Meet the new Core Software Engineer

Hello all! My name is Pablo Brasero Moreno, a software engineer and long-time enthusiast of Open Source Software and Open Data. I am honoured and grateful to have been selected by the OSMF as Core Software Engineer, thanks the funds provided by the Sovereign Tech Agency.

At a personal level, I grew up in Seville, Spain. In 2004 I moved to the UK and, after living for many years in London, England, now I’m established in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In my own time I explore Northern Ireland with my family, read sci-fi novels, listen to heavy metal music, attend concerts, play bass guitar (badly), and try to learn languages (even more badly, currently attempting Mandarin Chinese). Did I mention I have a B1 certificate in Esperanto?

I have been involved in some capacity with Open Source Software since I first installed Linux in my computer in 1998, first contributing with Spanish translations (over email!), and later taking part in the OSS explosion brought by the creation of GitHub. I have worked with many technology stacks over my career, but for a long time the primary one has been Ruby on Rails. I have used Ruby in many environments, from helping clients bootstrap businesses out of napkin sketches, to participating in the architecture and growth of banking applications. Since 2019 I am a freelancer, and I cannot but feel so lucky to have been available at the time when OSMF announced this position.

Without being a huge contributor to OSM, I was aware of it at least as early as 2015, when I made my first edits while visiting Mexico. In the last couple of years I have started mapping playgrounds, as that strikes a balance between my interest to contribute and my family’s patience to wait for me while I fiddle on my phone.

I am not here to dictate what features should exist in the the OSM website, or what specific issues should be fixed. I am here to learn about the needs of the community, relieve the workload of the volunteers, support contributors new and old, provide reviews and guidance on software engineering questions, and overall help bring our collective vision of OSM to fruition.

You will be hearing from me soon, in the form of GitHub comments/issues/PRs, working with Minh Nguyễn with news and summaries related to development of the platform, talking to many of you directly in order to understand your points of view, and generally anywhere where I can help.

I cannot wait to working with and for y’all!

OSM Awards 2025 Voting

The community voting for the OpenStreetMap Awards 2025 is open! During the call for nominees, you submitted more than a hundred of them. Then, a number of active community members have prepared a shorter list. Now it is again your turn: choose who gets an award during State of the Map in Manila.

We have 28 nominees to choose from 7 categories:

Core Systems Award
Innovation Award
Influential Writing Award
Greatness in Mapping Award
Expanding the Community Award
Team Achievement Award
Ulf Möller Memorial Award

Every one of these worked hard, and deserves every bit of our love. You don’t have to choose only one nominee per category: that would be an impossible choice, given we have so many great people on the list. Click as many checkboxes as you like, even all of them. What matters is not winning, but knowing that hundreds of people support you and your project. The main point of a community is to support its members, and this is your chance to do that. Don’t forget to press the “Vote” button afterwards.

And do use the fact that you can change or add to your votes at any time until the voting ends on 30 September 2025, right before the State of the Map 2025 conference, at which winners will be announced.

Do not postpone visiting the website — spend a minute right now. Please vote now awards.openstreetmap.org and show your appreciation!

The State of the Map Working Group

The State of the Map conference is the annual, international conference of OpenStreetMap, organised by the OpenStreetMap Foundation. The OpenStreetMap Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation, formed to support the OpenStreetMap Project. It is dedicated to encouraging the growth, development and distribution of free geospatial data for anyone to use and share. The OpenStreetMap Foundation owns and maintains the infrastructure of the OpenStreetMap project, is financially supported by membership fees and donations, and organises the annual, international State of the Map conference. Our volunteer Working Groups and small core staff work to support the OpenStreetMap project. Join the OpenStreetMap Foundation for just £15 a year or for free if you are an active OpenStreetMap contributor.

OpenStreetMap was founded in 2004 and is an international project to create a free map of the world. To do so, we, thousands of volunteers, collect data about roads, railways, rivers, forests, buildings and a lot more worldwide. Our map data can be downloaded for free by everyone and used for any purpose – including commercial usage. It is possible to produce your own maps which highlight certain features, to calculate routes etc. OpenStreetMap is increasingly used when one needs maps which can be very quickly, or easily, updated.

