The State of the Map Organizing Committee (SotM WG) is a volunteer-led working group that organizes international SotM conferences that bring together members from the worldwide OSM community. To achieve this, we partner with a local OSM community to bring home the SotM conference in their country. The local community is selected among other bids after our open Call for Venues.

The Call for Venue for SotM 2023 received three bids from local organizing communities:

• Paris, France (withdrawn)
• Prizren, Kosovo
• Yaoundé, Cameroon

SotM WG has held multiple voice meetings and discussions within the group. We have carefully reviewed the bid applications and considered the issues that may arise along with each.

Bid 1: Paris, France 

The France team had withdrawn their bid application for SotM 2023.

Bid 2: Prizren, Kosovo

The Kosovo team had submitted a strong bid that clearly laid out all the details and plans for the conference. This was planned to be closely before or after FOSS4G 2023, similar to what happened in SotM 2022 in Italy.

However, the SotM WG acknowledges that in-person international SotMs had been held in Europe for three consecutive years, and overall (excluding online conferences in 2020-2021), 9 out of the 13 international SotM conferences were held in Europe (source: [1])

Bid 3: Yaoundé, Cameroon

The Cameroon team had also submitted a strong bid that clearly laid out all the details and plans for the conference. SotM Africa 2023 will take place in Yaoundé, Cameroon, and they had offered that if this bid is accepted, the conference will merge with the international SotM 2023, which would be the first-ever international SotM in Africa and an opportunity to reach new faces and OSM communities.

We looked very deeply into this bid and discussed all possibilities with the local team of Yaoundé. However, security and safety are pressing issues in Cameroon (sources: [2][3][4]), and members of the OSM community had also expressed concerns about this.

No SotM 2023, and plans for SotM 2024

After carefully considering and reviewing the bids for SotM 2023, we have decided not to organize an international State of the Map 2023. Instead, we will focus our efforts on finding a perfect venue for 2024 in Africa – or if there is no possibility in Africa for 2024, we will look for a country in a region which was underrepresented in the history of SotMs.

We hope to open the Call for Venue for SotM 2024 by early 2023.

Call to action: We’d like to invite you to join the SotM WG and help us with the work for SotM 2024. If you are interested, please send us a message by emailing sotm [at] openstreetmap [dot] org.

= State of the Map Working Group

Are you attending State of the Map in person (in Italy) or online? Here are some ideas on how to actively participate/contribute to the conference in person or online!

1. Help out as a volunteer

Volunteers are the driving force of OSM and SotM conference. Would you like to help by volunteering to ensure the SotM is as smooth as possible? Here are the roles you can help with:

In-person Volunteers (Note: You must be physically present in Italy)

• Conference setup (volunteers must be already at 18 August available)
• teardown/clean up
• registration/info desk
• video/recording
• video/cutting
• technical assistants for the speakers
• Session hosts (OSM knowledge is mandatory)

Online Volunteers

• the info desk at Venueless
• technical assistants for the BBB rooms

If you are interested in volunteering, please reach out to the SotM Working Group via sotm [at] openstreetmap [dot] org and sign up at https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/State_of_the_Map_2022/volunteers#Schedule

2. Submit a lightning talk

Share a 5-minute talk about your mapping initiatives/experiences in OpenStreetMap or about your local community activities to the global OpenStreetMap community! Sign up at https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/State_of_the_Map_2022/registration_lightning_talks

Deadline for submission is 12 August 2022 16 August 2022

3. For technique-oriented people, you can help as part of the video team!

Please reach out to the SotM Working Group via sotm [at] openstreetmap [dot] org

4. Be the SotM 2022 photographer(s)

The person(s) could generally take some photos in the name of SotM organization team and also should take the group photo. We kindly as ask the released photos have CC licence (*) so we can use them later in the SotM context.

(*) under an open license (CC-BY-SA 3.0 or later recommended or CC0)

5. Organize a self-organized session

Besides the main programme, we will offer space for self-organized sessions (or Birds of Feather / BoF). We have set up the OSM wiki page https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/State_of_the_Map_2022/self-organized_sessions, where you can sign up for a self-organized online session. For the on-site self-organized session, we will set up a whiteboard where you can reserve your timeslot and room at the conference venue. You can brainstorm for your session topic as early as now!

6. Check the SotM 2022 Programme schedule and plan which sessions you are attending

We have a variety of tracks (general, academic, workshops) and topics in our programme schedule https://2022.stateofthemap.org/programme/ so you can plan as early as now which talks/sessions you are attending as well as list your questions to the speaker(s)!

