Users' Diaries

Recent diary entries

Posted by Titus Smiles on 26 November 2021 in English.

Being a new mapper with literally zero experience in mapping,the conference was a much needed experience for me and I managed to learn one thing I least expected was realising that mapping was not all about mapping but could also the open streetmap could be involved in the change of the country thorough intetiatives like Mapping in GBV and also Mapping in covid

This was a conference through was doing exams had to sacrifice a few hours here and there to be able to catch up with the detailed insight in what meets the eye other than the fixed perception of mapping .

Therefore mapping shouldn’t be all about mapping new areas but also a way of being a drive factor for a better Uganda, Africa and the world at large .

Posted by Kica Solomon on 25 November 2021 in English. Last updated on 26 November 2021.

I want to extend my gratitude to the organisers for the work well done and successfully organising the conference. I found several interesting talks at this year’s conference but the one that intrigued me most is: ‘Planning with us, not for us: Community informal settlement mapping’ a panel discussion by Pete Masters, Florian Marembo, Lucy Fondo and Alessandra Figueiredo. The stories shared by the panelists including successes, challenges and lessons learned has enlightened me further in understanding the role OSM data has in supporting a desirable change for people living in informal settlements. I expect to use the knowledge gained in improving our work in the informal settlements of Kampala.

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Location: Ishaka Kijungu Upper Cell, Hoima City, Western Region, Uganda

Today I attended day two of the training hosted by UN Mappers in conjunction with key to the city YouthMappers. During the training, Severin introduced us to mapping with JOSM, plugins, extrude tools, HOT Task manager, etc. Mapping with JOSM is more fun and easier than the ID Editor. JOSM offers a lot more freedom and flexibility than the ID Editor. It also provides more tools to help with accuracy. The building plugin automatically ensures that building edges are square. It also provides the option of having a reference to align other buildings, a feature that is not available in the ID Editor. The extrude tool makes it possible to accurately and efficiently delineate buildings with complex edges. As part of the training, Severin tasked us with mapping areas in our locality which we did with JOSM to practicalize what we learned. I found JOSM intuitive and easier to use, and I was a lot more productive compared to using the ID Editor. Tomorrow, the UN Mappers is hosting a mapathon which I intend to take part in, and I am sure I will have a lot of fun mapping with JOSM.

Posted by Erick tamba on 25 November 2021 in English. Last updated on 26 November 2021.

As a young researcher and recent graduate (2020) at Sokoine university of agriculture, it was an honor to present and showcase our field project program for Solomon Mahlangu College of Science an Education (SMCoSE) YouthMappers during state of the map Africa 2021(19th -21st November 2021). It was a great experience considering it was my first time on such huge platform with a lot of experienced organizations in OpenStreetMap (OSM) community. Nevertheless we should always take advantage of such opportunities to hear and learn from others, it is from such courage youth especially at universities can develop skills which will help them shape their career goals.

(Before the event)

From the call for participation, I was able to submit our work which was accepted by the state of the map team, it was a great feeling to know that as YouthMappers we could also contribute to ideas which speaks for the challenges and solutions in our communities. Preparations towards the conference was another experience which introduced me on how to prepare online presentations and also interact virtually with organizers. It taught me how to be punctual in responding to emails and properly plan on how to prepare pitches and presentations from various sources and mentors.

During the event.

Lesson learnt 1

https://twitter.com/Crowd2Map/status/1463873169618522123?t=OfpGgqBXHmfbSxEHFtrHJg&s=19 Local communities especially in rural areas including marginalized groups need also to understand these open source tools which have proved to be cost effective and reliable in addressing challenges in several sectors. From the presentation from Janet chapman, these groups are called digital champions. As organizations and groups in OSM, we should cultivate many digital champions, and from this we invest our efforts to the right people.

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Location: -6.762, 39.198

Good evening, my name is Adéline DOSSOU from Benin. I have come here to thank you for the organisation of the conference which lasted three days, it was well organised and I would also like to thank all those who presented projects, in particular Nathalie SIDIBE from Mali, and many others. My congratulations to you. My question is this: What methods and means implemented for the evolution of Openstreetmap Benin?

