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News — 18 January, 2013

Completion of Intermediate Workshops

The six pilot workshops to the BNPB on intermediate OSM skills were completed earlier this week. Our team of eight HOT trainers finished their last workshop to members of the Kupang government with an interesting ending. The day we ended our workshop we flew home to a flooded Jakarta. The BNPB had sent us the maps, which used the OSM data we gathered last year as a base map, that showed the affected areas. (Though we knew what to expect when heading home, it still was a shock to see so many roads flooded and people surrendering their beds and belongings to higher ground. Read more about the Jakarta Floods here.)

The six pilot workshops to the BNPB on intermediate OSM skills were completed earlier this week. Our team of eight HOT trainers finished their last workshop to members of the Kupang government with an interesting ending. The day we ended our workshop we flew home to a flooded Jakarta. The BNPB had sent us the maps, which used the OSM data we gathered last year as a base map, that showed the affected areas. (Though we knew what to expect when heading home, it still was a shock to see so many roads flooded and people surrendering their beds and belongings to higher ground. Read more about the Jakarta Floods here.)

Over the course of the last two months, the HOT Indonesian trainers revisited Bandung, Java; Surabaya, Java; Makasar, Sulawesi; Padang, Sumatra; Kupang, NTT; and Manokowari, West Papua to teach more advanced editing skills and tools.

Though some of the curriculum was indeed challenging, such as learning XML and how to create custom presets, participants were exposed to different tools for making OSM data their own. We taught them advanced editing skills, such as the building tools and Utils2 plug-ing; data validation tips and tools, such as OSMKeepRight; how to edit OSM wiki pages; how to create more specific presets; conflict resolution; imagery offset; how to use the Private Data Store. The only issue we ran in to was the slow speed of the private data store. Unfortunately, with our low bandwidth and high amount of data held in the data store it was timely to access and practice using the private database.

We continually received feedback about how close participants felt to the HOT trainers. They could exchange jokes and laugh, while also learning the nitty-gritty of how to map. This feedback makes us realize that we are indeed creating an OSM community in parts of Indonesia. We are creating avenues for people to collect OSM data and enjoy doing so.