OpenStreetMap Blog | Supporting the OpenStreetMap project

OpenStreetMap Blog | Supporting the OpenStreetMap project
Whether you’re passionate about maps, data, or shaping the future of  OpenStreetMap (OSM), the community is always looking for your inspiring ideas! Why not sharing them during
State of the Map 2026
The
call for participation
of SotM 2026, taking place in Paris, France, on
August 28 – 30, 2026
, is now open! The programme committee is ready and waiting, eager to unwrap your submissions for talks, workshops, and panels. These sessions aren’t just part of the conference; they’re its beating heart, driving conversations and sparking ideas that resonate worldwide. Presenting your work, projects and ideas at SotM is also a great way to get in touch with the wider OSM community.
Tracks
Sessions can be submitted for the following tracks:
OSM Basics – Information dedicated to newcomers
Community and
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 presentations 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 – Stories of using OSM and its data as a user
Education – How you use OSM in an educational context
If your submission doesn’t seem to fit into one of these tracks, don’t worry – as long as it is clearly related to OpenStreetMap, you’re perfectly fine if you simply choose the track that feels to fit best.
OSM Science (Academic Track) at SotM 2026
In addition to this general call for participation, there will again be a proper academic track with a separate CfP, which will be announced later. So, if you’re knee-deep in the captivating world of OpenStreetMap, stay tuned for the official call: The working group is eagerly awaiting the most riveting insights and groundbreaking results from your studies. Get your research hats on, gather your data, and prepare to submit the best of your studies.
Timeline and Deadlines
27 April 2026 23:59:59 UTC
: Deadline talk, workshop and panel submissions
End of May 2026
: End of review phase, speakers will be informed, schedule published
28-30 August 2026
: State of the Map in Paris, France
For more information on the above track categories, submission requirements and rating criteria, please visit the
complete call for participation and the submission guidelines on the SotM website
Stay tuned for more news about the State of the Map 2026! See you later this year in Paris, France, 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 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 State of the Map Organizing Committee provides a Travel Grant Programme (TGP) to facilitate accessibility and diversity at the global SotM 2026 Conference, which will happen in Paris, France, August 28-30.
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 Paris because of imposed restrictions, travel costs, or other reasons.
The call for applications to the Travel Grant Programme will be open until
1st March 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 2026 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
free ticket
Applicants from Île-de-France area
10
£300,00
Applicants from France
£500,00
Applicants from
Schengen Area
and
Common Travel Area
£800,00
Applicants from
other European
countries or High-income economies based on World Bank country rating by income
£1.300,00
Applicants from other countries classified as Upper-middle-income economies or lower based on World Bank country rating by income
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 at the link
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 three SotM
(SotM 2025 Manila, 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
3rd of July
that he will not be able to participate, the scholarship will be provided to the people who are in the second ranking. However, those people will receive a free online ticket to attend the conference virtually. Moreover, if they are able to attend the conference in person, they could receive a free ticket if they provide support volunteering.
Note on authenticity and use of AI
Submissions are expected to reflect the applicant’s
personal and direct experience
within the OpenStreetMap project. The use of generative AI tools to write or substantially edit these sections is strongly discouraged. Overly generic, self-promotional, or marketing-style narratives may be penalised.
Ranking criteria
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 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 be indicated in pounds sterling (£). Applications without an explicit request for 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: Room Assistant, Registration and Infodesk, Session Assistant, Venueless Assistant (only for remote grants). For more detailed info on the roles, see the wiki pages of volunteers for Sotm 2025:
. 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).
The travel grant amount will NOT be provided in advance. The applicants should be able to cover the costs on their own.
How to Apply
If you wish to be considered for a SotM travel grant, please fill out the application form.
link:
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
1st March at 12:00 UTC
The selection committee will aim to notify recipients of grants by the
16th of March
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.
The award results of the
2025 OSM EWG Microgrant Program
are in!
WaterwayMap.org
WaterwayMap.org displays how waterways in OpenStreetMap (OSM) are connected, helping mappers find and fix tagging mistakes. The site maintains a river database based entirely on OSM data and is used as a reference source by entities like Wikipedia.
The grant covers approximately one year of web hosting costs for this service. (
.)
