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How #Map2020 Mappers Use Street-Level Imagery to Tackle Humanitarian Challenges

From Ghana to Zambia to the Philippines, we take a look at some of the 33 mapping projects that are taking part in #map2020 to build better maps in undermapped regions. The mapping participants are collecting street-level imagery to improve things like waste management, natural disaster response, and damaged roads, addressing some of the most pressing issues in undermapped regions.

Rebecca Firth - 20 June, 2019

Global

Welcome HOT’s New Voting Members for 2019

We are excited to announce 38 new HOT Voting Members! Each year, existing HOT voting members nominate new key contributors from our community to become Voting Members and act as local representatives of HOT’s global network.

Tyler Radford - 11 June, 2019

Global

Hands on Assisted Tasks

Launch of an experimental playground Tasking Manager supported by state-of-the-art machine learning techniques to assist mappers, validators and project managers.

Felix Delattre - 29 May, 2019

Global

#map2020: A campaign to accelerate critical map data collection for humanitarian challenges

Mapillary and HOT are joining forces to accelerate map data collection in undermapped regions. Local mappers are invited to use street-level imagery in mapping projects that address humanitarian or developmental challenges. Two of the projects submitted to the #map2020 campaign will be selected for a fully-funded trip to the HOT Summit in Heidelberg, Germany this September.

Rebecca Firth - 10 May, 2019

Global

User Experience Discovery with the Tasking Manager

Conducting design research to evaluate mapping and validation workflows within the Tasking Manager.

Leihla Pinho - 30 April, 2019

Global

Maps in action: How maps help the aid response for Cyclone Idai

How do humanitarians use the data and maps provided by HOT and OpenStreetMap? Lauren Bateman, Remote Coordinator for Information Management Team for Cyclone Idai Response, American Red Cross, talks about how the IFRC used the maps on the ground during Cyclone Idai.

Alex Glynn - 29 April, 2019

Global

Eight New Communities Selected for 2019 HOT Microgrants

Female drone pilots mapping Africa’s largest slum, a youth group changing waste management behaviours in mega-cities, and mappers making Manila more accessible for persons with disabilities. These are a few examples of the eight incredible new community projects that are the recipients of the 2019 HOT Microgrants!

Rebecca Firth - 12 April, 2019

Global

HOT’s Journey through Salary Transparency

In September 2018, HOT held an in-person meeting of staff alongside our annual Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. After gathering ideas from staff, we ran a survey. The results: highest priorities for improvement were salary, benefits (specifically health care) and learning. This is the first post about what action we're taking based on what we heard, focusing on what we believe is a major leap forward for HOT: salary transparency.

Tyler Radford - 3 April, 2019

United States

An approach to field data collection in Kathmandu

Guest blog by Gaurav Thapa from Kathmandu Living Labs. Covering the collection process carried out by the team for surveying exposure data in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal as part of the METEOR project.

Mhairi O'Hara - 3 April, 2019

Nepal

Cyclone Idai: how can you help by mapping?

Volunteers, we need your help! Over the past few weeks, Cyclone Idai has caused widespread destruction across Mozambique and Zimbabwe, destroying homes and infrastructure. The situation on the ground is constantly changing and the humanitarian teams responding need up-to-date information at their fingertips. We need your help to update maps of the areas affected by the Cyclone. This is a critical time in the lives of millions of people and you can help humanitarian responders provide lifesaving aid.

Rebecca Firth - 1 April, 2019

Global

Bringing machine learning and open data to the Tasking Manager

Addressing the unmapped gap with higher quality and greater efficiency. Photo above from the Tasking Manager meeting held last month in Washington, DC.

Nate Smith - 20 March, 2019

Global

International Women's Day 2019: #balanceforbetter

HOT celebrates work to improve gender inclusion across OpenStreetMap. While no country in the world has achieved gender parity, inequality is particularly extreme in many of the places HOT works. Scroll on to see how you can get involved, and see our highlights from the past year.

Rebecca Firth - 8 March, 2019

Global

Mapping Sexist Publicity

Guest blog by Ana Paula Figueroa, 15 years old. Student at GAL School, Cusco, Peru.

7 March, 2019

Peru

Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Week Roundup

Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Week is a week when more than 25 networks and partnerships hold annual meetings in Geneva. This year, the event was held from February 4-8 and co-chaired by OCHA and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). HOT is a member of two of the networks: the Humanitarian to Humanitarian (known as the “H2H Network”) and the Global Alliance for Urban Crises.

Tyler Radford - 22 February, 2019

Global

HOT Summit 2019 Logo Contest

The Summit Working Group is pleased to announce the call for logo designs. This is your opportunity to take part in the build up to the conference. You can submit your design as an individual or as a group.

21 February, 2019

Global