It was 19th-21st when a wonderful conference called State of the Map Africa took place. Where the main purpose is to bring together all participants in the field of mapping all over the world to discuss challenges, learn, and after all to have fun. First I would like to thank everyone who took part to make this conference successful and memorable events, starting from our organizer, volunteers, presenter as well all participants. Many thanks to our partners who help this event with money as we all know that one of the challenges that hinder mapping activities is expensive of the data and unstable internet. I am sure without your support some of us did not manage to participate in this wonderful!!! events. Indeed, it was a nice place to be and the proof has been given that mapping can answer any question and it applies in all fields. For example, one of the presenters Christine Mhone from Malawi proof that the knowledge and skills of mapping can be useful to the department of health, environment even the department of disaster risk management. Not only in Malawi but also in Nigeria where they use Mapping data in preparation and response in disaster response. More interesting thing is that in this field I have leant that we have all kinds of people with various talent that makes this field more admirable like software developers like Martijn who develop Maproutette which I started using soon after the conference indeed it makes my mapping activities easier. I also learned more about OSM data and the reasons why it is important to keep mapping, open-source software that we can use in the field of mapping just to mention few. Once more I would like to give respect to our organizers who tried their level best to make this event successful despite the pressure of the Covid 19 Pandemic. Thank you very much.

Location: Lilongwe, Central Region, Malawi, Malawi

From 19th to 21st of November 2021, I attended the most mind blowing event, #State of the Map Africa 2021#. It was really an insightful event for me that did not only advance my mapping skills, but also the presentations and experiences that were shared through out the event encouraged me to continuously support communities by actively participating in mapping activities. I was impressed to learn about the number of approaches that can be adopted in growing the OSM community namely: Mapathons, workshops, webinars, training rural communities that do not have access to digital mobile devices, applying for micro grants as well as attending conferences, so as to also contribute in addressing most of the problems that are affecting more vulnerable communities today.

Ssekitoleko Derick was inspired by fellow mapper Kaluba Micheal during State of Map Africa 2021 last week in his session he talked about joining Youth mapper Chapter when he was still studying at University but what interested me most he was not a student of GIS or Geography but he has been able to learn how to use Mapping tools to contribute to OpenStreetMap and he has accomplished many things and on top of that he was selected among 10 top mappers. He also mentioned that he received a grant to travel to Tanzania were he was able to learn more techincs in mapping. As a person who never had a chance to attend University I was always thinking that to be a good map I have to obtain a degree in either GIS or other related course. That inferiority always had a negative impact on me while mapping or applying to any opportunity in mapping but Kaluba Micheal has proved me that I don’t need a degree in GIS to be perfect in mapping I just need to concentrate and learn how to use mapping tools, I can be a great mapper and I can contribute and help my community as he is doing in his community.

Location: Kisimbiri Central, Wakiso, Central Region, Uganda

The “State of the Map” online conference held from November 19 to 21, 2021 was full of learning and sharing experiences. This conference, which takes place every two years, brought together the OSM community, experts in the field of geospatial data and each actor presented innovative geospatial solutions, the importance of humanitarian data and collaborative approaches in the implementation of local initiatives. Moreover this event hosted the monthly Mapathon organized by OSM Africa where I was Speaker in the Francophone Session. I had the opportunity to attend some excellent presentations with a diverse panel, however I would like to focus on the presentations that impressed me the most and that are in line with my professional orientations and perspectives.

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On November 21, 2021. I completed three intense and joyful days of virtual attendance to the State of Map Africa Conference 2021. First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the organisers for thinking outside the box and planning this successful event despite the world being stressed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you to all of the organisers, volunteers, presenters, and attendees for making the event a success.

Three days for the whole virtual conference was plenty in terms of internet data; my deepest gratitude goes to the conference organisers and sponsors for awarding me and other scholarship recipients to attend. For many of us, the data scholarship was a game-changer, as internet costs are still extremely costly and unaffordable in many African countries.