Map Review Team
The Map Review Team project supports teams of mappers in collaboratively reviewing changes to the map within a specific geographical area. Its grant will support integrating with existing OSM tools and APIs, such as WhoDidIt and OSM Notes, to gather event data. A key feature is the introduction of an “approval” status, allowing teams to focus their efforts on changes that have not yet been reviewed by another team member. (
.)
Field Tasking Manager
HOT (Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team) will use their grant to enhance their Field Tasking Manager (FieldTM) tool. Their development focuses on improving OSM integration by creating compatible survey forms and developing a robust conflation workflow to merge field-verified data with existing OSM data. The plan includes partnering with a local OSM community/university chapter in a priority country to test the tool and field-verify a city’s data. (
UseOSM
Developed by the Unpatterned Lab team, UseOSM hels discover unused opportunities in OSM data. Its platform is live at
useosm.org
but is not fully operational. The launch is projected to be in January 2026. (
OSM Apps Catalog
The OSM Apps Catalog helps people discover apps that use OpenStreetMap. The grant will be used to redesign the landing page to look more like an app store, including: What’s new, daily featured apps; Language support; new categories and improved search; and a support/donate (to apps accessed) function. View the current platform at
osm-apps.org
. (
.)
StreetComplete
The StreetComplete team will use the grant to help encourage users to be more involved in the OSM community. They are working on ways to notify about nearby community events, list local community channels, and integrate Weekly OSM news. (
OpenStreetMap Stats Generator
OpenStreetMap Stats Generator reports stats about user contributions in mapping campaigns. They will use the grant to revamp the project after some years of not being maintained. The’ll move from Planet files to Parquet and are targeting SotM 2026 for the working version release. (
Following the call for applications launched in April, we are thrilled to announce the results of the State of the Map 2025 Travel Grant Programme. This initiative aims to support contributors who may face challenges in attending the global OpenStreetMap conference, which will be held in Manila, Philippines, from October 3rd to 5th, 2025.
The Travel Grant Programme is a part of the OpenStreetMap Foundation’s ongoing commitment to making State of the Map more inclusive, diverse, and globally representative. By providing financial assistance, the programme enables community members from various regions and backgrounds to participate in the conference, both in person and online.
This year’s call for applications received an extraordinary response, with over 180 applications submitted by mappers and community members from more than 35 countries. The majority of applicants hailed from Asia and Africa. Notably, approximately 78% of all applicants were students or early-career mappers. However, only about one-third of the applicants identified as female. Furthermore, over 80% of the applicants had never attended a State of the Map event before. These figures underscore the ongoing success of the Travel Grant Programme in reaching new and emerging OpenStreetMap communities, particularly in the Global South.
Applicants represented a wide spectrum of mapping experience within the OpenStreetMap ecosystem. For example, using one of the multiple selection criteria (the number of changesets), we could see the wide spectrum of OSM mappers who applied to the call. Around 20% of applicants were new or had minimal mapping experience (fewer than 10 changesets), while approximately 30% were in the intermediate range (100–2000 changesets), showing consistent engagement and growing contributions. Notably, nearly one in four applicants were highly active mappers with more than 2,000 changesets, demonstrating deep, ongoing involvement in OSM projects. Overall, the applicant pool combined new contributors eager to join the global community with experienced mappers making strong local impacts, reflecting the programme’s success in attracting a balanced mix of experience levels.
After careful evaluation, 37 grantees were selected to receive support for travel and participation. However, only 25 of them were able to attend the event in Manila.
The selected applicants represent a diverse range of grant categories, from £215 to £1000. The allocation of funds was based on factors such as the distance traveled, regional cost levels, and individual circumstances.
Grant category
Number of recipients
Origin countries
£215
Philippines (outside Metro Manila), Indonesia
£675
Nepal, Bangladesh, India
£750
Poland, Canada, Portugal
£1000
Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Rwanda
Online support
Various countries
The selection criteria employed in the call successfully achieved the objective of increasing the diversity of participants at SotM. A total of 17 female and 16 male grantees attended, resulting in a nearly gender-balanced group. Notably, there was strong representation of women within the OpenStreetMap community. Furthermore, 90% of the grantees hailed from Africa and Asia, underscoring the Foundation’s unwavering commitment to equitable global participation.
The diversity of applicants and grantees reflects the remarkable progress made by the OpenStreetMap community in expanding access to global events. Thanks to the Travel Grant Programme, many first-time attendees will now have the opportunity to share their experiences, projects, and local insights with the global OSM community in Manila.
