Foundation/AGM20/Election to Board/Answers and manifestos/Logan McGovern

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ABOUT YOU:

Your OSM activities

For example:

  • What brought you to OSM and why are you still part of it now?
  • What is your OSM user name?
  • What mapping contributions have you made in the last year?
  • Are you/have you been a member of any OSMF working groups?
  • Do you participate with other OSM mappers, for example in a local chapter or in social meet ups?
  • Have you run anything yourself, such as an OSM-newbie event?
  • Have you written about OpenStreetMap in the past - for example, in a blog, or on mailing lists, or in a newspaper? Please provide links if you can.
  • Do you contribute as a software developer?
  • Have you attended board meetings as a guest?

What brought you to OSM and why are you still part of it now?

In early 2019, I attended a job fair where employers were advertising open positions. I remember seeing “Kaart” on the business cards resting on the table. The name sounded odd and piqued my interest. The company’s slogan of “Live locally, work globally” appealed to me. Ultimately, I was hired by Kaart to fill a position on an organized editing team they were assembling. I continue to find this work rewarding and I am a proud employee of Kaart.

What is your OSM username?

I have three OSM accounts. Dalekokarta is my work account. Logan Mc and lmcosmf are my personal accounts. I applied for membership in the OSMF using lmcosmf. The edits that I contribute to OpenStreetMap as Logan Mc are for Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) disaster mapping campaigns. I am a volunteer tasking coordinator for HOT and I have been creating tasking manager projects for the COVID-19 mapping campaign. I was honored with a mention in their September newsletter for my volunteer contributions, which I appreciated.

What mapping contributions have you made in the last year?

To date, under my work username of Dalekokarta, I have contributed approximately 625,000 edits to Mexico, 148,000 edits to Colombia, and 8000 edits to Malaysia. All my contributions to OpenStreetMap as a Kaart employee are related to the road networks of these countries. I am particularly proud of the edits that I made to the road system of Salamanca, Mexico. I have contributed a significantly smaller number of edits to OpenStreetMap using my personal account Logan Mc, most of which are for various HOT disaster mapping campaigns.

Are you/have you been a member of any OSMF working groups?

I have not been a member of any OSMF working groups. Awhile back I expressed interest in the past at volunteering for the OSMF in emails to the communication working group, but ultimately did not follow through because I considered myself too new to the OpenStreetMap community. I will reach out again to see if they need volunteers early next year, provided I am not elected to serve on the board.

Do you participate with other OSM mappers, for example in a local chapter or in social meet ups?
I have been participating in the HOT Covid-19 activation for half a year now. Volunteers participating in the activation were able to attend a weekly video conference for nearly that entire period. I missed two meetings during these past six months, and one was cancelled.

Have you run anything yourself, such as an OSM-newbie event?

I have not directed or organized any events independently

Have you written about OpenStreetMap in the past - for example, in a blog, or on mailing lists, or in a newspaper?

I have not written any public posts about OpenStreetMap

Do you contribute as a software developer?

I have done extremely little in terms of software development. However, I can write applications using the statistical language R, and I am familiar with SQL and Python, but not adept.

Have you attended board meetings as a guest?

I have not attended any OSMF board meetings.

Why you want to be a board member?

  • What do you think you can achieve as a board member that you can't as a regular OSM(F) member?
  • What is the most pressing issue the OSMF board should address?

As a board member, I can help with efforts to inaugurate new local chapters. Outside of Europe, too few OSM communities have formal OSM chapters. Recent successes achieved by the board on this front are very encouraging. Congratulations to Congo-Kinshasa (DRC)! I want to this progress to continue, inducting bringing many more into the fold across the world. It is my hope that more local chapters will help address a host of other concerns, such as the need for a geographically diverse pool of candidates for OSMF board elections. I believe Local chapters are key to expanding the volunteer contributor base, which is the lifeblood of OSM.

The possibility of a hostile takeover of OSMF is an issue that has consumed much energy and attention over the past couple years. I want to help put this issue to rest. It is a priority of mine to support practical efforts to harden the OSMF against hostile takeover, such as minimum requirements in the same vein Tobias Knerr’s proposal from this past October.

Your time

If you are currently a member of a working group, do you plan to continue your role in that working group while on the board? Do you have enough time to commit to multiple roles?

As a board member, I can help with efforts to inaugurate new local chapters. Outside of Europe, too few OSM communities have formal OSM chapters. Recent successes achieved by the board on this front are very encouraging. Congratulations to Congo-Kinshasa (DRC)! I want to this progress to continue, inducting bringing many more into the fold across the world. It is my hope that more local chapters will help address a host of other concerns, such as the need for a geographically diverse pool of candidates for OSMF board elections. I believe Local chapters are key to expanding the volunteer contributor base, which is the lifeblood of OSM.