Did we miss anything? If you have participated in SotM conferences before, let us know how and share your experiences in the comment/reply!

SotM Organising Committee

Sign up for event updates and follow us @sotm!

Do you want to translate this and other blog posts into your language…? Please email communication@osmfoundation.org with the subject: Helping with translations in [your language]

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 in the UK 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. The State of the Map Organising Committee is one of our volunteer Working Groups.

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, calculate routes, etc.  OpenStreetMap is increasingly used when one needs maps that can be very quickly, or easily, updated.

Did you miss the deadline for the Call for participation for State of the Map 2022 but still want to get a chance to present your latest news and inventions around OpenStreetMap? Like previous years, we have reserved some slots for Lightning talks.

Lightning talks are quick 5-minute talks about any topic related to OpenStreetMap. Since SotM 2022 will be our first attempt at doing a hybrid conference, there are two options for holding a lightning talk:

• In-person lightning talk in Firenze: These are traditional lightning talks held during one of the Lightning talk sessions at the conference. The registration for in-person lightning talks opens on 19 August when the State of the Map 2022 conference starts. You can register for a slot directly at the conference venue.

• Pre-recorded lightning talk: Like in the two previous years, we offer the opportunity to submit a short video with a pre-recorded lightning talk. So if you don’t make it to Firenze, you can still participate with a lightning talk and present your topic to a wider audience.

Submission for pre-recorded lightning talks is now open. We are looking forward to your videos about any topic related to OpenStreetMap. The deadline to register and upload pre-recorded lightning talks is 12 August 2022 23:59:59 UTC

For more details and to register a pre-recorded lightning talk, please visit the OpenStreetMap Wiki

SotM Organising Committee

Sign up for event updates and follow us @sotm!

Do you want to translate this and other blog posts into your language…? Please email communication@osmfoundation.org with the subject: Helping with translations in [your language]

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 in the UK 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. The State of the Map Organising Committee is one of our volunteer Working Groups.

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, calculate routes, etc.  OpenStreetMap is increasingly used when one needs maps that can be very quickly, or easily, updated.

State of the Map is the annual event for all mappers and OpenStreetMap users.  We invite all OSM enthusiasts – whether you are a  hobby mapper, a  scientific researcher, a humanitarian, with an NGO or a  government agency, a small business or a global company — to join us in  Firenze, August 19-21, 2022, as we share experiences and ideas of taking the OSM ecosystem forward. We want to enable as many of you as possible to be part of State of the Map 2022! We invite and expect participation at State of the Map if you are selected. That could be a talk if the program committee selects, or in lightning talk sessions we’ll make available for scholars. There are other ways to participate and support the operations of the conference while you attend too.

Apply now for support to join us in Firenze for State of the Map 2022!
Deadline: 6 May 2022, 23:59:59 UTC

Each year, we receive more scholarship applications than we are able to support. To help us best allocate the funds, please specify the minimum types of support you need to attend. If you are requesting a travel grant, then tell us the amount of money to cover a portion of your travel and make a difference to attending or not. Please review our privacy policy covering how we will handle the information in your application.

Here are some tips to help you complete your application.

• The clarity and concise answers will be helpful. Keep sentences short. 
• Select the minimum level of scholarship you need. This will help us to make the best use of limited funds and enable more scholars to join.
• Make sure you clearly state your visa and travel requirements and other potential funding sources.
• We want to hear about your contributions to OpenStreetMap, your project or your group. We do not want an account of a group’s work but your individual part in it. Try to use “I”, not “we”.
• You may include links to your OpenStreetMap profile, a local group you run, or software you created. If your written answer is satisfactory to get on our shortlist, we might look at these additional details.
• The motivation statement on why you decided to apply for the TGP

Review process
Reviewing scholarships

Nationality
The allocation of points is based on the World Bank country rating by income.

• Applicants from Low-income economies receive 1.5 points.
• Applicants from Lower-middle-income economies receive 1 point.
• Applicants from Upper-middle-income economies receive 0.5 points.
• Applicants from High-income economies receive 0 points.

Residence
The allocation of points is based on the World Bank country rating by income.

• 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 under-represented groups will receive 1 point.

Students
Students, including PhD students, receive 1 point.

OpenStreetMap and Community
Details of their past contributions to OpenStreetMap projects or community activities (Not only OpenStreetMap edits but contributed to wiki and documentation, trainers, developers): up to 4 points.

First state of the Map
Applicants that attend SotM for the first time receive 1 point.

More detailed information on the Travel Grant Programme can be found on the State of the Map 2022 website: https://2022.stateofthemap.org/travel_grant_programme/
Stay tuned to know more about the news and the events of State of the Map 2022! See you in Firenze and online.

