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News — 17 November, 2022

OSM Hackfest 2023 - Call for Partnerships

Over the past two years, Open Mapping Hub - Asia Pacific (OMH-AP) has been working on it’s vision to create a sustainable OpenStreetMap (OSM) ecosystem in the Asia-Pacific region. And for this reason, we are planning the OSM Hackfest as a regional level event in 2023. We need your support in order to do this and we are seeking partnerships for organizing the first ever Asia Pacific OSM regional Hackfest.

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Over the past two years, Open Mapping Hub - Asia Pacific (OMH-AP) has been working in it’s vision to create a sustainable OpenStreetMap (OSM) ecosystem in the Asia pacific region. We have been supporting various community led activities and helping numerous champions emerge within the OSM ecosystem. Our efforts have been primarily focused in supporting new communities, creating map data and ensuring the quality of the data.

As the OSM movement in the region grows, we realize the need to have people who can utilize the created open data in projects for social impact. In June 2022, We organized the first ever OSM Hackfest, reaching out to more than 600 students in Nepal. When we organized the Hackfest we had the following goals in our mind:

  • Introduce Computer Science, IT and engineering students to the OpenStreetMap ecosystem generally and the OSM tech stack in particular.

  • Make the students aware about learning and career opportunities present in engaging with the community and projects available within these ecosystems.

  • Provide students with hands-on experience on utilizing OpenStreetMap data and developing products using the OSM data.

  • Engage students in advancing the OSM movement and challenge them to build tools to create local impact, utilizing OpenStreetMap data and services.

We were very excited to organize the event and it was one for the books! After a rigorous selection process, participants underwent a closed camp for a week where they worked in groups to develop their projects further. All the teams gained a deeper understanding of OSM & Open Technologies and were able to develop their ideas into tangible project plans that can be implemented to create social impact.

Get a glimpse of the Hackfest here!

OSM Hackfest Nepal 2022 - first of its kind!

We were equally excited by the engagement and enthusiasm of the participants and the results were outstanding!

And for this reason, we are planning the OSM Hackfest as a regional level event in 2023. We need your support in order to do this and we are seeking partnerships for organizing the first ever Asia Pacific OSM regional Hackfest.

What kind of partners/ partnerships are we looking for?

  • Academia such as universities, student clubs

  • Social Enterprises

  • Government Institutions

  • OSM Groups

  • Tech groups and FOSS communities

  • Community Based Organizations

  • Non-Government Organizations

What is the role of the partners?

  • The partners will reach out to universities and students in their city/country and conduct introductory OSM training together with OMH-AP

  • The partners will plan and organize local level events for OSM Hackfest in their country/city

  • The partners will select the winners of Hackfest who will have an opportunity to represent their country at the regional level. The winners will go through a rigorous/ competitive and pre-established selection process conducted by the partners with a diverse panel. We want to ensure an impartial and equitable selection process for the applicants.

Benefits of becoming a local partner?

  • A chance to work alongside Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) and Open Mapping Hub Asia Pacific (OMH-AP) to organize the first ever OSM Hackfest for the Asia-pacific region.

  • An opportunity to champion the OSM movement in your city/country and help in creating different use case for OSM data

  • The opportunity to immerse yourself and serve as a thought leader in your city/country’s social impact, humanitarian, tech, innovation, and creative communities

  • Opportunity to support outstanding candidates from your city/country to represent their country at a regional level event.

  • Chance to expand your network with like minded individuals working in advancing the open mapping movement in the region.

The HOT and OMH-AP team will provide support to the selected partners in the following ways:

  • Sharing the experience of organizing an OSM focused hackathon

  • Consultation in planning and organizing the events

  • Opportunity to tap into regional and global experts and receive guidance and knowledge-sharing from experts in the open mapping field

  • Training and mentorship to the participants of Hackfest

  • Funding support for organizing the local events

If you are interested in leading and advancing the open mapping movement to help solve some of the world’s most interesting humanitarian and social impact challenges using open data created by thousands of volunteers worldwide, apply to become a partner for organizing the first ever regional OSM Hackfest for the Asia-pacific region by December 5th 2022.