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 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.
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.
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 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.
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!
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
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:
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.
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.
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
Tickets are now available for State of the Map 2025 in Manila! Get ready for an incredible experience to connect, learn, and celebrate OpenStreetMap!
The moment you’ve been waiting for has arrived – tickets for State of the Map 2025 in Manila are officially on sale!
Act Fast! Early Bird Tickets Available Now! To make it easier for you to join us, we’re offering Early Bird tickets at a special discounted rate. This is a limited opportunity to secure your place for less!
We have two types of Early Bird tickets available:
Community Early Bird Specifically for individuals who contribute to OpenStreetMap as a hobbyist.
Regular Early Bird: Our standard discounted rate.
Early Bird Pricing:
Community: GBP 150.00 GBP 70.00
Regular: GBP 300.00 GBP 220.00
These Early Bird tickets are limited in number (currently 200 of each type available) and are only offered for a limited time, so grab yours before they’re gone!
SotM is the premier global conference for the entire OpenStreetMap community. It’s where mappers, developers, researchers, users, companies, and everyone passionate about the world’s free and open map comes together. This is your chance to share your amazing work, learn groundbreaking new things, discover exciting projects, and make real-world connections with fellow enthusiasts from every corner of the globe.
Why attend SotM 2025 in Manila?
Experience a vibrant global community gathering in Southeast Asia!
Attend inspiring talks and practical workshops.
Meet the people behind the map and expand your network.
Be part of discussions shaping the future of OpenStreetMap.
Enjoy the atmosphere and connect with friends, old and new!
And of course, soak in the unique culture, hospitality, and buzz of Manila! Ready to join us in Manila? Head over to the official SotM 2025 website to get your tickets today at 2025.stateofthemap.org/tickets
Don’t wait too long – grab your ticket, secure your place at the heart of the OpenStreetMap community, and start planning your trip to Manila!
We absolutely can’t wait to see you there!
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.
We are excited to announce the call for nominees for the OpenStreetMap Awards 2025! The awards ceremony will take place this October at the State of the Map 2025 conference in Manila!
These community awards are nominated and chosen by the community. The OpenStreetMap Awards is a global recognition event that celebrates contributors from all corners of the OSM project – including mappers, developers, community organizers, writers, and everyone who makes OSM great. We need your help to identify the best and brightest of OpenStreetMap globally!
The awards are back with the following categories to recognize a wide range of contributions:
Core Systems Award
Innovation Award
Influential Writing Award
Greatness in Mapping Award
Expanding the Community Award
Team Achievement Award
Ulf Möller Memorial Award
You can find more details about what each award represents on the wiki: OSM Awards
We are primarily looking for recent impactful contributions. Therefore, projects, works, and activities should have occurred or been announced between January 1st, 2024, and April 1st, 2025 to be eligible for most categories. The Ulf Möller Memorial Award is an exception; anyone is eligible regardless of when they were active in the project.
Think about the individuals, teams, or groups whose efforts have impressed you during this time. Have you seen fantastic mapping, innovative tools, inspiring community work, or influential writing? This is your chance to make their contributions visible to the entire world! You can even nominate yourself or your team if you believe your work deserves recognition.
Ready to nominate? It’s quick and easy!
Visit the official OSM Awards website to add your nominees: SotM Nominations
The call for nominees will close on Wednesday, July 23rd, 2025.
Please make sure to add your nominations before the deadline. The more nominees we receive, the better we can represent the breadth and depth of amazing work happening in OpenStreetMap, and the more exciting the final voting and ceremony will be.
Keep the OpenStreetMap Awards in mind and nominate those who deserve recognition today!
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.
The OpenStreetMap Foundation Board has selected Minh Nguyễn as the Core Software Development Facilitator. Here’s Minh to introduce himself, some of his ideas and directions, and opportunities to connect. Welcome, Minh!
Hi, I’m Minh Nguyễn, an OSM contributor and community organizer from California. The OSMF has entrusted me with one of the positions funded through the recently announced Sovereign Tech Fund (STF) investment to facilitate the further long-term development of OSM’s software infrastructure. I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve the OSM community in this way.
For those who don’t know me, I started volunteering for OSM way back in 2008, cleaning up errors in my hometown, Loveland, to cure a bout of homesickness. Then I got extremely carried away, adding little details here and there all over the Midwestern U.S., nurturing a little community of mappers in Silicon Valley, translating OSM into Vietnamese, and serving on the board of OpenStreetMap U.S. In parallel, I became a professional Mac software engineer, then helped build Mapbox’s open source, OSM-based map and navigation software for several years. But I never stopped being a mapper. I’ve also spent the last few years serving on the SDRP and OpenHistoricalMap’s advisory board and will continue in these roles.
When introducing OSM to my local community, I describe the project as infrastructure for the world’s maps. Naturally, this infrastructure has its own underlying infrastructure. Many of us rely heavily on the website frontend, API backend, and related tools while mapping, debugging our map data, and generally marveling at what we’re building together. There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes to make the site run smoothly and supply data consumers with the artifacts they depend on. For example, did you know we have not one but two overlapping API implementations running simultaneously to eke out extra performance? These aspects of OSM are less glamorous than map styles or editors but no less important.
