S M Sawan Shariar
Bio
Sawan is currently working as a manager at Bangladesh Open Innovation Lab (BOIL) and deputy coordinators & validation lead of the Bangladesh Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Operational Team; known to all as BHOOT, as well as deputy volunteer coordinators for OpenStreetMap Bangladesh Foundation (OSMBDF). He is one of the Regional Ambassadors of YouthMappers for 2020-2021. He is currently supervising the Map Your City project commenced by team BHOOT to bring the whole Bangladesh into the map. He has been involved with HOT activities for over 6 years, which starts with the Data4Action project initiated by American Red Cross in 2015. Since then he has been an active contributor to OpenStreetMap, HOT & MissingMaps mapping activities through remote tracing, field mapping & validation both in Bangladesh & other parts of the world. He is currently listed as the top contributor on MissingMaps Global Leaderboard. He has been very instrumental in community & volunteer coordination for OpenStreetMap Bangladesh Community. He was the founder president of YouthMapper Dhaka College Chapter, one of the vibrant chapters in the global YouthMapper program. He is also one of the coordinators of the YouthMapper Bangladesh Community. Since the very early stage, He has been involved in strengthening local capacity and supporting mapping initiatives. In the journey with OSM, He has developed expertise in community engagement, team coordination, project management, remote sensing, field data collection, and local volunteer organization. He has conducted more than 30 OSM training and facilitated youth engagement in several educational institutes, local communities, NGOs, and The Bangladesh Red Cross/Crescent Society. He believes with proper support & Guidance the local enthusiastic OSM communities have the capacity to catalyze the development and growth of OSM around the world.
