State of the Map 2022 – Academic Track: Call for Abstracts!

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.

A new discussion forum for OSM

The OpenStreetMap Foundation is launching a new communication platform for the OpenStreetMap community at community.openstreetmap.org. Interested? Give it a try and find out how you can get involved with the next steps!

Screenshot of the new forum’s “feedback” category

Behind the scenes, the new space is powered by Discourse, a modern open source solution for online conversations. It is fully integrated with OSM accounts to let you log in with your existing user name. Discourse is easy to use and offers all the conveniences you would expect from social online spaces in the 2020s. At the same time, it gives power users access to optional advanced features: Write and receive posts through email, subscribe to RSS feeds, and more!

Of course, this is not the first platform dedicated to mappers’ conversations about their favourite passion. But while the new community space has been set up in parallel to the existing platforms provided by the Foundation (notably the forum, help site and mailing lists), we hope that the sub-communities on those platforms will eventually migrate to the new site. Likewise, we encourage communities currently using proprietary tools to consider adopting the new site for their communication needs. In particular, we are prepared to work with regional communities and local chapters – let us know on the Discourse forum what you need for your community to make this space your new home for discussing your local activities!

Choosing a solution that is hosted on our own infrastructure and based open-source software ties into the OpenStreetMap Foundation’s commitment to open communication channels. To ensure productive conversations and a welcoming environment, please respect our recently updated etiquette guidelines when you participate in the new forum. We hope that all members of the OSM community feel right at home at community.osm.org!

Announcing SotM 2022 Logo and CfP

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.

Call for SotM 2022 logo designs

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!

SotM Logo

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.

Announcing SotM 2022 Firenze, 19-21 August 2022


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.

Petar Milošević, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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.

Self-introduction of the new iD developer contracted by OSMF

The OpenStreetMap Foundation board welcomes Martin Raifer, whom we contracted to work on the maintenance and development of iD, the default editor at openstreetmap.org. Below you will find his self-introduction. Martin will continue working for 20% of his time for HeiGIT (Heidelberg Institute for Geoinformation Technology) and he will have regular meetings with the OpenStreetMap community regarding iD. We would like to remind that any iD-related disputes will be dealt by the OSMF Software dispute resolution panel.

Hello, my name is Martin Raifer, on OSM I use the username tyr_asd. I’m happy to announce that starting with November 2021, I will take over the maintenance and continue the development of the iD editor (OSM’s default mapping web-application) as a freelancer and will be paid for that by the OSMF. I’m feeling humbled that the OSMF entrusted me with this important task!

my goals for iD

To put it simply: I want iD to be the best possible mapping tool! It should optimally fulfill its prominent, important and also delicate role of being the OSM’s default map editor.

iD should remain an intuitive tool which everyone can use, from beginners performing their first edits to the most experienced of mappers. Since many users will continue to have their first point of contact with mapping using the iD editor, there is the need for a strong focus on good usability and user experience design. At the same time, I find it also important to not neglect the needs of more advanced users who like to work efficiently and sometimes need more specialized ways to manipulate OSM data.

In many ways, iD already does a quite good job of affording people to edit the map. Of course there are always things to improve, stuff to optimize and features to change.

my background

I’m an active OSM mapper since 2009, and have been contributing to the OSM software ecosystem in various ways. Some of you might know overpass-turbo – the web front end I created for the Overpass API – or some of my other OSM-related projects. Professionally, I have worked with OSM data first at an urban bike mobility startup, then as a freelancer for a project of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, and became a research associate at Heidelberg University/HeiGIT (more about that below) where I helped organizing the State of the Map conference in Heidelberg in 2019.

In the past, I already contributed occasionally to the development of several OSM’s core software: for example the osm website, the editor-layer-index and the iD editor. For iD I helped with beta-testing in the early days, added presets, submitted bug fixes and implemented a few small features like the support for WMS backgroundlayers.

my affiliation with HeiGIT

I will continue to work for the HeiGIT (Heidelberg Institute for Geoinformation Technology at Heidelberg University) alongside my work on the iD editor to a small extent of one day per week. At HeiGIT, I will continue to collaborate on mostly OSM-related research activities, with a strong focus on data quality. In addition, I will also support some teaching activities such as lectures at Heidelberg University.

The main chunk of my time will of course go into the development of the iD editor! I will do my best to cleanly separate my activities at HeiGIT from my work for the OSMF. Should at any point in time a conflict of interest occur, I will directly report it to the OSMF and HeiGIT to resolve.

my next steps

Initially, I will prioritize fixing of bugs, publishing of updates and documenting of the status quo such that decisions about future changes can be made in an informed way. Working through the accumulated reported issues on GitHub will probably take a while.

After that I would like to focus on step-by-step improvements of the iD editor. This could include stuff like enhanced support for road lanetagging, lifecycle prefixes, openinghours, or productivity tools like a building or wayimproving mode.

I am open to feedback from the whole OSM community, so get in touch on iD’s issue tracker on github or through some of the many OSM communication channels (I will try to follow as many of them as possible). Of course code contributions from you are also very welcome!

Do you want to translate this and other blog posts in another language..? Please send an email to communication@osmfoundation.org with subject: Helping with translations in [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. It has no full-time employees and it is supporting the OpenStreetMap project through the work of our volunteer Working Groups. Join the OpenStreetMap Foundation for just £15 a year or for free if you are an active OpenStreetMap contributor.