The possibility of a hostile takeover of OSMF is an issue that has consumed much energy and attention over the past couple years. I want to help put this issue to rest. It is a priority of mine to support practical efforts to harden the OSMF against hostile takeover, such as minimum requirements in the same vein Tobias Knerr’s proposal from this past October.

Do you have any previous relevant experience?

Please describe any experience you have that might help you be a board member. Here are some examples to help you:

  • Being a board member for OSMF often involves complex negotiation and discussions within the board, with working groups, and with the wider OSM community. Teamwork and the ability to make decisions, listen (truly listen) and hear a diverse set of opinions takes humility, time management, calm process planning, and community-building skills. Do you have an experience where you managed scenarios and conversations that you may not have agreed with and/or that challenged you.
  • Do you have experience of managing a project or a team of people? Do you have any experience of coaching others to lead (i.e. managing managers)? How long have you been doing these things?
  • Have you ever managed multiple stakeholders with different agendas? What was the situation? What did you do? What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

My relevant experience includes working with a diverse group of employees as part of the same team for the past two years. We routinely critique each other’s work, and everyone must be receptive to this, as this serves our goal of maintaining a high standard of quality in our OSM contributions. This requires effective communication and active listening skills. We hold each other accountable. Disagreements occur, but are articulated respectfully, as we work towards a meaningful consensus. I would do the same as a board member.

Transparency: Conflicts of interest

A. Is your main source of income related to mapping or GIS work in some way, (whether OSM-related or not)?

B. Are you an employee of, member of, or otherwise affiliated with (paid or non-paid) a company, government organization or non-profit that does work in the OSM ecosystem or might compete with it? Do you have any contracts (employment or otherwise) which would limit what you can say in public that are relevant to OSM? eg a non-disparagement clause with a company/org in the OSM ecosystem? Or an employment contract which commits you to "always work in the company's best interest"?

As a paid GIS technician for Kaart, all my income is derived from contributing edits to OSM. I also volunteer for HOT, a nonprofit humanitarian organization that uses OSM to create geographic datasets critical to disaster relief efforts. Kaart and HOT are both contributors, not competitors with OSM. As a Kaart employee, I am bound by a nondisclosure agreement that limits what I can share regarding company operations. However, my work profile is public, and my mapping contributions can also be viewed by anyone. I will recuse myself from any situation that is or may be perceived as a conflict of interest with my current employer and position. In addition, Kaart has no intention of using the OSMF board as a vehicle to further its own interests.

YOUR VIEW:

What to do with the face to face meeting in Corona times?

The Board has a tradition to do an expenses-paid two day face-to-face meeting soon after the election, with a focus on agenda-setting for the rest of the year. Since there will be many new members, it also offers a chance to get to know each other better. Do you think this is a good idea? Should this be rather replaced by a video conference, given the uncertainties for travelling in the next year?

I do not support holding a face-to-face meeting currently, due to the ongoing global pandemic. I think there is tremendous value in face-face meetings, but the risk does not outweigh the reward. Meeting by video conference is a good alternative.

What's the use of the OSMF ?

From the point of view of a small contributor, how does the OSMF helps me and could improve my "work conditions" ?

OSMF serves as the final adjudicator for concerns and disputes of community members over the direction of the OSM project. Everyone is welcome to volunteer their ideas. The OSMF supports the health of the project in all respects: technical, financial, legal, operational, and social. The foundation is key to ensuring OpenStreetMap remains an accessible and free resource to all.

What will you do to build a worldwide community of mappers?

It will be my mission to support plans and efforts to inaugurate new local chapters across the world. I will go to great lengths to be accessible if elected, and pledge devote a regular portion of my time, at least 4 hours every week, to direct and open communication with OSM community members. I want to hear from everyone, from local chapter leaders, humanitarians, regular mappers, OSM software developers and everyone in between. Input from all parties result in better proposals and decisions.

What will you do to encourage more women leaders in OSM working groups and governance?

I know extremely capable women who work for organizations involved in some capacity with OpenStreetMap. Every one of them would make excellent board members. I will personally reach out and encourage those that are interested to run for a seat on the board. I support having the board publicly commend women who distinguish themselves in the OpenStreetMap community for their dedication, leadership, and ingenuity. I support making such commendations routine.

Should OSMF accept funding/donations by companies or organisations which do not want to be disclosed to the public?

