Recent Updates

Update from HOT's Strategic Planning Meeting

Posted by kate on May, 14 2012

Two weeks ago through a micro-grant from the Wilson Center; the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team board of directors, the Meridian Institute and staff from the Wilson Center met in Washington D.C. The goal of these two days of meetings was to develop a strategic plan for HOT to continue to grow in the next 3-5 years.

Back the First Haitian Creole OpenStreetMap Book!

Posted by kate on May, 10 2012

When the January 2010 Earthquake happened in Haiti the OpenStreetMap community began mapping. We mapped and mapped until OpenStreetMap was the most detailed base map for Port-au-Prince available. In March of that year the handover of the map began. Two years later the handover is not complete, HOT and Community OpenStreetMap Haiti continue to work together coming closer to that day. One very important missing step is having adequate training materials available in Haitian Creole.

Graduation for STM020

Posted by brian on Apr, 29 2012

On the evening of April 24th there was a graduation for the young people from Saint-Marc who participated in the OSM project. As is customary in Haiti, graduations are an important event. And this one was no different. Among those attending were leaders within USAID, other organizations, and the mayor of Saint-Marc. Many people gave speeches, certificates were dispersed, and there was even a song created by the participants about their experiences. Here is a picture of the mayor of Saint-Marc addressing the program graduates. Friend Marc-Henry and USAID communicated how pleased they were with the project and the desire to see a program like this happen in the next location.

Washington DC is Nothing... but HOT next week!

Posted by kate on Apr, 26 2012

Next week the Board of Directors of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team is descending upon Washington D.C. for a strategic planning meeting. You may have previously seen an announcement on some of the digital volunteer oriented mailing list. The micro-grant provided by the Wilson Center is providing facilitation and support with help from the Meridian Institute to further refine our mission and goals. Along with this high-level meeting we've used the opportunity to speak at other events in the area. We hope to see you at some of them. May 2nd 7:00pm-? GeoDC - Crisis Mapping Focused May Meet-up

Coming to a close in Saint Marc

Posted by brian on Apr, 23 2012

Hey kiddoes! Brian checking in from Saint-Marc. We are in the final throws of the program here. Hard to believe 3 months is wrapping up. Bananas. The team and trainees here has pretty sufficiently mapped the entirety of Saint-Marc. The last week we have been focusing on quality control, and enhancing the data that is already in OSM. Things have been going well with that, the advanced have really stepped up to show their skills. Other than that there has been much council forming and meetings of the active youth members in the forming of COSMHA-STM, which will be the Saint-Marc chapter of the Community OSM Haiti. Appointments and elections have finished, congrats to them.

Finishing Up in Indonesia...for the Moment

Posted by kate on Mar, 30 2012

Tomorrow marks the end of HOT's pilot to evaluate the use of OpenStreetMap for collection of information for exposure models in Indonesia. As I sit waiting for my flight back to the United States there is a lot of reflect on and to be proud. Of course there are always things to do better or explore further, but overall I feel that the past year has been a success. There is much to continue and further expand. Accomplishments

The World Bank and Open Maps for Development, I'm Excited

Posted by kate on Mar, 19 2012

Yesterday the World Bank further committed to open-data on their blog by stating "the World Bank only supports citizen-mapping efforts that give users free access to the map data they create." This commitment to open-data will ensure that those putting data in are able to also utilize this information. Such an announcement brings much relief to myself and many others concerned after a previous announcement about an agreement between the World Bank and Google.

Creating Sustainable Community Mapping Projects Workshop

Posted by kate on Mar, 12 2012

Last week I attended a meeting to discuss expanding the community mapping projects using OSM eastern Indonesia, as well as ensuring they are sustainable. Attendees included myself as well as representatives from AIFDR, ACCESS, SOLUD, Mitra Turatea and GIZ. HOT did our first workshop with community facilitators from ACCESS in March of 2011. Much has changed since the initial workshop, which was just a traditional OpenStreetMap training session over two days.

Night Of The Living Maps in Saint-Marc, 02/07/2012

Posted by severin on Mar, 10 2012

The week I arrived in Saint-Marc occurred the Night Of the Living Maps (NOTLM), a worldwide event within the OSM community, “where all mappers come together in local meetings and trace imagery the whole night long, while the moon shines bright!”. Groups form large and capital cities like Bogotá, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris - Rome, Vienna, St. Petersburg orTokyo - were participating but also smaller ones like Esslingen, Mankato, MN , Passau or Rapperswil. Anyway, it was an excellent opportunity for the freshly trained young mappers of Saint-Marc to both figure out the power of the OSM community and show their own enthusiasm to the open source geodata.

4th Largest Country, 4th Largest City, Best Community Mapped for Preparedness

Posted by kate on Feb, 29 2012

Rapid growth and low elevation makes flooding in Jakarta problematic. Innovative approaches are needed for contingency planning and impact modeling. DKI Jakarta's Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) is developing a detailed scenario to estimate impacts of future flooding. This scenario will estimate the impact on people, schools, hospitals, and other important buildings. Such a scenario will become a powerful tool for local government and other stakeholders to take action to be better prepared for future floods. This first step in this type of analysis is having available data, without data it is impossible to make an accurate estimation. Throughout March mapping events will be held in DKI Jakarta to work with local leaders to collect such data, by utilizing OpenStreetMap.