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You’re invited to the 2021 Local Chapters and Communities Congress

The LCCWG is excited to invite OpenStreetMap local chapters and community organisers and leaders to the 2021 Local Chapters and Communities Congress!

Local Chapters & Communities Congress poster – please share widely!

The LCCC 2021 is a virtual event where leaders and members of various OSM communities, whether they are officially recognized Local Chapters of the OSM Foundation or just a regular user group of OSM mappers, come together to share stories and learn from each other.

Last year, 35 community leaders came together from more than 20 different countries and the LCCWG is asking you to spread the word far and wide so that even more communities come to exchange knowledge and build networks this year!

The LCCC takes place online on 06 November from 1200 – 1500 UTC and you can find more details on the OSM wiki, here.

Report by the OSMF microgrants committee on the trial run of microgrants

In 2020 the OpenStreetMap Foundation (OSMF) board funded 12 OpenStreetMap projects proposed by community members, groups and organisations. All the project proposals (funded or not) are visible on the OSM wiki and some of the 12 selected proposals were presented on the OSM blog. The program was overseen by the microgrants committee, whose composition was determined by the OSMF board. Initially, the program was set to fund 10 projects with a budget of up to 5000 Euros per project and for a maximum of 50.000 Euros. The policy framework can be read here.

Report by the OSMF Microgrants Committee

The trial run of the OSMF microgrants program has now ended. You can

Project reports by grantees

Almost all projects have sent their final reports and you can read them on the OSM wiki. The respective project proposal is linked towards the top of each page.

  1. Proposal: A Free Video Tutorial for Beginners about Mapping Pacific Islands using OSM and QGIS
  2. Report: HIV facilities mapping in the Philippines on OpenStreetMap
  3. Report: Leaflets to promote OSM – see https://osmuk.org/leaflets/
  4. Report: Map Maintenance with StreetComplete
  5. Report: Mapping Uganda’s New Cities
  6. Report: Mapping Villages and Settlements in Kosovo
  7. Report: Road Completion project
  8. Report: OSM Ireland Buildings
  9. Report: OpenStreetMap Calendar
  10. Report: Tactile maps for blind or visually impaired children
  11. Proposal: Teaching and learning OSM in Albania through LibreTech School 
  12. Report: Water and Sanitation mapping in Nairobi’s informal settlements

More details

You can see the microgrants timeline here and find more details in the Microgrants Committee’s minutes until June 2020 and in the OSMF board minutes.

Future

The final report by the Microgrants Committee was sent recently, so at the time of writing there is no evaluation published by the board or a decision taken on whether there will be a second microgrants round.

Do you want to translate this and other blog posts in another language..? Please send an email to communication@osmfoundation.org with subject: Helping with translations in [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. It has no full-time employees and it is supporting the OpenStreetMap project through the work of our volunteer Working Groups. Join the OpenStreetMap Foundation for just £15 a year or for free if you are an active OpenStreetMap contributor.

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Looking for moderators for OSM lists!

In December, the OpenStreetMap Foundation (OSMF) Board asked for help to instate a moderator team for the OSMF-talk and talk mailing lists. This task was passed to the Local Chapters and Communities Working Group (LCCWG) who subsequently set up a moderation subcommittee to lead this work.

Over the last 9 months, the subcommittee has led efforts to revise the Etiquette Guidelines and Process for Moderation but it will be the role of the Moderation team to put this guidance into practice and continue to define moderation practices in OSM spaces.

Volunteers are needed from all corners of the global OpenStreetMap community to participate in this Moderation Team to lead efforts to keep the lists safe, welcoming, and inclusive. The moderators will help to steer conversations on topic and encourage effective and respectful communication on the OSMF-talk and talk mailing lists.

Interested? Please complete this form and a member of the subcommittee will be in touch. The goal is to have a team in place by the OSMF election season (aiming for the end of October), so don’t delay!

OSMF election 2021- How to become a board candidate

OpenStreetMap Foundation members will vote to elect a new board in December.

Who can become a board candidate

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

  • they have been a normal OSM Foundation member [1] (not an associate member [2]) during the full 180 days before the General Meeting (start date of normal membership before 14 June 2021), 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

Available seats in this election

The 2021 board election will have at least 4 board seats available: of M. Maron, A. R. McCann, A. Mustard and G. Rischard. The terms of T. Knerr, JM Liotier and E. A. Villar will continue.

Currently there are seven seats on the foundation board. Board members are volunteers.

What the board is/is not, rules and responsibilities and why run

Please read the links on the OSM wiki.

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 those.

How to nominate yourself

Update: The self-nomination window has now closed. Thank you to everyone who put their name forward!

Self-nominations of board candidates will open on 16 October 2021 and you will be able to nominate yourself on this OpenStreetMap wiki page: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Foundation/AGM21/Election_to_Board#Candidates

You can create an account on the OSM wiki here and you will be able to add your name to the table that will be added on that date by editing the page here (please wait until 16 October 2021 to do so).

Resources about the 2021 board election and Annual General Meeting

The main two pages that will have the information about the 2021 board election and Annual General Meeting are:

OSM wiki: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Foundation/AGM21/Election_to_Board and

OSMF website: https://www.osmfoundation.org/Annual_General_Meetings/2021

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 think if you’d like to run for the board or to suggest being a candidate to others.

Do you want to translate this and other blog posts in another language..? Please send an email to communication@osmfoundation.org with subject: Helping with translations in [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. It has no full-time employees and it is supporting the OpenStreetMap project through the work of our volunteer Working Groups.

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