Background links for context, added at the time of answers' publication:

Financial transparency encourages confidence in the independence and integrity of the project. Not disclosing such donations to the larger OpenStreetMap community would erode trust. It is best if funding and donations are public.

Editing conflicts

The development of the iD editor has been classically contentious. Folks put a lot of the their time into development but made controversial tagging decisions. Do you think that they are right? What role should the OSMF and OSMF board have because it now pays an iD developer?

I am not fully informed of all the concerns associated with the development of ID editor, but I support the inclusion of user input in the software development process, particularly tagging decisions. I support the board having a clear and timely appeal process to resolve conflicts.

How many paid staff should the OSMF have and why?

Background links for context, added at the time of answers' publication:

I believe it is critical that the OSMF is required to pay the number of people needed to effectively maintain servers and critical physical infrastructure as well as expand the infrastructure as needed.

Your views on the use and control of AI (Artificial Intelligence) edit systems?

  • Do you have any familiarity with OSM AI systems? (e.g. Facebook AI-Assisted Road Tracing, RapiD)
  • Do you support the development of it?
  • If the use of AI systems causes damages on existing OSM geographical data (e.g. in Philippines) do you see any needed activity from OSMF side? If yes, which solution the OSMF should provide to control this and organised editing?
  • How is your general opinion about automated edits?

I am familiar with OSM AI systems such as RapiD and have used them in my current position as a GIS technician. I strongly support the development of AI systems that assist the efforts of human editors. I do not favor the development of AI systems that contribute edits independently, without human review. Organized editing teams are accountable for the edits that they make to the map. Severe damage that negatively affects the quality of the map and diminishes its usability can’t be tolerated. A public rebuke by the OSMF board may be warranted.

What is your opinion of the proposal for a software dispute resolution panel?

Background links for context, added at the time of answers' publication:

I am in favor of the establishment of a software dispute resolution panel. I think the proposal represents a strong first step towards the establishment of such a panel.

Should we do anything about EU database rights?

The OSMF is incorporated in the UK. The UK completely leaves the European Union on 31 December 2020 and so EU database rights held by UK entities are impacted. Do you think that changes that keep our license clearly enforceable in the EU (e.g. moving the OSMF) are important? Would you give them high priority for your involvement in the OSMF board?

Long-term considerations should take precedence with regards to the Brexit issue. The benefits for relocation seemingly outweigh the cons. It would certainly be exhausting in the short-term, but important intellectual property rights would be maintained with the relocation. It would be best if a decision is made soon.

Manifesto

Hello everyone, I’m Logan McGovern. I’m from the U.S. and I live in western Colorado. I’m a member of an organized editing team employed by Kaart. I’ve contributed a substantial number of edits to the road system in Mexico. I am extremely grateful for my job. There is always something new to discover, and the thrill of contributing to OpenStreetMap, adding to the cumulative effort of millions of people before me never ceases. I also volunteer for the Humanitarian Open Street Map Team on my own time. Through my various mapping activities, I have had the privilege of meeting many incredible people in the larger OSM community. We all recognize this project is special and unique in its potential. I humbly ask to be granted the privilege of advancing OpenStreetMap as a board member.

As a Board member my priorities are:

  • Support the induction of many more local chapters across the globe. I recognize that OSM is largely sustained by volunteer editors. They are the lifeblood of the project. local chapters play an important role in reducing attrition of volunteer editors. Recent successes with regards to local chapters have been admirable. Five continents are now represented in the foundation. I will do everything I can to see that this success continues. Congratulations to Congo-Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo) for becoming OSM’s newest local chapter! Emphasis should be given to expanding the number of local chapters outside Europe.
  • The possibility of hostile takeover of the OSMF board is an issue that has consumed much energy and attention in the past couple years. I want to help put this issue to rest. It is a priority of mine to support practical efforts to harden the OSMF against hostile takeover. For example, I am in favor of implementing some form of contribution requirement (mapping, software development, etc.) in order to be eligible to run as a candidate for the board.
  • Ensure that the systems reliability engineer is provided with the resources necessary to maintain and expand critical infrastructure so that it can meet global demand.
  • Encourage diversity through vocal public commendation by the board of people who are specifically members of underrepresented groups. Those being commended will have distinguished themselves through their contributions to OpenStreetMap or furthered the project in some fashion. I support special emphasis on recognizing the achievements of women in the OpenStreetMap community.
  • Support efforts to bridge the communication gap between corporations and volunteer editors. OpenStreetMap benefits immensely from the participation of both groups. Volunteer editors contribute richly nuanced geographic data to OpenStreetMap. Organized editing teams can contribute quality data with a thoroughness that is difficult to replicate.
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