Our software architecture is very specific to OSM, so we’ve historically relied on a relatively small number of volunteers and their domain expertise. As an open source project, we want to expand this group and keep it open to newcomers. In conjunction with longtime contributors, I’ll be prioritizing better documentation, wrangling the issue backlog, articulating a clear vision and roadmap for the core software projects, and identifying opportunities for new developers to get started and gain a foothold. This will be essential as we later onboard another role tasked more directly with daily development tasks through the same STF investment. We’ll have more to share about that in the coming months.
Lately, anyone watching the core software projects closely will have noticed the pace of development picking up dramatically, but much of it still goes unannounced and unnoticed by the rest of the community. You’re going to hear from me pretty regularly as I relate the projects’ news and current affairs for a broader audience. It’s my hope that more of you in the community will be familiar with these projects, similar to your favorite renderer or editor, and hopefully for good reasons.
As I’m making the rounds introducing myself to those involved with the core software projects, it strikes me how many ideas there are about how to move them forward and how much these ideas overlap. Over the next few weeks, I’ll also be seeking feedback from the community about where we should be headed; watch the forum for more details. While I can’t promise anything concrete at this early stage, I’m hopeful we can weave a common future for these projects that allows OSM to thrive.
The State of the Map Organizing Committee provides a Travel Grant Programme (TGP) to facilitate accessibility and diversity at the global SotM 2025 Conference, which will happen in Manila, Philippines, October 3-5. Taking into consideration the success of last year, the programme will also dedicate a portion of the budget available to support remote attendance (e.g. by providing access to a reliable internet connection) for those who cannot travel to Manila because of imposed restrictions, travel costs, or other reasons.
The call for applications to the Travel Grant Programme will be open until May 16,12:00 UTC.
It is fundamental to read all the information on this page before submitting an application.
For applicants
This section sets out the benefits of a Travel Grant to attend SotM 2025 and the process and criteria by which applicants will be selected. The TGP is administered by the State of the Map Organizing Committee.
Travel Grants
The Travel Grant will include a full conference ticket and a lump-sum contribution towards travel, accommodation and other expenses.
There will be five (5) different sizes of travel grants available:
Category
Grant Size
Likely Used For
Expected number of winners
A
£ 20
Applicants from the Manila metro area
5
B
£ 215
Applicants from Philippines and Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia or Singapore)
The size and number of grants may be adjusted at the discretion of the Organizing Committee, depending upon the level of funding raised and the number of applications received. Applicants will only be able to apply for one size of travel grant, and they should apply for the grant depending on their country of residence. The World Bank rating is available online
Anyone applying for more than one grant will be excluded from the application process.
For categories C, D and E, a maximum of 2 winners will be chosen for each country of origin.
Online Attendance Support Grant
For those interested in attending the conference remotely but with limited internet connectivity, smaller grants will be made available to subsidise the cost of purchasing mobile data passes. The size of each grant will vary depending on the country and mobile data packages available, but it’s expected not to exceed £ 30.
With an estimated 1GB per hour of streaming videos in HD quality (720p), it’s expected that a maximum of 40GB will be sufficient to cover the entire conference. Arrangements will be made with grant recipients to purchase the data packages directly or to transfer the amount needed via mobile money.
Criteria
In order to guarantee a transparent and fair allocation of funds, the travel grant programme uses a points system for ranking applications. Points are awarded if applicants match specific criteria. After the application phase is over, all applicants are ranked by points, and the applicants with the most points will receive funding.
Please note that the travel grant programme aims to enhance diversity at the conference. We might reserve a few programme spots for people with unique and outstanding applications. However, most programme spots will solely be determined by the point ranking.
To ensure the participation of OSM contributors who have not attended any in-person SOTM conference, the in-person Travel Grant winners of the previous two SOTM (SOTM 2024 Nairobi and SOTM 2022 Firenze) will not be eligible for this Travel Grant.
Furthermore, once the ranking has been drawn up and the scholarships assigned based on it. The next two people for each grant size will be informed of their position. If one of the first winners communicates by the 22nd of August that he will not be able to participate, the scholarship will be provided to the people who are in this second ranking. However, those people will receive a free online ticket to attend the conference virtually. Moreover, if they will be able to attend the conference in person, they could receive a free ticket if they provide support volunteering.
Applicants receive points for the following criteria:
Applicants who are currently living in Low-income economies receive 1.5 points.
Applicants who are currently living in Lower-middle-income economies receive 1 point.
Applicants who are currently living in Upper-middle-income economies receive 0.5 points.
Applicants who are currently living in High-income economies receive 0 points.
Gender and Minorities
In order to create a more diverse community, women and applicants from other underrepresented groups will receive 2 points. The minority criteria will be considered with respect to the other candidates of the same category.
Students
Students, including PhD students, receive 1 point. You may be asked to provide evidence of enrollment.
First State of the Map
Applicants who attend SotM for the first time receive 1 point.
