A year in the life of OpenStreetMap: How OSM is mapping the world.

Presentation | Presented

  • Nick Black, OpenStreetMap

OpenStreetMap is an open source project that is mapping the world and providing its maps, free for anyone to use. Founded in 2004, OSM now has over 6,000 members who are collectively building a free map of the world. This presentation will give an overview of the social and technical aspects of the OpenStreetMap project, looking at some of the developments in OSM over the last year. 2007 has so far seen the launch of an improved website and a re-write of the API, the commercial use of OSM data and increasing commercial interest in the project, an ever expanding user and developer base, more mapping parties and the State of the Map conference. The presentation also talks about some of the problems that OSM has encountered, looking at how the project dealt with them and how OSM develops its software to deal with the social issues surrounding collaborative mapping. Finally, the talk will discuss the direction that OSM will take over the next year, looking at potential improvements and enhancements to both the technical and social fabric of the organisation.

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