2025 OSMF Board Election – Online voting is open until 13 September at 16:00 UTC, when the Annual General Meeting will commence

Official OSM logo by Ken Vermette, CC-BY-SA 3.0 & trademarks apply.

Voting for the 2025 board election has started. You can read the board candidates’ answers and manifestos here.

Emails were sent to eligible OSM Foundation members today, and link directly to the voting page – listing each candidate in random order and allowing you to rank the candidates in order of preference.

Eligibility to vote

You are eligible to vote in the election if

you have been a member for the full 90 days prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting (which will take place on 13 September 2025), and
your membership is not in arrears 7 days before the date of the Annual General Meeting, and
you are a natural person.

OpaVote voting email

If you are eligible to vote, the OpaVote email was sent to the email address associated with your OSM Foundation membership.

The subject of the email is: [OpenStreetMap Foundation] Voting on 2025 board election [some_random_letters]
The sender is: noreply at opavote.com

If you believe you should have received a voting email but can’t find it, please check your spam folder. If it’s still missing, send a message to the email addresses mentioned here.

Voting information and FAQ

You can find more information about voting and answers to frequently asked questions here. Please make sure to read the warning on the page before voting.

Deadline for voting: Saturday 13 September 2025 at 16:00 UTC,

The polls will remain open for one week, closing on Saturday 13 September 2025 at 16:00 UTC, when the Annual General Meeting (which you can join online) will commence. We kindly ask you to vote in advance.

Do you want to translate this and other blog posts in another language..? Send an email to communication@osmfoundation.org with subject: Helping with translations in [your language]

The OpenStreetMap Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation, formed to support the OpenStreetMap Project. It is dedicated to encouraging the growth, development and distribution of free geospatial data for anyone to use and share. The OpenStreetMap Foundation owns and maintains the infrastructure of the OpenStreetMap project, is financially supported by membership fees and donations, and organises the annual, international State of the Map conference. Our volunteer Working Groups and small core staff work to support the OpenStreetMap project. Join the OpenStreetMap Foundation for just £15 a year or for free if you are an active OpenStreetMap contributor.

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OpenStreetMap at UN Open Source Week

by Minh Nguyễn
Core Software Development Facilitator, OpenStreetMap Foundation

In June, I had the privilege of representing OpenStreetMap as part of the Sovereign Tech Agency’s delegation at UN Open Source Week in New York City. Joining me was Sarah Hoffmann, who maintains several well-known OSM software projects. This was a unique opportunity to raise OSM’s profile among global institutional supporters of open source projects and promote best practices for fostering and sustaining authentic open source communities.

Among the open source projects represented at the event, OSM stands out as an open data project, giving us a special perspective on issues of governance and community-building. At the unconference-style “Maintain-A-Thon”, Sarah shared some of her deep experience as maintainer of Nominatim in discussing how to create accessible entry points for new contributors. A few steps away, I joined open source maintainers from around the world as we discussed our challenges in internationalizing our projects and communities to serve a more global audience.

(Meanwhile, Wikipedians onboarded a large group of new contributors at an editathon across the room. Maybe in the future we can carve out some space for a mapathon too.)

The UN’s Trusteeship Council room is full as an International Telecommunication Union official speaks before attendees at DPI Day.

As the discussion came around to topics such as contributor retention and developing governance models, I was struck by the familiar challenges that our various projects have faced, even though they’re in different fields and at such different stages of maturity.

How do we accommodate volunteers coexisting with paid developers and individuals coexisting with institutional partners?
How do we build a pipeline that transforms “takers” into “makers”?
How do we ensure that the community feels heard without allowing the project to fall victim to analysis paralysis?

It was fascinating to hear about the approaches that larger projects with institutional backing have taken, but our grassroots, decentralized structure would likely require some extra creativity. At least we’re in touch and can learn from each other going forward, since there are no magic solutions.

Just like at any OSM conference, the most interesting part was the hallway track. We had the privilege of meeting a number of representatives from open source program offices (OSPOs) in the public sector, civil society, and academia. Some had heard of OSM but only knew us as a map data vendor or some sort of alternative to Google Maps. It’s always fun to meet people who think they know about GIS and maps and introduce them to the very concept of a map rooted in a community. University OSPOs were particularly interested in our story, as OSM is a whole constellation of projects that use a variety of technologies. Here’s hoping something comes of that.