The OSM Foundation and the State of the Map organizing team warmly thanks all applicants, reviewers, and sponsors whose support made this year’s programme possible.
We look forward to welcoming everyone to State of the Map 2026 in Paris!
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.
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]
Get notified about new blog posts:
Subscribe to the
English RSS feed
(other languages available as well)
Credit:
OpenStreetMap France
, image modified.
Having hosted the Olympic Games, Paris is now preparing to welcome another international gathering centered on community, openness, and diversity. Like the sporting disciplines themselves, OpenStreetMap’s mapping covers a multitude of themes and territories. Nature and hiking enthusiasts will find a space for expression there, as well as professionals in the field of geographic data.
Join us in Paris from August 28th to 30th, 2026, for State of the Map!
Watch the
announcement video
This annual gathering brings together OpenStreetMap volunteers, professionals, and enthusiasts to share knowledge, showcase innovations, and highlight the impact of open mapping.
Whether you’re a seasoned contributor, a curious newcomer, or a professional in the field, SotM 2026 is a chance for you to connect with the global community, learn about the latest developments, and contribute to the growth of OpenStreetMap. Mark your calendars and be part of this extraordinary event!
Save the date! Stay tuned via our website,
2026.stateofthemap.org
for more updates on speakers, agenda, ticketing, and how to get involved as the event draws closer.
Credit:
OpenStreetMap France
Post from the
State of the Map Organising Committee
. Follow us on
Mastodon
Telegram
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.
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]
Get notified about new blog posts:
Subscribe to the
English RSS feed
(other languages available as well)
On 4-6 September, we attended the
State of the Map Latam 2025
, the Latin American OpenStreetMap conference. This year marked the 7th edition, taking place for the first time in Colombia, in the vibrant city of
Medellín
. Medellín has been a model of urban transformation and community-led projects in the last couple of decades, with the conference venue being a perfect example of this. The
Parque Biblioteca San Javier
was the first
Library Park
to be built, a project aimed at bringing green, cultural, and educational spaces to the less affluent districts of the city.
Parque Biblioteca San Javier surroundings in Panoramax
Day 1
Day 1 started with the welcome speech by
Juan Arellano
and
Andrés Gómez
from the
Organizing Committee
. Afterward, we enjoyed a live performance of traditional Colombian dances, courtesy of Ballet Nacional El Firulete.
We at the OSMF had the privilege of conducting the first keynote presentation. Most attendees were unfamiliar with the Foundation and its role prior to the event, so attending events like this is a great way to spread awareness and diversify our
membership
The second keynote was presented by
TomTom
, one of the two event sponsors (the other being
Geoapify
). We thank all the sponsors who make this and other community events possible, as well as for their continuous support of the OpenStreetMap project.
Ballet Nacional El Firulete dancing
Cumbia
OSMF Keynote
After lunch, the program continued with the talk from
Trufi
, on how OpenStreetMap can be used for
mapping Public Transport
, and become the foundation of
MaaS
in the Global South. Informal transport is a common occurrence in many parts of the world, yet knowing where these routes go can be a challenge for both users and planning authorities. The day continued with a discussion on the future of Humanitarian Mapping after the stopping of USAID funding. Parallel to these two sessions, attendees could also take a guided visit to the neighbourhood around the event location, accompanied by social entities.
To conclude the day, we took part in the General Assembly of OSM Latam for three hours, which included a lengthy discussion on the challenges both the region and OSM face in the future. Following the official program, we continued to have dinner together and celebrated the 15th anniversary of
HOT
Happy anniversary!
Day 2
The second day featured a diverse range of talks and workshops, with up to four sessions running in parallel! Since it is impossible to discuss all of them, we encourage you to explore
the program
and contact the authors of the talks of interest to you.
The topics discussed during the day were categorized into Governance and Community, Risk Management, OSM Data, OSM Tech, Informal Settlements, Amazonia, Academic Talks, and Workshops. Community partnerships are a cornerstone of the Latin American mapping community, where making a social impact and strengthening the social fabric are among the most important aspects of mapping, a characteristic that is very present in the day’s talks.
Risk management panel discussion, showcasing experiences in Peru, Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador
natural=tree survey mapping workshop
From gender representation in the OSM community to localized geocoding, from social justice slum mapping to student training and engagement, from indigenous mapping to infrastructure and risk mapping, from storytelling to public transport maps. A blog post cannot do justice to the use cases and social transformations the Latam community is creating. An engagement that is possible through the power and openness of OpenStreetMap.