Apart from bringing together GIS experts from around the world, the conference served as an important learning opportunity for all of us with an interest in GIS who, despite not being experts, have found careers using GIS and OSM tools, which we use daily to solve the most pressing social problems, particularly humanitarians issues.

This year’s conference was unique in that it included a wide range of topics and industries from which presentations were given, allowing for cross-pollination among participants from a learning perspective to collaboratively solve human problems. Furthermore, the conference was extremely beneficial to new mappers like me, as I learned about and was taught how to utilise other OSM tools that are effective in mapping through various presentations. Claire’s demonstration of Street Complete, Map Roulett, and OSMOSE was like exposing a new baby to the sun for the first time! I just finished filling Waoo!

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Alongside other participants from the University of Lagos, I attended day 1 of a series of 3-hour training organized by the UN Mappers in conjunction with Key to the city YouthMappers. Severin Menard anchored the session and in the session, he gave an introduction to the OSM platform, expatiated on how the UN is making use of OSM data in her peacekeeping missions, how people can get involved and contribute to the OSM platform, HOT Task Manager, contributions of the UN Mappers over the years, mapping using ID Editor, Quality and use of OSM data, etc I really enjoyed the training session, and I am looking forward to day two tomorrow.

中國那邊有人在日記抱怨有大量學生畫中南大學一帶,看起來是老師要求學生畫學校附近,但由於缺少 QA 程序,因此產生不少問題資料無人處理。這種事情早晚都需要面對,需要動員社群成員去修正,或是決定資料實在是太差了,通通砍掉處理。極端嚴重的情形可以找 Data Working Group 協助,將溝通無效的帳號封一段時間,給予社群時間來修正。

臺灣這邊的經驗則告訴我們,要與顯然是做老師指定的作業學生溝通,用變更集留言,大都是沒什麼回應的。社群有時間就直接介入修正就好,再來研究他們學生是從那裡來的。如果沒時間也不想幫人修正,那就通通刪掉就好,必要時再請 Data Working Group 處理,能夠暫時封掉沒有回應的帳號,暫緩不讓問題擴大。

我還記得臺灣這邊遇過最嚴重的事情是美光團,他們用 HOT Task Manager 畫彰化、雲林一帶的建築,最後實在產生太多問題建築,已經超出社群能修正的程度,與 Data Working Group 談好就把他們產生的資料通通刪除。

其他遇到的問題編輯團體還有彰化學校的編輯團,一直到現在都還不知道是那間學校的學生所為。還有一個加心理醫療場所的人,也是有問題,因為八成他的經緯度是從 Google 地圖用 Geo-coding 產生的,資料授權是有問題的。

OSM Wiki 有組織編輯指引,當有團體計劃有大量成員編輯時,就要在 Wiki 頁面登記,要留帶頭的聯絡人資料,畫地圖的目的,以及持續的時間。臺灣環境資訊協會的飲水地圖計畫就有留資料登記。組織編輯指引是 OpenStreetMap 生態系相當重要的指引,也能看其他團體的範例,是怎麼登記他們計劃做的事情。

對於社群來說,找到帶頭者,跟老師能夠好好溝通,老師得知道 OpenStreetMap 是不少重要網站依賴的圖資,學生投入貢獻需要認真,不能隨意增添地圖資料。對於剛接觸 OpenStreetMap 的學生來說,先讓他們畫簡單的東西,例如學校、住家附近的店家,別一下子給學生太過複雜,範圍太大的事務。

再來中國的環境其實不允許一般人來畫地圖,個人畫地圖是違反中國的法律。找到地圖團的帶頭者,然後在組織編輯頁面登記,好像那裡怪怪的,並不是好的處理方式。另外學生帳號用真實姓名的問題,在中國的網路環境下,還是用代號,別輕易曝光真實姓名比較好。

Location: 岳麓街道, 湘江新区, 岳麓区, 长沙市, 湖南省, 中国

Novos Dados do IBGE (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística) para Mapeamento no Openstreetmap no Brasil. / New Data from IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) for Mapping in Openstreetmap in Brazil.

O IBGE (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística) tem Novos Dados disponivel para Donwload em Varios Formatos. / The IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) has New Data available for Download in Various Formats.