In the meantime, we have plenty of technical debt as well as some low-hanging fruit for improving how the projects run day to day. I’m excited about the opportunity to bring in a Core Software Engineer who over time can hopefully complement the irreplaceable efforts of our volunteers. Whether you’re a coder or not, there’s a place for you to thrive in OSM.

State of the Map 2025: Call for Posters

SotM2018_viewing_posters

Did you miss the call for general and OSM Science presentations? Fret not! You can still present your project and initiatives at State of the Map 2025! The Call for Posters for SotM 2025 is now open!

Your poster could show how well your community is mapped. It could be a new beautiful style or a map. It could be a community project or statistics, or a poster explaining and inviting people to OpenStreetMap. The important thing is that it is about OSM. We also welcome academic posters on research around OpenStreetMap data.

For inspiration, you can check out the SotM 2024 posters – https://2024.stateofthemap.org/posters/

Submission Requirements

The poster must be in A0 format (841 × 1189 mm).
The poster must be related to OpenStreetMap.
The poster must be open, innovative and transparent (no copying).
The poster must be an original work (individual, collective or institutional).
The poster must be submitted under an open license (CC-BY-SA 3.0 or higher recommended, or CC0).
Maximum of two entries per person, team, or institution.

How to participate

Upload your poster via https://files.osmfoundation.org/s/gB368RpybBnmQoF (you will not receive any email)
Maximum file size: 30-40 MB
Format: PDF

Please send an email to sotm [at] openstreetmap.org with a description of your poster. For example, the background of the project or whatever you consider important to mention in the context of the poster – all that you would tell people if you show them your poster. We will publish this text together with the poster on the SotM website.
Please also mention the filename of the uploaded poster in your email, so that we can know which of the uploaded posters is yours.

Timeline

Deadline: 15 September 2025

The SotM team hopes to shortlist up to 20 posters that will be published on our website and some other SotM channels under CC BY SA 3.0 (or later)

The State of the Map Working Group

Apply to be the OpenStreetMap Core Software Engineer

We are not accepting applications for this role at this point. Thank you to all who have applied.

OpenStreetMap powers maps and services used by millions of people around the world every day. To better support the community that makes this possible, the OpenStreetMap Foundation is seeking a dedicated mid- to senior-level software engineer with a passion for open data, collaborative software, and digital commons.

The ideal candidate is proficient in modern Web development (frontend and backend), experienced with open source collaboration, and comfortable working in public repositories with community feedback.

Your main responsibilities will focus on the openstreetmap.org website and its underlying API-a critical part of the infrastructure powering a global mapping movement. Your work will directly support an ecosystem of tools used by tens of thousands of contributors monthly, producing map data relied upon by millions worldwide.

You will collaborate closely with the OSMF’s Core Software Development Facilitator (CSDF). This position is made possible through funding from the Sovereign Tech Fund.
We strongly encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, especially those underrepresented in open source and geospatial communities.

Scope of work

The engineer will primarily contribute to the openstreetmap-website, with responsibilities divided into the following two categories:

Core Responsibilities

Analyze and understand the existing architecture and codebase of openstreetmap-website
Collaborate with the CSDF and project maintainers to define and prioritize development goals
Design and implement features that enhance the platform and empower community contributions
Triage and resolve issues reported by users and review incoming pull requests
Over time, the engineer may assume responsibility for deeper infrastructural areas and contribute to the long-term maintainability of the platform.

Collaboration & Communication

Maintain open and frequent communication with the CSDF and project maintainers through GitHub, mailing lists, and real-time chat
Participate in public discussions, support issue triage, and assist in release planning
Help document development workflows, decisions, and architecture changes

Profile

Required Qualifications

Proficiency with Ruby on Rails
At least 3 years of professional Web development or related software engineering experience
Experience working with large-scale, production-ready codebases (OpenStreetMap serves as much as 13 TB of data, growing all the time)
Experience collaborating in open source projects, working in public repositories, and engaging with contributors
Willingness to learn and use technologies in the stack as needed (e.g., JavaScript, SQL)

Preferred Qualifications

Previous contributions to OpenStreetMap (as a mapper or developer)
Enthusiasm for engaging with users of open source tools and platforms
Strong technical communication skills, especially in asynchronous, text-based environments (GitHub, chat)
Have previous experience with geospatial software and/or data

Contracting structure

Location: Remote (global)

This freelance/contractor position is available immediately, at approximately 80% time. It is funded through the end of 2026 by the Sovereign Tech Fund. Continuation will be evaluated based on impact and future funding availability.

