Kastriot is a village located in Peshkopi, and it has a population of around 6000, according to 2011 population statistics.

Three years ago, I was tasked to send volunteers for a door-to-door campaign in support of a local independent candidate from the miners for the parliamentary elections. Almost every village in the region was visited, but I wish I had the knowledge of OSM I have today. It would have been so much help. I spent so much time on the maps back then that these villages feel like home, even though I have not visited most of them yet. I am glad, I am finally mapping this villages now.

“#100villagesin100days Day10”

Maybe most of us have experienced unpleasant situations with maps, like getting lost on the road due to navigation issues caused by incorrect or outdated maps. This problem is particularly troubling in unfamiliar areas or during long journeys. Poor geospatial data quality often leads to these inaccuracies, resulting in significant inconveniences and even potential dangers. This highlights the crucial role geospatial data plays in our daily lives; when it is inaccurate, it can lead to serious issues.

Geospatial data quality depends greatly on who creates it, especially on platforms like OpenStreetMap (OSM), the world’s largest open mapping platform. OSM’s data comes from many different contributors with different levels of geographic knowledge. This diversity can enrich the data but also lead to heterogeneity. For instance, in the picture below, you can see the differences in digitizing done by various contributors. Some highways are more detailed, indicated by the higher number of nodes in the highway line.

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Untuk tambah brand dalam NSI sila contact email saya ammar_osm@pm.me

Hello OSM community,

I’m excited to share my experiences as a participant, validator in the OM Guru Fellowship, 2024. This program has been an incredible journey of learning, growth, and community engagement.

My Journey

Before joining this fellowship program, my experience with OSM was primarily limited to downloading OSM data and using it in GIS software. While I knew that I could edit and contribute to OSM, I lacked the practical knowledge on how to effectively edit and contribute data.

From the moment I joined the OM Guru Fellowship, I knew I was embarking on a unique adventure. The fellowship provided a structured platform for me to enhance my mapping, validating skills, collaborate with fellows and contribute to meaningful projects on HOT Tasking Manager. One of the highlights was working on HOT Tasking Manager Projects, where I learned the HOT Tasking Manager plays a crucial role in leveraging the collective efforts of a global community of volunteers to improve mapping data where it is most needed. It supports humanitarian organizations and local communities in making informed decisions based on accurate and up-to-date geographic information.

Learnings

Throughout the fellowship, I gained a wealth of knowledge. I improved my technical skills in using various OSM tools, learned not only effective mapping techniques but also creating & contributing at HOT Tasking Manager Projects. The mentorship and trainings/ workshops were particularly beneficial, offering insights into best practices and innovative approaches to mapping. I also learned the importance of community collaboration and how collective efforts can lead to significant outcomes.

Impact

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Hello, my name is Julmira de Almeida. I'm one of the Open Mapping Guru Fellows in 2024. First of all, I am deeply grateful to Open Mapping Hub Asia-Pacific for offering me this brilliant opportunity to participate in the Open Mapping Guru Fellowship. This is my first time participating in an international fellowship activity while pursuing my studies at the University. As a young woman who is highly passionate about mapping activities, participating in this fellowship is extremely significant. I have many opportunities to learn and further explore the various open-source platforms we can use in mapping activities.

This figure illustrates the process of capturing street-level imagery using Mapillary.

How I Get involved with Open-Mapping

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Introduction

The Open Mapping Hub - Asia-Pacific (AP Hub) aims to create a sustainable OpenStreetMap (OSM) ecosystem, engaging governments, humanitarian and development agencies, underrepresented sectors, businesses, and citizens in the open mapping movement. In early 2023, AP Hub started the Open Mapping Guru Project to create a network of skilled OSM contributors who help build communities by sharing skills and creating training materials. By the end of 2023, this project expanded into a Fellowship Program from January 2024 to May 2024. This five-month Fellowship aimed to develop the skills, knowledge, and capacity of Gurus through intensive guidance and training, focusing on making impactful contributions to the open mapping movement in the region. The program had three tracks: Training Fellowship, Mapping Fellowship, and Validation Fellowship, each focusing on different aspects of open mapping. I have been an active mapper since 2020, continuously contributing to various projects. As an Open Mapping Guru, I chose and also got selected under the Validation Fellowship to sharpen my validation skills and deepen my knowledge of data quality.

Experiences

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Calling all campus influencers!

Are you a dynamic, and enthusiastic student looking to make a mark at your campus? Are you passionate about frontier technologies, open mapping, and community development? If yes, join us as a campus ambassador and be the face of our exciting upcoming events! we invite you to be part of this incredible journey!

