2022 PART 02

##My first State of the Map and FOSS4G (Italy)

When the mail came in, I couldn’t believe it…SotM and FOSS4G all at once…Italy you say – I still think it was a dream!

It was a call to attend the Global State of the Map (SotM) Conference and the Free and Open-Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) Conference in Italy. I didn’t know where to start but I have the Organizers of FOSS4G and my mentor Dr Prestige Makanga to thank in all.

It was the 17th of August when I bordered the plane to Rome. It was a first, overwhelming is the closest I can use but trust me it was way beyond that. My flights got delayed and I got to Rome late, took my trams to Firenze and hail there was a raging storm. The storm delayed my trams too and I got to Firenze around 11pm. Thanks to Cristiano Giovando; he was there all the time till I was right inside the hostel, on my bed and ready for the big day the following day (I’d call him my map, tour guide, keeper and connector). I am very much grateful.

The big day came, SotM meets Letwin in Italy! I was so excited to meet a lot of OSM Community members I only knew from social media in 3D - Geoffrey Kateregga, Laura Mugeha, Sharon Omoja, Patricia Solis, Courtney Clarke, Sawan Shariar just to mention a few. It was an amazing experience to meet the majority of people in the Geospatial Industry, more new faces aside those I knew only from social media. I got to share experiences, learn from experts, attend educative and intriguing presentations and workshops and meet great companies and organizations in the Geospatial Sector, the likes of ESRI, META, LUTRA CONSULTING, GEOCAT, HOT, OSGEO, Wikimedia, Kartoza among others.

I can still cite these sessions from SotM as they are still vivid in my mind:

*The Local Chapters Congress – which highlighted the challenges our communities are facing and suggested solutions for improvement and way forward

*The HOT unSummit Sessions – it was from these sessions that I got to meet Pete Masters and Monica Nthiga and one thing led to another, we had the Zimbabwe Institute of Geomatics Conference. I am still grateful, surely this community is one of its own kind

*Everydoor and the future of POI in OSM by Ilya Zverev – it was my first learning about the App and from there, every session I had with the YouthMappers Chapters in Zimbabwe, EveryDoor was and is still part of the discussion

*OSM Sidewalkreator by Kaue de Moraes Vestena – this was also new and exciting, I actually realized everything can be put on a map no matter how small or insignificant I thought it was

It was amazing meeting other YouthMappers and Regional Ambassadors most importantly the OSM Community at large.

My greatest memory at FOSS4G was the honor of sharing the stage with the Chair of the Conference (Luca Delucchi) at closing ceremony where I got to address a thousand plus audience. I will definitely share more on this one but for a start – FOSS4G was much bigger and more formal than SotM. There were a lot more people and the amazing experience continued. The Conference started off with some educative workshops. I joined one by Mergin Maps and the other by Kartoza (A renderer’s cheat-sheet for QGIS). I confess I am no longer the same. After the workshops came a variety of sessions and you would see people moving up and down, rushing from one session to the other. It was not easy settling for a session, all of them were great – at one point I wished they were not running parallel so that I can reduce the running around and follow them one after the other.

Back to my greatest memory, I remember I was walking with Luca to the Open Bar one of the days sharing my joys and experiences about the conferences that he broke the news to me – I was to share the stage with him! I did not even think, I exclaimed yes right away but after we separated, I began wondering. I looked at the crowd out at the bar and wondered how I was going to talk to all these faces. I have my (Secretary) Anisa Kuci to thank, Lorenzo Stucchi, Cristiano Giovando and Ilya Zverev for their unwavering support, motivation and faith in me. Most importantly, the Chair Luca himself for believing in me and giving me such an honor. It was not easy stepping up that stage, looking at a thousand tiny faces: but as soon as I said the first phrase, I felt at home, and it was done.

I’m so grateful for being selected as one of the FOSS4G grantees of this year’s Global Conference. These 2 Conferences have had so much impact in my professional life, social, and all. I was deeply humbled by this community, a family as I prefer. Many thanks to the Organizers of both Conferences (not forgetting the irresistible social events and the choice of the beautiful city of Firenze), you gave me an opportunity that inspired, motivated and improved every aspect of my life – for someone who follows me closely, you’d understand what I am talking about.

Open source for open minds….

I made this statement to my school PR and some journalists in Zimbabwe during an interview after this experience:

“From my Conference experience, we have a lot of work to do as Zimbabweans in promoting the use of free and open-source software, encouraging women participation in such activities, organize such local conferences to share ideas, network, collaborate and work towards sustainable development for the country we want through space and geospatial technologies.”

The YouthMappers Chapters both already established, and upcoming ones were a start, OSM Zimbabwe another, the Zimbabwe Institute of Geomatics Conference, the Anticipatory Action for Disaster response by ESA Hub another, the Inaugural State of the Map Nigeria and watch the space….