journey

Discovering Open Mapping

Five years ago, I embarked on my journey with Open Mapping, discovering its critical role in humanitarian efforts. The fellowship provided various tracks, and I chose the Validation Track, where I believe the most crucial and important details are checked and validated. Accurate mapping leads to more reliable results, which are essential for humanitarian purposes.

Learning and Using Validation Tools

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Introducing myself as first post.

Hello, I’m Naing Win Tun.

I touch in Openstreetmap last 10 years ago and contribute randomly.

This year I contacted AP-Guru program and was exposed to better methods, tools, trainings.

Although previously I thought that when adding POIs, you can only add them if you have local knowledge When I came into contact with tools like Mapillary, I realized that I can search and install in unlimited places.

I also found HOT-TM (Hot Tasking Manager) to be an excellent management tool when creating and collaborating on projects with people.

I have also been exposed to other interesting technologies and Now I’m contribute more efficiently on OSM data development.

Thanks.

Welcome ! First lets start with overture , if you don’t know what is Overture Maps Foundation and what it does I strongly recommend you to go through this website : https://overturemaps.org/ , I tried to build small utilities and hosted them so that readers of this blog also can look into the data and analyze by themselves.

Release Used

• Overture release: 2024-05-16-beta.0

Objectives

Primary Objective

• To perform qualitative and quantitative analysis of Overture map data.

Secondary Objectives

• Visualize the releases on a country level.
• Conduct qualitative analysis to identify additions to existing OSM data and differences across countries.
• Facilitate general users in forming their own opinions based on the available data.

Approach

1. Build a script to retrieve Overture data as geoparquet with multiple themes (streamlining and automating the process).
2. Convert geoparquet to geojson.
3. Convert flattened geojson to pmtiles.
4. Develop a viewer for comparison and loading.
5. Automate the entire process with a bash script.
6. Compare with population data, existing OSM buildings in the area, and if possible, the number of people per building.

Considerations

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Open source, open source. What is open-source software?

My dear mentor at HOTOSM, Kshitij explained this to me using a food I like, which is pasta and I would like to share it.

Open-source software is any software whose make-up(source code) is available for anyone to see and contribute. Like pasta, anyone can make it. You can make it however you like. You can add different ingredients to it which can be likened to adding features to open source software.

Being open-source doesn’t mean free. Open-source software is not synonymous with free software. Let’s hit it home with pasta. That anyone can make pasta doesn’t mean that pasta will be free. Cooking pasta costs me effort and resources, and I could charge for that. Likewise, it is the same for software, it could be open-source but not free.

If however, I have a restaurant where anyone can come in to help cook pasta to distribute freely to people, that is what you will call Free and Open-source pasta. This is mostly the case with most open-source projects Do a quick check. Check if your favourite applications are open-source and appreciate the community behind them.

How about proprietary software? Think about your favourite restaurant to eat pasta. I assume you don’t know how to make it taste like theirs, as you don’t have their recipe. You can’t walk in there to add ingredients to it while they cook because you are not a chef at the restaurant. That is the opposite of open-source. You can’t access the make-up(source code) and you can not add to it. Proprietary software can either be paid or free. Just as your favourite restaurant can either charge you for their pasta or give it to you for free (winks).

I hope this short explanation was worth your read. Let me know.

I love to ride my bike. Long distances. New roads. Usually starting from my home in Madison, WI. I also love mapping. And so whenever I’m out riding I try to do at least a bit of OpenStreetMap data collection. When I see interesting features, like a bike repair stand, or stop at a potential point-of-interest, like a café or gas station, I take a picture on my phone and add the data to OSM once I’m home.

Recently I became interested in improving the quality of surface tags for highways. Dane County is known to have a very high proportion of paved roads. Even small rural farm roads are almost always paved. But pavement data in OpenStreetMap is spotty. Therefore I was interested in developing a workflow that allows me to add/update surface=* tags through my bike rides.

I asked for advice on this on the OSMUS Slack channel and got some good suggestions. Based on these suggestions, I developed the following workflow.

During the ride

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Hi, dear reader.

This is over a week-due post. I posted it on my blog on Dev.to and decided to share it here. Enjoy.

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The people I admire the most used to be healthcare professionals, like my eye doctor. Once, I spent a good time telling him how he was improving lives. I mean he helped me see better. That was noble to me.

