Diary Entries in English

Recent diary entries

Posted by Kingsley AMANKWE on 11 October 2024 in English. Last updated on 20 October 2024.

It’s that time of the year again, and once more, I find myself sharing my experience from State of the Map Nigeria 2024. Unlike last year, when we didn’t have workshops, this time we were spoiled with multiple workshops, covering various topics that kept participants actively engaged. Plus, for those who missed any sessions, we now have everything recorded and uploaded to our YouTube channel to revisit at any time!

Unfortunately, as the Programs Lead, I missed many of the live sessions myself. But during the few times I could sneak into a session, I was blown away by the depth and engagement. This conference had that special vibe, the kind that makes you wish it lasted longer. I’m confident that everyone who joined will be excited to return next year.

One of the things that stood out this year was the diversity in our participants. We had people coming from across the north, south, east of Nigeria, and even Ghana! Meeting new faces, like my new friend Calvin Menttor from Ghana, was an absolute pleasure. By the way, I finally got to see the Ghana cedi in person 😄.

To my Tech Crew, Joshua, and Justice, I must confess that I still mix your names up sometimes 😅, but it was a fantastic experience working with you both! Together, we made the media coordination a breeze (though, Justice, you did leave me to freeze by taking the duvet 😂).

Shout-out to my Logistics HoD, Olurunkosebi, and Welfare HoD, Titi. You both made my job so much easier! You ensured that meals arrived on time and that all the participants had a comfortable experience.

And I can’t forget Hajar from TomTom, who supported us with the mapping project used during the conference. Your contributions were invaluable, and we’re incredibly grateful.

See full entry

Location: Kajola, Ife Central, Osun State, 220282, Nigeria

Heatwaves have become a growing concern in recent years, and this year they’ve hit Bangladesh harder than ever, posing serious health risks. Our team, Three Dot, is competing in the Forewarn Disaster Hackathon 2.0, where we’re developing an app to provide heatwave alerts and an AI assistant that offers crucial advice on heat-related health issues.

One of the key features of our solution is providing users with the location of the nearest cooling centers—places with public accessibility, where people can cool down safely. These could be shopping malls, super shops, or mosques—any space that’s well-ventilated and free for the public to stay in.

The challenge we faced is that such attributes don’t exist in OpenStreetMap (OSM) for Bangladesh. Drawing on my previous experience as the former president of YouthMappers at Eastern University, I took the initiative to map out potential cooling centers. We’re tagging these places with: 1) Cooling_center: yes and 2) Cooling_center_bd: yes, to create a reliable resource for users and develop our heatwave project on top of that. Initially, our target location is, Dhanmondi and Mohammadpur.

Our initial focus has been on mapping spaces open to the community, such as large shopping malls and mosques, so that people can find refuge during extreme heatwaves, even if just for a short time.

When I finished high school, I joined the Rwanda Red Cross because I have always loved humanitarian work and felt a strong duty to help people in any way I could. Becoming a trainer with Rwanda Red Cross gave me a sense of purpose in humanitarian action. I first encountered Humanitarian OpenStreetMap (OSM) during a disaster response for landslides and flooding in Rwanda, where many lives were lost. As a volunteer with the Rwanda Red Cross, I was part of the response team. After witnessing the destruction of buildings and roads by the floods, I began to wonder how people could be helped to avoid living in areas prone to such disasters. I thought about the potential of maps to identify unsafe places but didn’t know how it could be done.

One day, a friend introduced me to OSM Rwanda after I expressed my curiosity about maps. I joined the community, and on my very first day, I was trained on the importance of mapping for humanitarian response. I learned how to map roads and buildings, and though it wasn’t easy at first, I was deeply motivated. My curiosity had found a solution, and I was determined to continue contributing to mapping.

I started attending more mapping sessions and OSM events, learning and growing my skills. Eventually, I became a trainer in OSM Rwanda, teaching newcomers about mapping. This role allowed me to learn even more, as teaching others exposed me to different aspects of mapping. Over time, I made significant contributions and applied for a scholarship to attend the State of the Map (SOTM) conference in Nairobi. I believed it would be a great opportunity to expand my knowledge, and I was thrilled when my application was accepted.

See full entry

Posted by Jack_Regan on 5 October 2024 in English.

I started mapping a few weeks ago, sticking (mostly) to North Muirton in Perth for now as I have lived here for 50 years so I think I know it quite well. No doubt I’ll have done a few things wrong along the way but I’ll go back and fix, if and when I realise. As I write this, almost all the houses and flats in NM are at least drawn out with a few streets still to be tagged with the “basics”.