We invite you to review the slides from each talk and workshop in this
Commons category
Merchandise and snack exchange table. Shout out to the volunteers who make it all possible!
After the event, we continued on to socialize and have dinner together.
Day 3
Day 3, the final day of the conference, started strongly, with four parallel talks already scheduled in the first allocated slot. This day featured more technical talks compared to day 2, with topics categorized into the following areas: Public Transport, OSM Tech, Governance and Community, Trees and Forests, Pedestrian Mapping, OSM Data and Use Cases, Academic Talks, and Workshops.
From
OSMCha
to
OpenHistoricalMap
, from OSM and
Wikidata
integration to mapping with
OSMTracker
, from sidewalk mapping to
Python
, and from
YouthMappers
to Government collaboration. The exchange of technical knowledge is an important way to connect ideas and use cases with the tools that can bring them to life. Additionally, the engagement of the younger generation and governmental entities is crucial to the long-term sustainability of the data in the region.
Sidewalks as a separate geometry, or as attributes on the street?
Youth panel discussion
A personal highlight of the day was the drone imagery workshop. Most Latin American countries lack high-quality government mapping imagery and, therefore, must rely on satellite imagery. But mappers took matters into their own hands to produce high-quality drone imagery to meet their surveying needs! And while the workshop was underway, we used the same drone to take the group pictures of the event; we were quite a crew!
Drone mapping workshop
Group picture, hands up and wave!
10
The day then concluded with the event’s closure, which included the election of the venue for SotM Latam 2026. There was only one bid, but the attendees agreed it was a strong one. So see you in Mexico City in 2026, ¡órale!
SotM Latam 2026 bid election
11
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
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SotM-Latam-2025_Show5-9.jpg by Andrés Gómez “Angoca” under CC-BY
↩︎
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SotM-Latam-2025_OSMF2.jpg by Andrés Gómez “Angoca” under CC-BY
↩︎
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SotM-Latam-2025_15a%C3%B1osHOTOSM2.jpg by Andrés Gómez “Angoca” under CC-BY
↩︎
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SotM_Latam_2025_-_d%C3%ADa_2_-_imagen_20.jpg by Héctor Ochoa Ortiz “Robot8A” under CC-BY-SA
↩︎
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TallerMapeoTree_SotMLatam2025.jpg by Paul Dassori “Pdassori” under CC-BY-SA
↩︎
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SotM_Latam_2025_-_d%C3%ADa_2_-_imagen_13.jpg by Héctor Ochoa Ortiz “Robot8A” under CC-BY-SA
↩︎
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SotM_Latam_2025_-_d%C3%ADa_3_-_imagen_17.jpg by Héctor Ochoa Ortiz “Robot8A” under CC-BY-SA
↩︎
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SotM-Latam-2025_Panel8-2.jpg by Andrés Gómez “Angoca” under CC-BY
↩︎
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SotM_Latam_2025_-_d%C3%ADa_3_-_imagen_36.jpg by Héctor Ochoa Ortiz “Robot8A” under CC-BY-SA
↩︎
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SotM-Latam-2025_participantes-6.jpg by Andrés Gómez “Angoca” under CC-BY
↩︎
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SotM_Latam_2025_-_d%C3%ADa_3_-_imagen_43.jpg by Héctor Ochoa Ortiz “Robot8A” under CC-BY-SA
↩︎
Hello all! My name is Pablo Brasero Moreno, a software engineer and long-time enthusiast of Open Source Software and Open Data. I am honoured and grateful to have been selected by the OSMF as Core Software Engineer, thanks the funds provided by the
Sovereign Tech Agency
At a personal level, I grew up in
Seville, Spain
. In 2004 I moved to the UK and, after living for many years in
London, England
, now I’m established in
Belfast, Northern Ireland
. In my own time I explore Northern Ireland with my family, read sci-fi novels, listen to heavy metal music, attend concerts, play bass guitar (badly), and try to learn languages (even more badly, currently attempting Mandarin Chinese). Did I mention I have a B1 certificate in Esperanto?
