What makes OpenStreetMap cool?
I guess many things, but I really liked a conversation at last Friday night’s OpenStreetMap party: the bridge on the right is currently not-a-bridge. Should it be depicted as one on a map? Cool, how up-to-date can a map be? But is it useful, since anyone at Sail 2010 could see…
OpenStreetMap had its sixth birthday and that calls for a celebration. Talked to grandmaster Henk Hoff about how to get more OpenStreetMap action going on in the Netherlands (and beyond).
Lots of barriers to overcome, just to name a few:
– How do we get authorities to donate geodata to OpenStreetMap?
– Why would they invest in that?
– Would a first step be data they don’t sell to anyone, but still collect and use?
– What is the legal status of data once donated to OpenStreetMap (e.g. the validity of a planning zone).
– Can map parties contribute geodata, which is too expensive to capture for a city, but is still very useful?
– How do we get professionals involved in connecting to amateurs?
Esri is hoping to contribute to the OpenStreetMap realm and recently released a free add-on for ArcGIS Editor. We have not yet put that into action in the Netherlands, but I am sure we will this fall.
BTW this is a professional meets amateur scenario, but I could not discover any amateurs at last Friday’s birthdayparty. Too many interesting people to talk too and I was running out of time. There were a few tall ships that required my attention (and great fireworks late that evening).