The person will work from their premises and set their own schedule. However, your working hours will need to overlap at least minimally with those of the CSDF, who is based in the UTC–7/8 time zone. As the OSMF is a global organisation, working with people in different time zones and handling related scheduling constraints is expected. Communication will be in English.

To apply for this position, please send your CV with a cover letter to the OSMF Personnel Committee at pc@osmfoundation.org.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Vector Tiles are deployed on OpenStreetMap.org

We are happy to announce the deployment of Vector Tiles on OpenStreetMap Foundation servers and the publication of the layer on the OSM website! We have been working hard to bring you a fresh look to OSM data, paired with exciting technological upgrades.

Work has been progressing since last year. In June 2024 we shared progress, including the launch of the vector tiles demo site, as well as details on the technical background on the tools being used. Since then we have put the tile generation process through months of testing, focused on reliability and speed improvements, and gotten ready for full production use.

Now, with integration of the vector tiles as a feature layer on the OpenStreetMap website, mappers and visitors get a visual layer that is sharper and quicker, based on an entirely new backend.

A major benefit of vector tiles is adaptability, so developers can leverage this vector source to develop their own styles based on the existing Shortbread styles or write a new one and use the new OSMF-hosted tiles. To use OSMF vector tiles in a project, in a development or production environment, consult the Vector Tile Usage Policy. Note that the policy may be subject to change to address any issues that come up after this launch.

From this point, you can expect further evolution of the Shortbread spec and styles. Input on the direction, ideas, and issues with OSMF vector tiles are welcome. Share in the appropriate repository: spirit for styles, tilekiln for tile generation, and shortbread-tiles for the tile content specification.

State of the Map 2026 – Call for Venues is now open

Bring State of the Map to Your Community/Country!

We’re excited to invite bids for the next State of the Map conference, taking place in 2026. This is a unique opportunity to partner with us and host the conference in your city!

Why bid?

Share your community’s experiences and successes with the global OpenStreetMap community
Showcase your city’s unique culture and attractions
Contribute to the growth and development of OpenStreetMap globally

How to bid:

Read the guidelines and selection criteria on the OSM Wiki page
Plan your application carefully, considering dates, venues, and logistics
Avoid clashes with other relevant conferences, such as FOSS4G and local SotMs

Early bird advantage:

By bidding now, you’ll have the greatest flexibility in choosing dates for the 2026 conference. Don’t miss this opportunity!

We look forward to receiving your bid and partnering with you to bring State of the Map to your community/Country

Key Dates

Call for venues open: 13 June 2025
Deadline of bids: 31 August 2025
We will review the bids for State of the Map 2026 in September 2025 and will inform the teams immediately after the decision.
Announcement of venue 2026: during State of the Map 2025 in Manila
Also observe other relevant event dates, e.g. avoid collisions with FOSS4G and local SotMs.

Need help?

The SotM Working Group is available for any further clarifications! Please contact via email: sotm [at] openstreetmap.org as early as possible so that we can provide guidance, if needed.
We look forward to collaborating with you.

The State of the Map Working Group

The 2025 OpenStreetMap EWG Microgrant Program

Have a bold, brilliant idea that could improve the OpenStreetMap (OSM) ecosystem? Got a vision for the future of OSM? Then we’ve got good news for you: the OpenStreetMap Foundation is thrilled to launch the 2025 edition of our Engineering Microgrants program!

This program is designed to support community members working on software projects that strengthen the OSM platform and ecosystem. We’re setting aside a total of £30,000, which may be distributed across several innovative and impactful projects. The per-project limit is £6,000, but if your idea goes beyond that, don’t hold back! The Engineering Working Group (EWG) may explore other funding avenues through the Foundation to help bring ambitious proposals to life. As such, we’d still encourage you to apply.

