I am grateful for the HOT Voting Members nomination by Adityo Dwijananto, DMI Project Coordinator Indonesia. Please find below my personal statement.

How did you become involved in HOT?

I was first exposed to the work of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team in Indonesia as a Communications Specialist back in early 2014. Coming from neither Geography nor IT related background, I was confronted with a significant challenge trying to understand even the most basic terms used in what I see as somewhat foreign and uncharted field. I was lucky enough, however, that I got to work with a bunch of patient and talented group in HOT Indonesia as it gave me space to slowly digest and connect the dots between my social and international affairs background with a more technical domain. And to come to think of it, coming from a non-technical background has helped my work which is, in a nutshell, to try to convince people that mapping is not as difficult and as technical as it seems. This has enabled me to relate more on the way muggles see crowdsourced, digital mapping from an external, non-technical persons’ view and communicate it in plain language that community members can relate to.

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Could you tell us about your involvement in HOT, mapping and/or humanitarian response?

In 2016 I rejoined HOT in two projects, Disaster Management Innovation Indonesia and InAWARE PDC city-wide mapping. I oversee community engagement, among others, ensuring that public and stakeholders are well-informed about what we do and how they can contribute. I design overall outreach strategy; create and curate publication content; posted updates and tutorials; write press releases; organize radio appearances, community meetups, and live-streamed offline GeoOSMWeek Talkshow in @atamerica; guide activities for communications interns; and liaise with students-driven training replication. I was also involved in Tasking Manager Activation and response to Pidie Earthquake and the Disaster Risk Reduction Week by BNPB.

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What does HOT mean to you?

HOT to me means giving people access and opportunities. It provides tools for communities, especially the most vulnerable ones to map themselves and help map others in need. HOT has been very productive with steady growth of exposure and partnerships which had enabled small groups of people to yield significant impact to the world of humanitarian response and economic development. In HOT, every bit of contribution can make a measurable difference.

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Why do you want to be a voting member?

Being a voting member means having the room to engage more proactively. I think it is important as a Communications Specialist that I am made aware of the recent development of the organization so I can keep the targeted mass stay informed. This will also add up ways for me to learn more about the technical side of the organization and continue learning from more experienced members.

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As a voting member of HOT what do you see as your most important responsibility?

I believe all HOT members, especially the voting members, are keen to continuously think and innovate how to further the impact the organization long to create. As a member with non-technical academic background, I can use my acumen to sense how our tools can be used by community where mobile network penetration is still problematic. I think most Indonesians (and other developing countries) are like me (before joining HOT), they aren’t yet familiar with crowdsourced tools and are more keen to participate when they can see the outcomes in physical, tangible forms. To stimulate participation where awareness to disaster preparedness is minimum, let alone mapping for it, is the area where I would devote time and energy to advocate for.

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How do you plan to be involved in HOT as a voting member?

Putting HOT front and center in humanitarian response and economic development means bringing wider exposure, not only to recognition but also to constructive criticism. Ensuring how we communicate every policy change made by voting members, if any, means taking a serious endeavor at ensuring that our message gets across as intended. Community engagement has been at the core of my previous working experience with the Open Government Indonesia under the President’s Delivery Unit for Development Monitoring and Oversight (UKP4) and with several other student organizations. To expand and narrow down the principles in community mapping has given a lot to take in as part of professional development and that’s how I wish to be involved as a voting member.

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What do you see as HOT’s greatest challenge and how do you plan to help HOT meet that challenge?

Ensuring the sustainability of HOT projects are among key issues. It is important to ensure that we do not only train people how to map but also equip them with necessary leadership skills to mobilize their peers in mapping. Sensitizing community members with the right motivation of how significant the exposure data they are providing by mapping their neighborhood without having first to wait until a disaster strikes, for example, need to be further sharpened. Involving vulnerable groups, such as women, youth, the elderly and people with disability, should also be among key campaigns to champion.

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