OpenStreetMap
Hello,
Below I have compiled recent news related to the OSM Foundation (OSMF) board’s work. Most of these are or are going to be publicly documented on the OSMF website, so if you follow the Atom feed for the board meetings’ page, you can skip this.
What this diary entry is
It contains my personal selection and recollection of recent OSMF board-related updates.
What this diary entry is not
It is not intended to include details or all OSMF board-related updates. For these, you can refer to the published board minutes. This entry has not been reviewed by the OSMF board.
Why?
Informing the OSMF members is important. The board minutes describe in detail what was discussed in public board meetings, but many people don’t have time or follow the Atom feed for the OSMF’s website recent changes. At some point, I was creating annual or more frequent updates for the whole Foundation, which was a lot of work during a short period, while other tasks were ongoing.
I’m posting this experimentally, and I’m going to see whether I can continue to do so semi-regularly.
May 2026 OSMF board updates
The board had a meeting on Thursday, 28 May 2026.
Draft minutes are here and they include minutes of the Chairperson’s report by Craig Allan and the Secretary’s report by Dani Waltersdorfer.
Some highlights are below.
Disputed territories
Rewriting the information for officials and diplomats of countries and entities with disputed territories
Craig Allan (OSMF Chair) has drafted a revision of the document for officials and diplomats of countries and entities with disputed territories, which was approved in September 2013, and which is referred to by the Data Working Group (DWG) and the OSMF. Craig circulated the draft to the board for feedback and suggested to Simon Poole (former OSMF Chair, former LWG Chair and present during the May 2026 board meeting) to review the updated policy document.
OSM data licensing
Creating a Memorandum of Understanding template regarding OSM data licensing for government users and an MoU for the US Department of Transport
Craig Allan (OSMF Chair) is drafting a memorandum of understanding (MoU) template regarding OSM data licensing for government users. This was triggered by Dani Waltersdorder’s contact with Derald Dudley from the US Department of Transport.
Communications
OSMF moderation team’s report for the last 12 months
Allan Mustard (OSMF moderation team Chair and former OSMF Chair) published the OSMF Moderation team’s report for the last 12 months and notified the board. One lifetime ban was issued. The OSMF board passed a motion to formally thank the OSMF moderation team for their work.
Proposed OSM course at Geoversity
The OSMF board is considering creating an OSM course and hosting it at Geoversity. It was noted by Laura Mugeha that OSMF should avoid duplicating content, as there are already courses provided and maintained by the OSM community for free, such as LearnOSM, TeachOSM, YouthMappers Academy, UN Mappers Learning Hub, and HOT Training Center. Héctor Ochoa Ortiz, who had the initial contact with Geoversity during the Geospatial World Forum 2026, will follow up.
OSM communities
Grant to GeoChicas
The board approved a grant of GBP 250 to GeoChicas, for one of their meetings and their in-person workshop, around the time of the State of the Map Latin America 2026 conference.
Closed session
The OSMF board had a closed session at the end of the May 2026 board meeting, regarding a personnel matter. You can find more details here.
Next OSMF board meeting
The board will have a face-to-face meeting from 5-7 June 2026 in Madrid, at TomTom’s office (Corporate Member). The meeting will be facilitated and the agenda has not been set yet. Unfortunately, Brazil Singh will be unable to attend, due to Visa issues.
The next public OSMF board video-meeting will take place on 25 June 2026, at 13:00 UTC at https://osmvideo.cloud68.co/user/dor-2cd-qah-rim and is open to OSMF members. The agenda will be here, approximately one week before the meeting, and will be announced on osmf-talk@openstreetmap.org, which is the OSMF members’ mailing list. The public archive of the mailing list messages is here.
The current OSM Foundation board members are:
Brazil Singh 🇧🇩
Craig Allan 🇿🇦
Daniela Waltersdorfer 🇵🇪
Héctor Ochoa Ortiz 🇪🇸
Laura Mugeha 🇰🇪
Maurizio Napolitano 🇮🇹 and
Roland Olbricht 🇩🇪.
Read their biographies and find out their officer and other roles. Former board members are listed here.
OSMF board members are volunteers.
Minutes of public OSMF board meetings are on the OSMF website.
Thanks to the weeklyOSM volunteers, including those who attend the OSMF public board meetings, as well as the community members who submit news to the weekly :)
Discussion