This is a cross post from the HOTOSM blog.

As Community Strategist and Research Lead at HOT, I would like to take a closer look with you all at the evolving landscape of OpenStreetMap (OSM) contributors, especially in the context of local knowledge and its crucial role in our mapping efforts.

Summary

Our recent study reveals a trend in local knowledge contributions in OpenStreetMap: a small but dedicated number of local mappers, making up just about 3% of contributors who are in the area mapping, is responsible for approximately 75% of the detailed mapping contributions.

This significant finding underscores the vital role of local knowledge and expertise in creating comprehensive and accurate maps, especially in humanitarian and unmapped/under-mapped regions. Despite a general decline in new OSM contributors, the impact of this core group of local mappers remains profound and indispensable for the future of the project.

We would like to engage researchers and mapping communities to unveil what are the implications of these numbers and the opportunities to use them to better support mappers.

The Spark of Inquiry: Simon Poole’s Analysis

Our journey began with Simon Poole’s important observation: a 20% drop in new OSM contributors. This sparked intense discussions within our team and motivated us to investigate further, particularly focusing on regions where HOT is actively involved.

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Cross-posting from HOTOSM blog.

As we dive into the second half of 2023, we are thrilled to share the progress made by HOT and the Community Team in leveraging OSM data for informed decision making.

Hello! I’m Rubén Martín, HOT’s Community Strategist and Research Lead, and in this post, I aim to highlight our recent achievements and extend an invitation to OSM communities, contributors, organizations, and individuals interested in OSM data to collaborate with us on analysis and research endeavors.

Focusing on Actionable Insights: A Data-Driven Approach

At HOT, our data approach goes beyond satisfying curiosity; we strive to generate actionable insights that enable us to better support the communities utilizing Open Mapping to address local needs. Over the past months we have, together with our dedicated Data and Analysis Intern, Caleb Fagunloye (along with support from Benni Herfort at HeiGIT) made significant progress in two key areas outlined below:

• Better understand OSM Contributor Data and validate assumptions around contributors decline.

• Explore and experiment how to make OSM Data more accessible to non-technical people.

OSM Contributions Decline

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English version

Esta es una continuación de mi anterior post de presentación del estudio.

En Humanitarian OpenStreeMap Team (HOT) queremos utilizar mejor nuestros recursos para apoyar el movimiento más amplio de Apen mapping humanitario. Por eso estamos llevando a cabo un estudio para entender cómo apoyar a los colaboradores y a las comunidades en países con necesidades humanitarias, de desastre o de desarrollo.

En este post resumiré lo que ha ocurrido en el primer trimestre (Q1) de 2021, lo que hemos aprendido y el plan para los próximos 3 meses (Q2).

Nuestro objetivo y los principales resultados del primer trimestre fueron los siguientes

Se ha puesto en marcha el trabajo de investigación centrado en las necesidades globales/compartidas.

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Versión en español

This is a follow-up of my previous post presenting the research work.

At Humanitarian OpenStreeMap Team (HOT) we want to better use our resources to support the wider Humanitarian Open Mapping movement. That’s why we are running a research project to understand how to support contributors and communities in countries with humanitarian, disaster or development needs.

In this post I’ll summarize what happened in the first quarter (Q1) of 2021, what we learned and the plan for the next 3 months (Q2).

Our goal and key results for Q1 were:

Foundational work for the research with focus on global/shared needs is kick-started

• Stakeholders are aligned on scope of the work
• A set of prioritized core/global questions and unknowns is delivered
• Initial exploration of potential data sources is delivered
• A plan for Q2 is shaped by the insights and learnings gathered

You can see more details on on the public project brief.

Q1: Focus on global questions

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(English version)

Como continuación de mi post del mes pasado: Uniéndome al movimiento Open Mapping, quiero compartir con todos mi plan inicial sobre cómo voy a aportar valor a este espacio.

Por qué

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(Versión en español)

As a follow-up of my past month’s post about Joining the Open Mapping Movement, I want to share with everyone my initial plan on how I’m going to bring value to this space.

Why

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(English version)

Me alegra anunciar que esta semana me uní al Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team como responsable de estrategia y estudios comunitarios.

En mi nuevo rol, trabajaré para apoyar el movimiento de mapas abiertos con fines humanitarios mediante la construcción de estrategias e iniciativas basadas en datos e investigación de calidad, así como identificando oportunidades para promover los objetivos del proyecto Audacious.

Ampliaremos el apoyo a las comunidades cartográficas locales con el objetivo de cartografiar un área que alberga a mil millones de personas, agregar lugares con alto riesgo de desastres naturales o que experimenten pobreza en más de 94 países en todo el mundo.

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(Versión en español)

I’m happy to announce that this week I’ve joined the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team as Community Strategist and Research Lead.

In my new role I’ll be working to support the Humanitarian Open Mapping Movement by building strategies and initiatives based on quality data and research, as well as identifying opportunities to further the Audacious project aims.

We will scale up the support to local mapping communities with the aim of mapping an area home to one billion people, adding places at high risk of natural disaster or experiencing poverty in more than 94 countries worldwide.

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