Journey and Beyond

OpenStreetMap

What Wikipedia is for open knowleadge is OpenStreetMap (OSM) for open map (spatial) data. Through the hands of thousand and billions the project aims to create a detailled map of the world. Every single person can help to make sustainable improvements to his or her favourite navigation system or map provider if they use OSM as a source. OSM enables person just like you and me to make a difference, without relaying on government and companies. OSM lives the Community Spirit. Your changes are visible to our database thousand and billions relay on in just some seconds. This allows you to see your changes alive directly after upload.

Problems

The project OpenStreetMap has serious problems like

• some mappers not listening to data customers or ignoring their opinion directly,

• missing proper communication/exchange between stakeholders (mappers, developers, organisations, companies, initiatives, (governments) ),

• negative energy against companies working on the OSM project,

• non-orthogonal tagging,

• use of two or more tags for the same purpose,

• lack of proper tagging documentation (some really good experienced mappers and good writers at the same time do it right),

• mappers actually do not consult others before creating a new key/tag and not documenting it properly (e.g. Key:diaper . We still suffer from the damage the key diaper imposed)

• lack of appearance in various Mainstream presses

Strengths

The project OpenStreetMap has also serious strengths like

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There’s an ongoing questionnaire I’ve started to see what did it effort to motivate mappers to participate, to join OSM and to help to improve the map. This little diary provides an anonymized overview of the answers:

Survey

• Opportunity to help providing an alternative source for geo-data that is corporative and free for all.
• Opportunity to access free topography data.
• Opportunity to see changes on the map immediately instead of days or months after. This way you get a good reward yourself (you feel like “Oh wow! That was just me! I helped to improve something sustainable and innovative!”).
• OSM is more detailed than the maps of other Map Providers.
• Saw that objects were missing on the map
• Free license
• Privacy
• Enjoying that people come together, work together and make something non-commercially.
• OSM allows “creative use of geodata”, allows more than just one user group to profit from.
• Geodata can be used offline.
• Enjoy that you can improve the map by yourself rather than relaying on others.
• Enjoy that you get to know the world around you better.
• Your contributions are yours and not Googles or some other company.
• I can actually help people to navigate and find places better.
• Spotted a mistake and enjoyed that I can improve it right away.
• I love the friendly community.
• The maps in my area from various map providers were catastrophic.

Result of the survey

The result is a promotional text we will use for Hamburg but which can also be used in other cities and countries with slight differences:

Variation 1 (Translated from german)

The open project OpenStreetMap aims to create free map data for walkers, car drivers, cyclists, hiker and many more. Our collected data are used by HVV (Hamburger Verkehrsverbund) and the Tagesschau but also by games such as Pokemon Go. Everybody can participate. You don’t need any technical background or to know how to work with maps.

Variation 2

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One has an idea and finds others to step in. Together they make the world a better place. That’s Community Spirit!

What I notice when interacting with our OSM Community that we all work together on one mission: To create a sustainable highly detailed world wide map free for everyone to use and to work with, to merge with other data and to do something disruptive. Our community is very large and active around the globe. Despite our ethical, cultural and social differences we share one mission.

What I understand under the term “Community Spirit”: Working together on one mission to make the earth a better place for (almost) everyone, to change environment on a large, middle or lower scale. Community Spirit is the positive site of acting together to do something great and sustainable.

But why do we live the Community Spirit inside from the OSM Community? Because we can, because we believe in a future. Because we know our effort is important to mankind and soon awareness about our great mission will rise.

We all do great things. Humanitarian OpenStreetMap helps organisations like doctors without borders to offer medical help to people in low developed regions around the world where maps are highly outdated and not accurate enough. Mappers who don’t know each other meet in mapathons (mapping parties). Mappers in cities begin to connect to each other through chat groups, mailing list and of course local groups and they begin to fight, to fight for their interests and values. JOSM- and iD developers both are doing a great job in programming mapping tools which make mapping easier, less complicated and less frustrating, allowing not-so-computer-skilled folks to join in and participate. They all play a role in burning down barriers. The weeklyOSM Team, a bunch of great people, are bringing together information from almost all OSM societies.

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