Now you know my new set of favourite people? They are the ones who have chosen to dedicate their time to improving people’s lives with open software. They come in different forms: open-source contributor/volunteer, maintainer, committer (I just learnt of this, courtesy of Open Source Guide). These people come together with the shared goal to build and improve software whose source code is available to everyone. As opposed to private proprietary software.

It is with joy that I share that I will get my first experience contributing to open-source for the next 3 months. Through the Outreachy internship, I was selected to work with HOTOSM from May to August 2024.

Outreachy is a paid internship that supports underrepresented individuals in tech to contribute to open-source projects. And HOTOSM(Humanitarian OpenStreet Map), the organisation I will be working with uses open mapping for humanitarian purposes, providing map data to aid in disaster management, community development and the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.

I have had a great first week with HOTOSM. I have received warm welcomes from my mentors, fellow intern and our coordinator.

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Qerret (18/40.56564/20.40550) was pretty well mapped but while searching for Qerret, many villages with the same name came up, so i decided to map a couple of them.

• Qerret (Kavaje) 18/41.21660/19.52769, mapped most of it.

• Qerret (Gramsh) 18/40.90477/20.16848, mapped most of it.

• Qerret (Elbasan) 18/41.21761/20.19745, added some buildings.

I just realized that instead of adding the tag “#100villagesin100days” under Hashtags i have been adding under Sources… I do not know if there is any way to correct the mistake.

“#100villagesin100days #day8”

There is a growing trend for youth in India to use smartphones throughout universities and colleges alike. At this moment, I saw a potential chance as an OSM enthusiast to introduce a smartphone OSM app called Map Swipe. I had the pleasure of visiting St Anne’s College to discuss the mission of mapping for a community and a good cause. During my visit, I introduced MCA students to the amazing software Map Swipe. This app is a double-edged sword, but when utilized for a good purpose, it may have a big influence. The initiative focused on mapping earthquakes in Papua New Guinea and healthcare in Champai, India.

I am grateful to the Open Mapping Hub - Asia Pacific and GRED Institute of Geoinformatics for their contributions to this research. Their assistance has been crucial in making this endeavour a success.

Mapping has the potential to be a strong instrument for positive change, and I’m excited to see how it continues to improve communities.

My name is NISENGWE Claudette and I go by nicyK20 in open street map. I joined OSM in March, it was in in ,mapathon organized by OSM Rwanda community to celebrate International women day. I saw a link in a WhatsApp group, I applied and they selected me. At time I didn’t know what mapping was, but they explained to us what they do and I became interested. I took their contact, they gave me more information. OSM Rwanda community is a very good community and I like how they make me feel included. much respect to its founder Rebecca and all mentors.

I found out Faqekuq is one of tens of villages surrounding my hometown, so I got excited. Faqekuq is a tiny village with a very small population and just a bunch of houses, so I proceeded mapping also the closest villages, Kapinovë and Turbohovë.

Kapinovë is a beautiful village and I have visited it many years ago when I was a teenager. I am so happy I got to add it to the map. To me, it is very important having this small, almost fully abandoned villages on the map because they should not be forgotten.

Movie suggestion: Bacurau

Sorry for the spoiler!!

One thing that hit me the most from this movie is that the government deleted the place for the map to make it disappear.

“#100VillagesIn100Days #Day7”

Introduction

My name is Lelio de Jesus Alves, and I am from Timor-Leste. I have been using OSM since 2022 and am currently participating in the OMGuru Fellowship 2024. I am excited to share my journey into open-mapping, what I find fascinating about the fellowship, my experiences, the lessons I have learned, and the impact it has had on me.

How I got involved with Open-Mapping

My journey into open-mapping began during my fourth year of university when I stumbled upon OpenStreetMap (OSM). Fascinated by the intersection of technology and geography, I joined an OSM workshop. The idea of contributing to a global, freely accessible map captivated me. I started by mapping my hometown, identifying missing roads, buildings, and other key features. This initial involvement opened doors to various mapping projects and eventually led me to apply for the Guru Fellowship.

Interesting/Fascinating about being the Guru Fellowship

What fascinates me most about the OMGuru Fellowship is the opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals who are equally passionate about mapping and geospatial technology. The fellowship is a unique platform that not only enhances my mapping skills but also connects me with a network of dedicated mappers and developers from around the world. One of the most fascinating aspects is the collaborative nature of the community. Despite geographical distances, we work together to improve the quality and coverage of OSM data. Ensuring data quality in OSM is particularly gratifying, as it enhances the map’s usability and builds user trust. This global collaboration embodies the spirit of open-source and community-driven projects, making it a truly enriching experience. By validating and improving data accuracy, I feel I am making a significant contribution to the global mapping community and supporting projects that rely on precise and dependable geographic information.