I intend to add (or finish)

  • Electricity Substations (all operated by SSE? - I think they all are)
  • Grit Bins
  • Public Benches
  • Garages (rented out by the local council)
  • Add all postcodes
  • Public pathways (miles of them!)
  • Back fences (the 6ft high ones around all the back gardens)
  • Grassy areas
  • Road crossings
  • Drying greens for the 8 and 4-block flats
Posted by Nikhil R R on 4 October 2024 in English.

Attending State of the Map 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya, was an unforgettable experience that deepened my understanding of mapping and the OpenStreetMap community. It was truly inspiring to be part of such a vibrant and passionate group of mappers and contributors from 54 countries. The sessions on community capacity building, disaster recovery and response, and conservation have reinvigorated my commitment to OpenStreetMap. I’m grateful to the community for supporting our initiatives on Pudussery Panchayat Mapping and the creation of a spatial flood asset database. Special thanks to OSMF for the State of the Map 2024 Travel Grant. I’m excited to continue contributing and collaborating with this amazing community. Here’s to more mapping adventures ahead!

Location: City Centre sublocation, Starehe location, CBD division, Starehe, Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya

On December 5th, 2017, I joined Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team with the goal of making a tangible impact. Over the years, my curiosity on the HOT Tasking Manager grew, and I found myself increasingly drawn to OpenStreetMap (OSM). At first, I was overwhelmed with how to become more active and create more impact, but I soon discovered that my love for and working on the computer was my gateway. Contributing to OSM quickly became an addiction, a way to relax, a therapeutic outlet when I was feeling tired or frustrated.

See full entry

osm.org/relation/15736220 What to do against these deletion? I know, you’d said “oh, just revert the changes”. Teoretically you’d be right …. teoretically

Dealing with these long relation it’s not easy, unless you keep monitored and act in the first hours or in a few days

I’ll try to fix it

osm.wiki/Asia/Asian_Highway_Network

Posted by notd3nny on 27 September 2024 in English. Last updated on 25 November 2024.

On November 13, 2023, Miami-Dade County’s transit agency, Miami-Dade Transit, implemented significant changes to its bus network - designated the “Better Bus Network.” These updates aimed to enhance coverage for neighborhoods and business districts that primarily serve lower-income residents. As a result, many routes and stops were altered, relocated, or removed.

To the best of my knowledge, much of Miami’s transit data on OSM was originally contributed by user drynwk around 2021. Most of their contributions have remained untouched for nearly three years, despite the major changes from the Better Bus Network almost a year ago.

Miami-Dade Transit has provided updated transit information to platforms like Google Maps, Apple Maps, and likely other GIS services. I believe it’s essential that OSM volunteers also have access to this data. To that end, I’ll be making an effort to obtain the relevant information from Miami-Dade Transit and share it with the OSM community here in Miami.

In addition, I plan to update the bus route relations on OSM to reflect the new route names, ideally matching the official names used by Miami-Dade Transit across their buses, maps, and app. I’ll also be reaching out to request the correct route names for accuracy.

Edit: On November 25, 2024, there will be another revamp to the Better Bus Network. These service adjustments will affect most routes, and as such, will postpone my project.

Location: 25.685, -80.314
Posted by Venefilyn on 26 September 2024 in English.

Hi all!

I’m Freya and been a contributor since April 2024. I’ve since then noticed there is a lack of diversity that covers different groups of people to make them feel welcome or drive questions as a team rather than as spread out individuals here and there

We will not be doing work that Local Chapters and Communities Working Group is already doing, instead we will be working towards highlighting ways to be inclusive, organizing projects to increase accessibility in specific areas, or just hosting a friendly place for people to chat in!

To start with I’ve setup a wiki page containing what exactly the goal is and how we will work, and my plan is to develop this initiative as time goes on and more people get interested

We also use the Contributor Covenant v2.1 as our Code of Conduct

No projects setup yet but in the plans to organize an event soon! :pray:

Here’s a few resources I’ve setup for now

Working mainly in Africa it’s not rare to come across to crowdsourced powered mapped areas. I still repair, from time to time, the disaster done in 2022 in Mogadishu

Today, near Bor osm.org/#map=17/6.178444/31.578194 , another masterpiece: a lot of triangular (one 2600 sqm trapezoidal) buildings, and 3 tourism=camp_site

Who does need this rubbish? How good the validator to the related HOT task worked?

Alessandro

Location: Bor, Bor South, Jonglei, South Sudan