We are excited to announce that the next State of the Map Asia and State of the Map Bangladesh will be held in the beautiful sandy seashore of Cox’s Bazar, and we’re looking for enthusiastic Campus Ambassadors to help make the event a grand success!

As a Campus Ambassador, you will play a crucial role in spreading awareness and engaging with your university community to promote these significant events. This is your chance to develop valuable skills, connect with like-minded individuals, and contribute to impactful projects that make a real difference.

What you’ll do?

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My Open Mapping Fellowship Journey

Introduction

My mapping journey began during the 2020 lockdown period. With extra time on my hands, I delved into mapping projects. Little did I know that this initial curiosity would lead to a fellowship and a profound impact on the mapping community. Over the past five months, I had the incredible opportunity to participate in the Open Mapping fellowship. As a passionate geomatics engineering student, this experience has been both enlightening and impactful. In this diary, I’ll share my journey, the lessons I’ve learned, and the impact I’ve made.

Learning the Ropes

The fellowship began with an orientation, where I learned about the principles of open mapping, the importance of community-driven data collection, and the power of collaborative efforts. I familiarized myself with tools like Mapillary and EveryDoor, which allowed me to contribute to mapping tasks efficiently.

Mapping and Validation

I dove into mapping tasks, meticulously tracing roads, buildings, and other features on OpenStreetMap (OSM). Validation became my daily routine. I reviewed and corrected contributions made by fellow mappers. It was fascinating to see how our collective efforts improved the accuracy of OSM data.

Experiences and Learnings

##Community Engagement One of the highlights was engaging with the mapping community. I participated in virtual meetups, exchanged ideas, and collaborated with mappers worldwide. Their insights and encouragement fueled my passion for open mapping.

Technical Skills and Impacts Made

I honed my skills in QGIS, mastering spatial analysis, cartography, and data visualization. The ability to create meaningful maps from raw data was empowering. My contributions directly impacted OSM. New roads, points of interest, and accurate boundaries now exist thanks to our collective efforts. Knowing that my edits are part of a global resource motivates me to continue mapping.

Empowering Local Communities

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Welcome to the tenth OpenStreetMap NextGen development diary.

This week the project becomes open for new contributors. Guides are ready, base code is stable, and more is on its way. Let’s get started 😎.

🔖 You can read my other development diaries here:
osm.org/user/NorthCrab/diary/

⭐ This project is open-source and publicly available:
https://github.com/Zaczero/openstreetmap-ng

🛈 This initiative is not affiliated with the OpenStreetMap Foundation.

Developers Discord

If you are a potential contributor, we have launched a Discord server for NextGen developers. There, we will provide you with quick, personalized support and guidance. We will also use it as the primary internal communication channel for the project.

Getting started can be difficult, but we are here to help.

Is This for Me?

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Last week, I attended the Digital Humanities Conference at University College Cork in Ireland for two days. I had been asked to give a talk about mapping ogham stones on OpenStreetMap as part of a panel which spoke about ogham stones and open and linked data. The other three speakers (Nora White, Megan Kasten and Florian Thiery) are all working at universities, as were most of the other speakers, so I felt a bit like an imposter.

However, it was a good chance to speak about OpenStreetMap to people who can spread the word amongst students.

AFAIK, the talks were not recorded, but I recorded my audio on the phone and made it into a YouTube-Video some days later which you can watch here: https://youtu.be/n6CM7Cq1iFM

It was also a good opportunity to meet other mappers (such as above mentioned Florian as well as Shawn Day who teaches at UCC), both of whom I had never met offline.

We mapped all the ogham stones at UCC and did photogrammetry of all of them which will be available on SketchFab (and other platforms?) soon. Maybe Florian can comment below with links to “his” stones and the slides from the other panellists.

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MY FELLOWSHIP JOURNEY

Introduction

“Hello Mappers, I’m Bendita Vilar Moreira Leite from Timor-Leste. I’m excited to share a glimpse into my fellowship journey through this diary post, where I’ll recount my training experience, reflect on my learning, and explore the impact of learn.

As a young Timorese individual, my journey in digital mapping began on February 3rd 2023. It marked my initial foray into mapping for open-source data, although initially, I struggled to grasp its intricacies. However, my passion for mapping truly ignited through my involvement with the G-SIG association. It was there that I found the inspiration and encouragement to delve deeper into this field.

