News
Latest Update: Earthquakes in Japan and Ecuador
Ecuador: An earthquake of magnitude 7.8 hit the coastal region of Ecuador on April 16th. This major event was followed by several aftershocks. HOT is currently at "Moderate Event (Local Leadership)" status and is continuing to monitor the situation and await more guidance from colleagues in Ecuador.Japan: On April 14th and 15th, several earthquakes hit Kumamoto Japan. Our colleagues at Crisis Mappers Japan (http://crisismappers.jp/) are taking the lead on mapping the affected areas in OpenStreetMap. Several members of Crisis Mappers Japan traveled to Kumamoto this weekend to assess data needs. HOT is monitoring the situation and will provide additional support as needed.
Ramani Huria: how are the maps being used in the wards?
(Guest post by Mercedes Hoffay, Master of Public Administration Candidate - Columbia University).All policy students are obsessed with the effectiveness and feasibility of policies and programs that governments implement. So when we find a tool that allows significant efficiency gains in government planning, we are thrilled. That is how we felt when we embarked on our Graduate Capstone Project to evaluate the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team’s work in Tanzania and their role in Dar Ramani Huria.
HOT 2016 Annual Meeting and Elections
Greetings HOT Community,Each year the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) Voting Members assemble for HOT’s Annual General Meeting (AGM). During this important event, we announce the election results for the HOT Board of Directors and Membership Chairperson. Also, the AGM is where we typically consider items like adopting or amending policies such as the Membership Code of Conduct.
OSM Data Analysis Tool Development Kicks Off!
Last week in Washington DC, HOT kicked off work to develop a prototype tool for OSM data analysis. With generous support from the Knight...
200 Kids Map Swaziland for Malaria Elimination
On Thursday, March 3rd 2016, a world-record humanitarian mapathon took place at Politecnico di Milano in northern Italy. Two-hundred and twelve 10-year old children from...
Utilizing OSM Data for Disaster Risk Management Through University Engagement and Partnership
For the past 2 years, HOT in Indonesia is implementing a university program to build partnerships and collaborations with universities, disaster research centers, and local disaster management agencies.The purpose is for the universities to have the capacity to map exposure data in vulnerable areas and could support local disaster management agency in their area when needed. The big goal of this program is to have disaster prone areas in Indonesia to be well mapped.
HOT Uganda profile: Douglas Ssebaggala
We have three Ugandan mapping supervisors on the HOT mapping team in Uganda: Douglas Ssebaggala, Geoffrey Kateregga and Ketty Adoch. They've all been involved with OpenStreetMap and HOT for some time, and would like to share their story and mapping history. Today, we're speaking to Douglas.
Mapping in Mozambique to Help Reduce Child Mortality
Mozambique is a country of 25 million people on the east coast of Africa, often beset by natural disasters ranging from severe drought to...
A day mapping in Dar Es Salaam: drainage in Chang'ombe
Guest post by Kathryn Davis, Columbia University.January 14th, 10:30am. We arrive in Chang'ombe ward (an industrial area in Dar es Salaam) after weaving in and out of traffic in the project bajaj (rickshaw) through different neighborhoods. Johannes Peter, a seasoned mapper with the Dar Ramani Huria project, takes another look at his drone imagery printout of the area, and indicates that we’ve arrived at our starting point.Mappers like Johannes detail key drainage and water infrastructure that hasn't been digitized before, and that can be used for disaster risk reduction planning and flood resilience. Almost immediately, we see drainage on the right side of the wide dirt road, and mark it on the map...
OSM Celebrates International Women's Day 2016
A young woman anxiously practices a talk about youth in OSM that she is slated to give at the HOT Summit the following day....
The Global Footprint of HOT
Guest post by Pratik Yadav, data analyst at Mapbox. The HOT Tasking Manager (TM) has been the critical tool for rapid and massive coordination...
Passengers created the public transportation map of Managua
Great progress on a crowd-sourced public transportation map for Managua! Through our crowd-funding initiative, we were able to raise $6,212 dollars and with this they enabled us to print the city's bus map 40,000 times.
"My mapping experience" by Hillary Musundi, student at Uganda Christian University.
When I was first told about mapping, I thought it was something to do sitting indoors on your laptop. Well, it’s also a bit like that, but little did I know the adventure that awaited me. I quickly got acquainted with the whole mapping process after the training we received on the first two days (ed: 11 and 12 January). Earlier I had met Douglas Ssebaggala who had showed us how to use OpenMapKit and JOSM. I just couldn’t wait to start my journey in the world. After the training, I felt I was ready.
Geo Data Collect: Mobile Data Collection and Tracking
Smartphone is everywhere. In Indonesia alone, it is estimated in 2015 that there are around 55 million of smartphone users, the third highest number...
First week of mapping in Mbale, Uganda
As we enter our second week in Mbale, we've started surveying the surrounding districts of Sironko, Manafwu and Baduda today (Monday, January 18th). These...