Amount required The expected cost amount requested is to indicate in pounds sterling (£). Applications without an explicit request of the amount required will not be considered. The minimum between the expected cost and the grant size based on the residence country will be assigned.
OpenStreetMap and Community Details of their past contributions to OpenStreetMap projects or community activities: up to a total of 4 points. Up to 2 points for mapping activities based on your OpenStreetMap username and up to 2 points for other contributions to the project as you will describe.
You & OpenStreetMap
Present the most valuable experience, mapping activities, or community moment that describes the travel grant experience in the OpenStreetMap world. This is not the call for participation; the call will be open, and there will be the possibility to submit talks and workshops. So, this is not an instrument to present talks; you are invited to participate in the call for talks and workshops if you would like to present your activities. Please provide a short abstract about what you would like to present, with a maximum length of 100 words. No points; the abstract will be used as a discriminant for the final decision.
Volunteering
The travel grant winners will be asked to volunteer for a time proportional to 1/3 or less of the conference length, depending on the number of other volunteers. Indicate the roles that you are confident to do: Live Video Cutting, Remote/Pre-Recorded Talk Assistant, Session Assistant and Venueless Assistant (only for remote grants). For more detailed info on the roles, see the wiki pages of volunteers for SotM 2024. No points.
Payment
You must be able to fund the direct costs of your travel to SotM and be in possession of a valid passport and entry visa and other documents (for example, vaccinations). Successful applicants will receive a conference pass and become eligible for reimbursement of expenses up to the limit of the travel grant when they check in at the conference registration desk. Reimbursement of expenses will be by electronic means (details to be advised). Reimbursement may take up to two months after the conference date, provided that the travel grantee has submitted all the necessary information before the conference commences.
Only in the case of demonstrated needs and exceptional cases will the travel grant amount be provided in advance or used to cover specific travel costs directly.
How to Apply
If you wish to be considered for a SotM travel grant, please fill out the application form.
All data will be held confidential and only used for assessing TGP applications. Please ensure that the email address that you provide is regularly monitored, as the selection committee may wish to seek clarification of responses. If no replies have been provided to requests via mail for the Travel Grant Committee within 5 days, the Travel Grant will be removed from you and assigned to the next applicants in the ranking.
Applications must be received by the May 16 at 12:00 UTC.
The selection committee will aim to notify recipients of grants by the May 31.
Supporting the Travel Grant Programme
The travel grant programme is funded through the State of the Map Sponsors.
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.
Official OpenStreetMap logo by Ken Vermette, CC-BY-SA 3.0 & trademarks apply.
We want to notify OpenStreetMap Foundation members about an important recent change in the renewal process for memberships set to be automatically renewed via PayPal, and how it may affect you.
If you had enabled the automatic renewal of your membership via PayPal, you must have received an email from PayPal stating: “We stop all recurring payments of all members to prevent inadvertent double payment”. We confirm that, for the time being, OSM Foundation members will need to renew their membership manually.
Reason for the change
The Membership Working Group has decided to stop automatic email renewals via PayPal for all members for now. This decision was made because many payments do not register automatically, leading to incorrect reminder emails that confuse and annoy members and can result in double payments. Over the past two years, we have been unable to resolve this issue, and managing problems with automatic renewals requires significant volunteer time, which we currently lack.
While automatic renewals offer convenience and ensure that your membership remains active without any interruption, given the current challenges, we have had to disable this feature.
Manual renewal process
Until we find a proper solution, all membership renewals will need to be done manually. We understand that this may cause some inconvenience, and we appreciate your understanding. We have set up an automatic reminder system and you will likely receive automatic email reminders before your membership is due to end.
The automatic reminder emails sent four and two weeks before your membership ends, will contain a link which you can use to renew. You will also get additional reminders if you let your membership lapse, spaced out over several months.
Fill the email address associated with your OSM Foundation membership, if you have multiple email addresses.
Have the OpenStreetMap user name ready that shall fulfill the baseline activity requirement . If you have an Active Contributor Membership with your membership fee waived via mapping contributions (so you are not affected by this issue with auto-renewals), you still need to have at least 42 mapping days in the past 365 days at the time of your membership renewal.
To ensure that your membership remains active, we strongly advise you to:
Add a reminder about your need to renew the membership to your personal calendar, and
Check that you receive a confirmation email after manually renewing.
Questions about your membership?
If you have questions about your membership, please email us at membership@osmfoundation.org, from the email address associated with the membership. Please note that we are just a few volunteers, dedicating our free personal time to Foundation issues, so there might be some delay in the replies.
We need your help
Additionally, we are looking for volunteers to help with various tasks, including managing issues with membership renewals. You can read more information about what we do here. If you are interested in volunteering your time, please let us know at mwg@osmfoundation.org with subject “Helping the Membership Working Group”. Your support would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your continued support to OpenStreetMap and for your membership.
Do you want to translate this and other blogposts in your language…? Please email 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 a very small core staff are the primary support for the OpenStreetMap project. Join the OpenStreetMap Foundation for just £15 a year or for free if you are an active OpenStreetMap contributor.