  1. Avulso Principais Rios do Brasil / Single Main Rivers of Brazil Baixar shapefile

  2. IBGE Limites dos Estados do Brasil, IBGE 2020 / Limits of the States of Brazil, IBGE 2020 Baixar shapefile

  3. Avulso Shapefile com os Fusos da projeção UTM do Mundo todo / Single Shapefile with UTM Projection Spindles Worldwide Baixar shapefile

  4. IBGE e MapBiomas Delimitação dos Biomas do Brasil / IBGE and MapBiomas Delimitation of Biomes in Brazil Baixar shapefile

  5. IBGE Microrregiões Brasileiras, IBGE 2020 / IBGE Brazilian Microregions, IBGE 2020 Baixar shapefile

  6. IBGE Mesorregiões Brasileiras, IBGE 2020 / IBGE Brazilian Mesoregions, IBGE 2020 Baixar shapefile

https://forest-gis.com/download-gis-base-de-dados/

https://forest-gis.com/download-gis-base-de-dados/

Raphaelmirc

Posted by KAbhijit on 24 November 2021 in English.

There are lots of ways to turn OSM editing/updating into game/quest like activities. One of them is the app “Street Complete” which is great for use “on the go”. Should be great on a bicycle perhaps.

Other notes: MapwithAI is working with OSM to quickly turn imagery into editable features. Unfortunately in a place like HD this will probably result in lots of false roads, as I found with Google Maps in Hubli - ending up next to the airport wall. https://mapwith.ai/#13/-7.95604/31.59543/0/55

Are there local mapping groups in the Hubli Dharwad area?

Location: Kamalapura, Dharwad, Dharawada taluku, Dharwad, Karnataka, 580001, India

China mappers complain about there are many students mapping around Zhongnan University, which seems assigned by school teachers, but lack of QA process after students had done their mapping tasks. These kinds of issues are faced by the community someday, whatever the community decides to fix it, or just remove the low-quality stuff, it is all OK. And in an extreme case, the community could ask the Data Working Group for help, by banning accounts that keep editing and adding low-quality data, getting some precious time for the community members to fix the data.

As a Taiwanese mapper, Taiwan experience of dealing with school assigned tasks from teachers, leaving changeset comments are quite useless, few will response to the comments. Directly fixing the error or low-quality data is faster, and reseach where do these change come from? If you do not want to spend your time of fixing error or improving the data quality, then just delete the stuff is OK. If the damage so big and no response from the mapper, can’t be handle by community, then the Data Working Group can step in and no further damage.

Recenlty most serve incident in Taiwan is Micron editing group. They use HOT Task Manager to draw buildings in Changhua and Yunlin. They drew so many problem buildings, that can’t be handle by the community, so the HOT ask Data Working Group to step in and delete all the buildings by Micron editng group.

Another incidents like editing group from shcool of Changhua, which one could not trace which school they belong to. And another incident like some mappers adding psychological medical clinic, which using coordinate geocoding by Google Maps, there is a data license issue.

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Location: Yuelu, 湘江新区, Yuelu District, Changsha, Hunan, China
Posted by Denrazir on 23 November 2021 in English. Last updated on 8 December 2021.

Action for Economic Reforms (AER) is a Philippine non-government organization engaged in research and advocacy. It conducts policy analysis and advocacy on macroeconomic reforms, universal health care, industrial policy, freedom of information, among others, and key issues of the day.

Coalescing Organizations towards Locally Led Actions to Boost Development (COLLABDev) is a partnership initiative of AER and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to promote human-centered, data-driven development in the Philippines. One of the main components of the COLLABDev project is to promote the development of existing open geospatial communities and data, especially in the 14 sites from the six provinces covered.

On October 8, 2021, the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines (USTP) as one of the partner State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) in Mindanao, signed the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to assist Local Government Units (LGUs) in the drive to use data to craft policies and to implement projects and programs of the COLLABDev Project.

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Location: Barangay 26, Poblacion, Cagayan de Oro, Northern Mindanao, 9000, Philippines