I'm back in the office after a great few days in Girona, Spain for State of the Map, the annual OpenStreetMap (OSM) conference. One of the highlights of the trip was that it brought together the Humanitarian OSM Team and gave us the opportunity to talk about what we've learned from three successful deployments to Haiti and plan our next activities.
OpenStreetMap in use by search and rescue teams after the earthquake in Haiti. Photo taken by a member of Fairfax County's Urban Search and Rescue Team.
One of our current focuses is to pull together resources and training materials that have already been created as part of different projects, and to finalize the Humanitarian Data Model that will provide standard terms for data collection and help OSM data transfer seamlessly into the workflows of responding organizations. A lot of work has already been done in these areas by MapKibera in Kenya, OpenMapsCaucasus in Georgia, and the three Humanitarian OSM Team deployments to Haiti, and we are in a good place to start consolidating versions, polishing them, and getting them translated in the various languages of the places where they are needed.
The Humanitarian OSM Team is also planning several more trips to Haiti to build on the work already done there and continue to support the growing Haitian OSM community with more trainings and supplies. We're also planning to conduct some preparedness work so that in future emergencies OpenStreetMap will already contain solid data and be able to be used faster in relief efforts. I'll write more concretely about these initiatives as they come together.
On the administrative side, we'll be incorporating as an official not-for-profit entity in both the United States and the European Union. Kate Chapman has drafted Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation and is asking for input from the community. The great part of this is that incorporation will help us raise funds for future trips to places like Haiti and function more independently as an organization.
If you'd like to help out or stay informed about our work, join our mailing list, check out our wiki, and follow us on Twitter.