My participation in OMGuru Fellowship

My participation in the OMGuru fellowship in January 2024 was a remarkable opportunity that I seized eagerly. Despite having some prior knowledge of mapping through platforms like OSM OpenStreetMap and Tasking Manager, I realized that I still had much to learn to become a proficient mapping. However, the fellowship provided an excellent platform for growth. Through engaging capacity-building sessions conducted via Google Meet, our trainers shared valuable insights and lessons related to open-source platforms. Additionally, they created a dedicated G-Classroom where we could access course materials and assignments. These resources proved invaluable in enhancing our skills and knowledge in the field of mapping.

An amazing experience that I found through OMGuru fellowship journey

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Navigating the Future: My Journey with the OM Guru Fellowship at Open Mapping Hub Asia

I am Dhivya, from Sri Lanka.

OpenStreetMap is an open data source where anyone can contribute and download the data. While completing my Master of Science in GIS & Remote Sensing, I got to know about OpenStreetMap. Because of my academic & work experience, I had a passion and interest in the field of GIS & Data collection. As I delved deeper into the world of OpenStreetMap, I became actively involved in contributing to the platform and engaging with the OpenStreetMap community in Sri Lanka. Creating a robust OpenStreetMap profile and participating in local events further fueled my enthusiasm for open mapping.

A pivotal moment in my OpenStreetMap journey was being part Data Quality Internship in 2022 DQI, amidst fierce competition from 1008 applicants representing 81 countries around the world. This incredible opportunity not only expanded my knowledge of data quality tools but also facilitated international collaborations, enriching both my professional and personal life. Amidst economic challenges in my country, the internship provided stability and opened doors for further involvement, including participation in the HOT Working Group.

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I was in a hurry today and I was hoping on a small village, but Stropckë proved to be quite big. Stropckë is a village with a population of around 1200.

“#100villagesin100days #Day9”

Open Mapping Guru Fellowship Journey

Introduction

Disasters, climate change, and various natural calamities profoundly impact the lives of humans, animals, and the environment. If we do not take action, the planet we call home becomes a place of fear and uncertainty. While we cannot prevent all natural occurrences, we can work towards a better future by addressing the mitigating factors that make Earth a more resilient place to live. Solutions come in many forms—distributing food, clothing, and financial support to those affected. One crucial method is through Open Mapping. Recently, the importance of Open Mapping has grown exponentially. From voluntary mappers to local government bodies, the significance and impact of Open Mapping are increasingly recognized. OpenStreetMap (OSM) serves as a platform for mapping purposes, while the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) leverages mapping for humanitarian causes. Since 2019, I have been an active mapper, experiencing the profound journey of becoming an Open Mapping Guru and participating in the Open Mapping Guru Fellowship Program. This journey has been dedicated to enhancing the quality of mapping, focusing on validation to ensure accuracy and reliability.

Fellowship Journey

Discovering Open Mapping

Five years ago, I embarked on my journey with Open Mapping, discovering its critical role in humanitarian efforts. The fellowship provided various tracks, and I chose the Validation Track, where I believe the most crucial and important details are checked and validated. Accurate mapping leads to more reliable results, which are essential for humanitarian purposes.

Learning and Using Validation Tools

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Introducing myself as first post.

Hello, I’m Naing Win Tun.

I touch in Openstreetmap last 10 years ago and contribute randomly.

This year I contacted AP-Guru program and was exposed to better methods, tools, trainings.

Although previously I thought that when adding POIs, you can only add them if you have local knowledge When I came into contact with tools like Mapillary, I realized that I can search and install in unlimited places.

I also found HOT-TM (Hot Tasking Manager) to be an excellent management tool when creating and collaborating on projects with people.

I have also been exposed to other interesting technologies and Now I’m contribute more efficiently on OSM data development.

Thanks.

Welcome ! First lets start with overture , if you don’t know what is Overture Maps Foundation and what it does I strongly recommend you to go through this website : https://overturemaps.org/ , I tried to build small utilities and hosted them so that readers of this blog also can look into the data and analyze by themselves.

Release Used

• Overture release: 2024-05-16-beta.0

Objectives

Primary Objective

• To perform qualitative and quantitative analysis of Overture map data.

Secondary Objectives

• Visualize the releases on a country level.
• Conduct qualitative analysis to identify additions to existing OSM data and differences across countries.
• Facilitate general users in forming their own opinions based on the available data.

Approach

1. Build a script to retrieve Overture data as geoparquet with multiple themes (streamlining and automating the process).
2. Convert geoparquet to geojson.
3. Convert flattened geojson to pmtiles.
4. Develop a viewer for comparison and loading.
5. Automate the entire process with a bash script.
6. Compare with population data, existing OSM buildings in the area, and if possible, the number of people per building.