The State of the Map Working Group

Do you want to translate this and other blog posts into your language…?  Please email communication@osmfoundation.org with the subject:  Helping with translations in [your language]

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 in the UK 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, and you can support it by becoming a member. The State of the Map Organising Committee is one of our volunteer Working Groups.

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 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, calculate routes etc.  OpenStreetMap is increasingly used when one needs maps that can be quickly or easily updated.

This year’s State of the Map conference, a hybrid conference taking  place in Florence and online simultaneously, will feature the fifth edition of the Academic Track – a full day of sessions dedicated to  academic research about, and with, OpenStreetMap (see the last year’s Academic Track). The goal of the Track is to showcase the research and innovation of  scientific investigations into OpenStreetMap, while at the same time providing a bridge to connect members of the OpenStreetMap community and the academic community through an open passage to exchange ideas and  opportunities for increased collaboration. We expect empirical,  methodological, conceptual, or literature-review-based contributions addressing any scientific aspect related to OpenStreetMap, in particular, but not limited to, the following:

• Extrinsic or intrinsic quality assessment of OpenStreetMap data
• Analysis of contribution patterns in OpenStreetMap
• Generation of new and scientifically valuable datasets from OpenStreetMap
• Assessments of data import procedures and their impacts on data and community
• Integration between OpenStreetMap and other data sources (authoritative, user-generated, or otherwise valuable to OpenStreetMap)
• Analysis/comparison of available software for scientific purposes related to OpenStreetMap
• Novel approaches to facilitate or improve data collection and/or data quality in OpenStreetMap (e.g. through gamification or citizen science approaches)
• Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning from, and with OpenStreetMap (e.g. AI-assisted mapping)
• Open research problems in OpenStreetMap and challenges for the scientific community
• Cultural, political, and organizational aspects of data production and usage practices in OpenStreetMap
• Studies using OpenStreetMap data in scientific domains
• Reviews of any scientific aspect connected to OpenStreetMap

In an effort to improve the interaction and collaboration between the academic and the more general OpenStreetMap communities, authors are invited to particularly highlight the practical implications or impacts of their research on the OpenStreetMap community at large.

Guidelines for submission

Authors are invited to submit extended abstracts using the State of the Map 2022 Pretalx submission system. Deadline for submission is 10 May 2022.

Abstracts should be between 800 and 1200 words. These limits will be strictly enforced for a fair and balanced review process. Abstracts must be scientifically rigorous, and the content should be  logically structured as follows (without the need to include subsections): introduction/background, where the problem addressed is introduced; main aim or purpose of the study; brief description of the  methodology and findings achieved; final discussion highlighting the scientific contribution of the study and its practical benefits/implications. In the evaluation of proposals, the scientific committee will pay attention to the reproducibility of the research (where this is applicable). Reproducibility is ensured when the research makes all artifacts (input data, computational steps, methods and code) openly available to obtain consistent results. When available, the code shall be released under an open source license. Abstracts are to be submitted online in plain-text format (no images or figures). Abstracts will be evaluated by the scientific committee. Authors of selected abstracts will be invited to deliver an oral presentation during the Academic Track sessions at the conference or to present a  poster (in case a poster session will be organised). Building on top of  the successful Proceedings of the Academic Track at State of the Map 2019, State of the Map 2020, and State of the Map 2021, selected abstracts will be published as a collection, each with a distinct Digital Object Identifier (DOI) in Zenodo, an open access online repository. The 2019 and 2020 Academic Track resulted in a special issue of the ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information. Similarly, the scientific committee may seek to further disseminate the contributions to this conference by investigating the organization of a special issue in a relevant, open access, scientific journal. In such a case, authors of the selected abstracts will be invited to submit a  full paper to this special issue. Successful submissions may benefit from partial or full waiver of publication fees.

Submit your proposal today! https://pretalx.com/orga/event/state-of-the-map-2022-academic-track/
Learn more about the requirements and the scientific committee on the official State of the Map 2022 website.

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 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  in the UK 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, and you can  support it by becoming a member. The State of the Map Organising Committee is one of our volunteer Working Groups.

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 State of the Map Working Group is delighted to thank everyone who took part in the SotM 2022 Call for Logo and to finally reveal the winning one for this year’s global conference that will be held in Firenze (Italy) around August 19 – 21, as well as online!

The call for logo designs received more than 15 proposals from creative contributors from all over the world! We were excited to see such a warm response to the logo contest across the enthusiastic OpenStreetMap community, discovering different perspectives on a global project and learning from your inspirations for the State of the Map 2022 image and atmosphere.