I have been involved in some capacity with Open Source Software since I first installed Linux in my computer in 1998, first contributing with Spanish translations (over email!), and later taking part in the OSS explosion brought by the creation of GitHub. I have worked with many technology stacks over my career, but for a long time the primary one has been Ruby on Rails. I have used Ruby in many environments, from helping clients bootstrap businesses out of napkin sketches, to participating in the architecture and growth of banking applications. Since 2019 I am a freelancer, and I cannot but feel so lucky to have been available at the time when OSMF announced this position.
Without being a huge contributor to OSM, I was aware of it at least as early as 2015, when I made my first edits while visiting Mexico. In the last couple of years I have started mapping playgrounds, as that strikes a balance between my interest to contribute and my family’s patience to wait for me while I fiddle on my phone.
I am not here to dictate what features should exist in the the OSM website, or what specific issues should be fixed. I am here to learn about the needs of the community, relieve the workload of the volunteers, support contributors new and old, provide reviews and guidance on software engineering questions, and overall help bring our collective vision of OSM to fruition.
You will be hearing from me soon, in the form of GitHub comments/issues/PRs, working with Minh Nguyễn with news and summaries related to development of the platform, talking to many of you directly in order to understand your points of view, and generally anywhere where I can help.
I cannot wait to working with and for y’all!
The community voting for the OpenStreetMap Awards 2025 is open! During the call for nominees, you submitted more than a hundred of them. Then, a number of active community members have prepared a shorter list. Now it is again your turn: choose who gets an
award
during State of the Map in Manila.
We have 28 nominees to choose from 7 categories:
Core Systems Award
Innovation Award
Influential Writing Award
Greatness in Mapping Award
Expanding the Community Award
Team Achievement Award
Ulf Möller Memorial Award
Every one of these worked hard, and deserves every bit of our love. You don’t have to choose only one nominee per category: that would be an impossible choice, given we have so many great people on the list. Click as many checkboxes as you like, even all of them. What matters is not winning, but knowing that hundreds of people support you and your project. The main point of a community is to support its members, and this is your chance to do that. Don’t forget to press the “Vote” button afterwards.
And do use the fact that you can change or add to your votes at any time until the voting ends on
30 September 2025
, right before the State of the Map 2025 conference, at which winners will be announced.
Do not postpone visiting the website — spend a minute right now. Please vote now
awards.openstreetmap.org
and show your appreciation!
The State of the Map Working Group
The
State of the Map
conference is the annual, international conference of OpenStreetMap
, organised by the
OpenStreetMap Foundation
The
OpenStreetMap Foundation
is a not-for-profit organisation, formed to support the OpenStreetMap Project. It is dedicated to encouraging the growth, development and distribution of free geospatial data for anyone to use and share. The OpenStreetMap Foundation owns and maintains the infrastructure of the OpenStreetMap project, is financially supported by membership fees and
donations
, and organises the annual, international
State of the Map
conference. Our volunteer
Working Groups
and small core staff work to support the OpenStreetMap project.
Join the OpenStreetMap Foundation
for just £15 a year or for free if you are an active OpenStreetMap contributor
OpenStreetMap
was founded in 2004 and is an international project to create a free map of the world. To do so, we, thousands of volunteers, collect data about roads, railways, rivers, forests, buildings and a lot more worldwide. Our map data can be downloaded for free by everyone and used for any purpose – including commercial usage. It is possible to produce your own maps which highlight certain features, to calculate routes etc. OpenStreetMap is increasingly used when one needs maps which can be very quickly, or easily, updated.
Official OSM logo by Ken Vermette, CC-BY-SA 3.0 & trademarks apply.
Voting for the
2025 board election
has started. You can read the board candidates’ answers and manifestos
here
Emails were sent to eligible OSM Foundation members today, and link directly to the voting page – listing each candidate in random order and allowing you to rank the candidates in order of preference.
Eligibility to vote
You are eligible to vote in the election if
you have been a member for the full 90 days prior to the date of the
Annual General Meeting
(which will take place on 13 September 2025)
, and
your membership is not in arrears 7 days before the date of the Annual General Meeting, and
you are a natural person.
OpaVote voting email
If you are eligible to vote, the OpaVote email was sent to the email address associated with your OSM Foundation membership.
The subject of the email is: [OpenStreetMap Foundation] Voting on 2025 board election [some_random_letters]
The sender is: noreply at opavote.com
If you believe you should have received a voting email but can’t find it, please check your spam folder. If it’s still missing, send a message to the email addresses mentioned
here
Voting information and FAQ
You can find more
information about voting and answers to frequently asked questions here
. Please make sure to read the warning on the page before voting.