Considerations

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Hablando con otros miembros de la comunidad de Colombia, en especial con Rafa - risturiz con quien he resuelto miles de notas de Colombia y LatAm, nos pusimos a soñar cómo podría ser una aplicación para recolectar información por medio de notas masivamente y de una forma segura.

Esta charla surgió gracias a los avances que hemos notado con las notas. Inicialmente, las notas solo eran texto (y bueno, lo siguen y seguirán siendo) pero ahora hacen referencia a otro tipo de elementos multimedia. Por ejemplo, Fediphoto puede crear notas en OSM, asociando una foto subida a un servidor federado de Mastodon (como en.osm.town), y de esta forma subir muchas fotos que persistan junto con una nota.

Otra forma avanzada es con StreetComplete que también permite asociar fotos pero son temporales (mientras la nota está abierta, lo cual es una lástima y restringe la aplicación). Por otro lado, ahora permite capturar una traza GPX, subirla a OSM, y asociarla en la nota. Esto ha permitido que las notas tengan información más rica al momento de resolver notas, sobretodo para nuestro rol de resolver notas.

Con los avances de tecnología, y dispositivos disponibles en el mercado, consideramos una aplicación móvil así:

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IVIDES.org promoveu oficina para ensinar a mapear feições ecologicamente importantes

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O Instituto Virtual para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável - IVIDES.org promoveu uma oficina sobre mapeamento de árvores e cobertura vegetal utilizando o OpenStreetMap, a maior base cartográfica colaborativa da atualidade.

Na oficina, foram mostradas as etiquetas utilizadas para mapear árvores e cobertura vegetal no OpenStreetMap, além de destacar as iniciativas especiais, como o Environmental OSM.(OSM Ambiental), o mapeamento de árvores de Paul Dassori (OSM Latam) ou o esquema de conjunto de etiquetas proposto por Pedro Tharg (OSM Brasil).

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Na página das oficinas temáticas, encontram-se todos os recursos e o vídeo está disponível no canal IVIDES no YouTube.

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Também foi mostrado como mapear nos editores iD e JOSM, além da apresentação do plugin FastDraw, que permite o desenho à mão livre no JOSM.

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Tenhle blog je o několika argumentech, proč se čas od času věnovat něčemu užitečnému. Třeba mapám OpenStreetMap.

Je to tip pro úplně nezkušené uživatele mapy, jak sobě i druhým rozšířit dovednosti. Samozřejmě, že není exkluzívním návodem na vyplnění času a není jediným a hlavním. Využijte ho podle svých možností v rámci všech dalších aktivit, které ani nemusí být u počítače, ani na internetu.

Čtenářem, který si něco odnese, je tedy někdo, kdo s mapami ještě nic netvořil, ale mohl by. Jen neví jak začít. Tento blog se k němu dostal třeba tak, že mu jej někdo jiný doporučil. Někdo, kdo má spoustu zkušeností s mapami, třeba i profesionální, ale nemá spoustu času to všechno najednou vysvětlit. Od začátku.

Tak pojďme na to.

Sdělení je tedy zjednodušené a pokud možno nebude zacházet do odborných termínů, technických zákoutí. Ty raději přenechám na někoho jiného. Existují další výukové materiály LearnOSM, návody, OSM wiki a další stránky týkající se pouze OpenStreetMap.

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Open source, open source. What is open-source software?

My dear mentor at HOTOSM, Kshitij explained this to me using a food I like, which is pasta and I would like to share it.

Open-source software is any software whose make-up(source code) is available for anyone to see and contribute. Like pasta, anyone can make it. You can make it however you like. You can add different ingredients to it which can be likened to adding features to open source software.

Being open-source doesn’t mean free. Open-source software is not synonymous with free software. Let’s hit it home with pasta. That anyone can make pasta doesn’t mean that pasta will be free. Cooking pasta costs me effort and resources, and I could charge for that. Likewise, it is the same for software, it could be open-source but not free.

If however, I have a restaurant where anyone can come in to help cook pasta to distribute freely to people, that is what you will call Free and Open-source pasta. This is mostly the case with most open-source projects Do a quick check. Check if your favourite applications are open-source and appreciate the community behind them.

How about proprietary software? Think about your favourite restaurant to eat pasta. I assume you don’t know how to make it taste like theirs, as you don’t have their recipe. You can’t walk in there to add ingredients to it while they cook because you are not a chef at the restaurant. That is the opposite of open-source. You can’t access the make-up(source code) and you can not add to it. Proprietary software can either be paid or free. Just as your favourite restaurant can either charge you for their pasta or give it to you for free (winks).

I hope this short explanation was worth your read. Let me know.