What’s the Process?

It’s simple and fair:

Submit your project idea via our GitHub template. This ensures transparency and reduces the chance of any conflicts of interest.

Our independent jury will review, score, and help select winning proposals through a multi-round process. Each idea will be reviewed not only for its score, but also for feasibility and implementation potential.

Pro tip: Before you hit submit, we strongly encourage all applicants to reach out to software maintainers if your idea touches existing tools, projects, or platforms. This helps align efforts, avoid duplications, and possibly even uncover opportunities for collaboration. If you need help identifying any software maintainers, you can contact the Engineering Working Group or the OSM Foundation Board, or ask directly on the announcement thread, so you can be put in contact with the correct parties.

Got questions? You can reply to the announcement thread, reach out to the jurors, or message the EWG directly. Jurors might also contact applicants during the review process if clarification is needed,so keep your inbox open.

We’re excited to see what you all come up with and submit! Whether it’s a tool to improve mapping workflows, enhancements to core OSM infrastructure, or entirely new ideas that fill a gap—we want to hear from you.

Submit your idea today and help shape the future of OpenStreetMap!

OSM Foundation board elections 2025 – Nominate yourself by July 5

Official OSM logo by Ken Vermette, CC-BY-SA 3.0 & trademarks apply.

OpenStreetMap Foundation members will vote to elect a new board in September. There are seven seats on the foundation board and board members are volunteers. Board members typically serve for two years until their seat is up for re-election.

There will be at least three board seats available in this election: of Dani Waltersdorfer, Guillaume Rischard and Roland Olbricht, whose board terms are ending. The terms of Craig Allan, Héctor Ochoa Ortiz, Laura Mugeha and Maurizio Napolitano will continue.

The two main pages that have the information about the board election and the 2025 Annual General Meeting, which will take place on 2025-09-13, are:

OSM wiki: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Foundation/AGM2025/Election_to_Board and
OSM Foundation website: https://osmfoundation.org/wiki/Annual_General_Meetings/2025

Submission of self-nominations is now open until 5 July at 23:59:59 UTC

Please check the eligibility criteria (also below) and “what the board is/is not, rules and responsibilities and why run“. You can create an account on the OSM wiki and you can nominate yourself by adding your name to the candidates’ table – edit the page here. Deadline: 5^th of July at 23:59:59 UTC.

A lot of the foundation’s work is done by the volunteers of our Working Groups, and if you want to help the foundation, you can also look at joining one of them.

Eligibility criteria

Any natural person may be elected to become a board member, provided that:

they have been a normal OSM Foundation member [1] or an associate member[2] during the full 180 days before the General Meeting, which will take place on 13 September 2025, and
have been a normal member for the full 28 days prior to the General Meeting, and
are willing to act as a board member, and
are permitted by law to do so.

[1] Normal members provide their full residential address and can vote on all issues. Their residential address may be disclosed to other members.
[2] Associate members provide just their country of residence - which may also be disclosed to other members - and can vote - but not on all issues. Additionally, they cannot be board candidates.

If you want to find out the type of your OpenStreetMap Foundation membership (normal or associate), please check the most recent approval/renewal membership email or email the volunteers of the Membership Working Group at membership@osmfoundation.org from the email account associated with your OSM Foundation membership.

Please note that you can change the type of your membership.

Submission of community questions to board candidates is now open

OSM Foundation members can submit questions to the board candidates on the OSM wiki until July 12 (“by end of day”, in UTC). An official set of questions, based on the community questions and questions from previous years, will be published on the page above by the facilitator, Brian Sperlongano, on July 26.

Resolutions proposed by OSM Foundation members

OSM Foundation members can submit resolutions and ask the membership to vote on them. The resolutions need to be supported by at least 5% of members eligible to vote, in order to be added to the ballots. Please read: Companies Act 2006: Members’ power to require circulation of written resolution. The deadline for providing the supported resolutions is the end of July 12 (in UTC).

How you can help

A few of the current and past board members have mentioned that the thought of being a candidate did not cross their mind until it was suggested to them. So, you might want to consider running for the board or suggesting it to others.

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