Deadline for voting:
Saturday 13 September 2025 at 16:00 UTC
The polls will remain open for one week, closing on Saturday 13 September 2025 at 16:00 UTC, when the Annual General Meeting
(which you can join online)
will commence. We kindly ask you to vote in advance.
Do you want to translate this and other blog posts in
another language
..? Send an email to
communication@osmfoundation.org
with subject: Helping with translations in [your language]
The
OpenStreetMap Foundation
is a not-for-profit organisation, formed to support the OpenStreetMap Project. It is dedicated to encouraging the growth, development and distribution of free geospatial data for anyone to use and share. The OpenStreetMap Foundation owns and maintains the infrastructure of the OpenStreetMap project, is financially supported by membership fees and
donations
, and organises the annual, international
State of the Map
conference. Our volunteer
Working Groups
and small core staff work to support the OpenStreetMap project.
Join the OpenStreetMap Foundation
for just £15 a year or for free if you are an active OpenStreetMap contributor
Get notified about new blog posts:
Subscribe to the English RSS feed
(feeds also available for other languages)
by Minh Nguyễn
Core Software Development Facilitator, OpenStreetMap Foundation
In June, I had the privilege of representing OpenStreetMap as part of the
Sovereign Tech Agency
’s delegation at
UN Open Source Week
in New York City. Joining me was
Sarah Hoffmann
, who maintains several well-known OSM software projects. This was a unique opportunity to raise OSM’s profile among global institutional supporters of open source projects and promote best practices for fostering and sustaining authentic open source communities.
Among the open source projects represented at the event, OSM stands out as an open data project, giving us a special perspective on issues of governance and community-building. At the unconference-style “Maintain-A-Thon”, Sarah shared some of her deep experience as maintainer of
Nominatim
in discussing how to create accessible entry points for new contributors. A few steps away, I joined open source maintainers from around the world as we discussed our challenges in internationalizing our projects and communities to serve a more global audience.
(Meanwhile, Wikipedians onboarded a large group of new contributors at an editathon across the room. Maybe in the future we can carve out some space for a mapathon too.)
The UN’s Trusteeship Council room is full as an International Telecommunication Union official speaks before attendees at DPI Day.
As the discussion came around to topics such as contributor retention and developing governance models, I was struck by the
familiar challenges
that our various projects have faced, even though they’re in different fields and at such different stages of maturity.
How do we accommodate volunteers coexisting with paid developers and individuals coexisting with institutional partners?
How do we build a pipeline that transforms “takers” into “makers”?
How do we ensure that the community feels heard without allowing the project to fall victim to analysis paralysis?
It was fascinating to hear about the approaches that larger projects with institutional backing have taken, but our grassroots, decentralized structure would likely require some extra creativity. At least we’re in touch and can learn from each other going forward, since there are no magic solutions.
Just like at any OSM conference, the most interesting part was the hallway track. We had the privilege of meeting a number of representatives from open source program offices (OSPOs) in the public sector, civil society, and academia. Some had heard of OSM but only knew us as a map data vendor or some sort of alternative to Google Maps. It’s always fun to meet people who think they know about GIS and maps and introduce them to the very concept of a map rooted in a community. University OSPOs were particularly interested in our story, as OSM is a whole constellation of projects that use a variety of technologies. Here’s hoping something comes of that.
In the meantime, we have plenty of technical debt as well as some low-hanging fruit for improving how the projects run day to day. I’m excited about the opportunity to bring in a
Core Software Engineer
who over time can hopefully complement the irreplaceable efforts of our volunteers. Whether you’re a coder or not, there’s a place for you to thrive in OSM.
The
OpenStreetMap Foundation
is a not-for-profit organisation, formed to support the OpenStreetMap Project. It is dedicated to encouraging the growth, development and distribution of free geospatial data for anyone to use and share. The OpenStreetMap Foundation owns and maintains the infrastructure of the OpenStreetMap project, is financially supported by membership fees and
donations
, and organises the annual, international
State of the Map
conference. Our volunteer
Working Groups
and small core staff work to support the OpenStreetMap project.
Join the OpenStreetMap Foundation
for just £15 a year or for free if you are an active OpenStreetMap contributor
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