…however, only one design will be the new face of this year’s conference!
Congratulations to Feye Andal for submitting the winning logo inspired by the symbol of the City of Firenze, the iconic lily!

The brand-new logo of this year’s conference will also shape the style of the design and graphic of the SotM branding, stickers, T-shirts and the website!

Be ready to share with the  OpenStreetMap community your projects, achievements, inspirations and  not only: the Call for talks, workshops and panels is officially open!  The  talks, workshops, and panels are the heart of the conference and would  not be possible without the inspiring and exciting contributions of the  entire community. As of now we are accepting your talks and  presentations within – but not limited to – the following State of the  Map 2022 categories:

• OSM Basics: Information dedicated to newcomers 
• Community & Foundation: Bringing people together, working group experiences, strategies & vision
• Mapping: All about making the mapping easier and better
• Cartography: Your ideas on how to create good-looking manifestations of the OSM dataset
• Software Development: Software for processing and editing data
• Data Analysis & Data Model: Reflections about the OSM data, its model and analysis of quality and completeness
• User Experiences: Tell your creative projects or surprising story of using OSM as an end-user
• Academic Track: There will be a proper academic track, it will be announced separately

Deadlines

• 25 April 2022 23:59:59 UTC: Deadline talk and workshop submissions
• End of May 2022: End of review phase, speakers will be informed
• June 2022: Talk video production (test video and final video)
• August 2022: Lightning talk video production
• 19 – 21 August 2022: State of the Map

  For more information on these categories, on submission requirements and rating criteria, please visit the submission page on pretalx: https://pretalx.com/sotm2022/cfp Stay tuned to know more about the news and the events of State of the Map 2022! See you in Firenze and online

The State of the Map Working Group

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 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  in the UK 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, and you can  support it by becoming a member. The State of the Map Organising Committee is one of our volunteer Working Groups.

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.

After two successful State of the Map online editions, the conference will be again hosted in Italy! In 19, 20 and 21 August SotM 2022 will be held in the city of Firenze, one of the most beautiful cities of Italy.

The face of every event is, of course, its logo; a recognizable graphical element that represents the spirit and mood of that year’s global conference. For this reason, we need the help of the most creative minds in the community to create a new logo for SotM 2022!

The logo is also a crucial element for defining the design and colors of the official website, as well as the style of the conference content on all OSM platforms. It will also be used for the beloved SotM merchandise and swag (t-shirts, stickers, etc), making the best memories from the conference unforgettable.
From experienced professionals to graphic design newbies and enthusiasts, everyone can participate and share an original idea with the community!

Contest guidelines

The logo design should:

• be an original artwork;

• refer to OpenStreetMap (OSM), and State of the Map (SotM);

• focus on the sense of global community and its core values;

• be easily recognizable;

• open licence: CC BY SA or related

• be submitted by Sunday, 27 February 2022  23:59 UTC

How to enter

Please submit your logo proposal via email with subject “SotM 2022 logo proposal” to anisa.kuci@wikimedia.it keeping in CC sotm@openstreetmap.org, attaching the design file in a PNG format and scalable file format (like PDF or SVG). 

Winner selection

The submitted artworks will be reviewed by the SotM working group, and the winning logo will be decided via vote. The official logo will then be announced at the beginning of March.
Looking for some inspiration? Take a look at the logos from the past SotMs – https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/State_of_the_Map. If you have any question about the call, feel free to contact sotm@openstreetmap.org

The State of the Map Working Group

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 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  in the UK 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, and you can  support it by becoming a member. The State of the Map Organising Committee is one of our volunteer Working Groups.

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.

After two successful online editions, we are excited to announce that State of the Map 2022 will take place in-person in Firenze, Italy on August 19-21, as well as online!

SotM 2022 will be a 3-day hybrid conference making it possible to take part in the annual global celebration of OpenStreetMap either in-person or online, or both.

The conference will take place before the FOSS4G 2022 conference, which is also in Firenze on August 22 to 28, 2022. The local team is committed to providing participants with a safe conference environment in accordance with the latest safety and health guidelines set by authorities.

We are very looking forward to collaborating with the Firenze team to organize an innovative and safe experience at State of the Map 2022, with sessions accessible and inclusive as much as possible for our passionate audience.

More details about the organization, call for presentations and tickets will be soon communicated.
See you in Firenze in August!

SotM Organising Committee

Follow us @sotm to stay updated on the next steps of the process!
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  in the UK 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. The State of the Map Organising Committee is one of our volunteer Working Groups.
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.