Define My experience as a Guru

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OM Guru Journey

One of the best choices I’ve made in recent years was joining the Open Mapping Guru program initiated by the HOT Open Mapping Hub Asia Pacific. In 2024, I joined the validation track team. The challenges and tasks given each month are very interesting and help us, as OM Gurus, to make an impact on the community. So far, more than 300 tasks have been validated. However, that’s not all.

My Favorite Challenge

The OM Guru Climate Change Challenge is the peak of this year’s challenges, I must say. At first, I didn’t really pay much attention to the challenge since I saw many great teams out there ready for all the challenges. Until I saw a sub-challenge called the POI’s Mapping challenge. The best part is that for this challenge, I was only asked to map Points of Interest (POIs) in my area using local knowledge. Coincidentally, the area where I live, Bogor City and its surroundings, needed a significant data update. With my relatively high mobility in this area, I really used my local knowledge because I have almost passed through every corner of the city and some main roads I pass almost every week.

Surveying, Skating, Hanging Out

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Dag voor examen, hier zijn we. Clutch dag, hele dag aan OSM meegewerkt. Giving back to the community.

Meest trotse punten: Kluisbos, heel veel warboel en ongemarkeerde paden verwerkt. Gavers, foute ruitersroete rechtgezet Gavers, Eikstraat heraanleg

hi openstreet map

i will be developing knocknacarra on open street maps

Sent From My Iphone

Today I mapped the village of Gjerë. According to OSM data, the village has a population of around 400. The houses are scattered around the huge territory and around farmlands. I also expanded a little and mapped the surrounding areas.

“#100VillagesIn100Days #Day6”

Imus Place

As a resident Imus City (Philippines) is names is are find is mapped, was required maps from the developer, has place are in cavite amenities and was damage in bacoor.

The Generous Open Mapping-Data Quality Focused

Open mapping is a powerful tool for creating and sharing geographic data in a collaborative and open manner. Its benefits include increased data accuracy, improved data integration, and enhanced data visualization capabilities. However, it also has some limitations that need to be considered, such as data quality and security concerns. Open mapping has been instrumental in various initiatives, such as humanitarian aid, disaster response, and urban planning, and has become a vital resource for many organizations and individuals. While open mapping has many benefits, there are also some limitations to consider:

1. Data Quality: Open mapping data may not always be accurate or up-to-date, as it relies on contributions from a community of volunteers.
2. Data Integration: Open mapping data may not always be easily integrated with other data sources, as it may use different formats or standards.
3. Data Security: Open mapping data may be vulnerable to security risks, as it is publicly available and can be accessed by anyone. Data quality is a critical aspect of open mapping initiatives. By understanding the challenges and implementing best practices, open mapping communities can improve data quality and ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data.

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This diary entry is also available as a personal page on the OSM wiki.

Some History of GNIS Imports

GNIS is a database developed by USGS that contains information about the official, standardized names for geographic features in the US.

From 2008 to 2011, there was an effort to import basic data into the US map, including records from GNIS and records from TIGER and NHD that are cross-referenced to GNIS. You can see some of the history of these imports based on the tags they used.

The gnis:feature_id tag was typically used for imports of many types of GNIS records. The gnis:id tag was used for imports of nodes for Populated Places, i.e. place=city, town, village, hamlet, etc. The tiger:PLACENS tag was used for imports of civil boundaries from the US Census Bureau datasets and contained a GNIS Feature ID value. The NHD:GNIS_ID tag was used for imports of waterways and other hydrographic features from the National Hydrography Dataset and also contained a GNIS Feature ID value.

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OpenStreetMap is the project that picks where products that are driven by commercial incetives end. One of those areas is mapping the world also with respect to accessibility for people with disabilities. I’d like to talk about OSM for the blind (4).

Full text I’ve posted for the purpose of discussion to:
https://community.openstreetmap.org/t/more-osm-for-visually-impaired/114200

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We’re on the hunt for the perfect logo for #SotMAsia24! 🌏✏️ If you’ve got a knack for design, we want YOU to paint the face of this year’s State of the Map Asia event in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. 🇧🇩🗺️

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Check out the details here: osm.wiki/Call_for_Logo

Let’s make this year’s logo shine! 💫