Foundation/AGM2023/Election to Board/Answers and manifestos/Q03 On Diversity and Inclusion
On diversity and inclusion
- In light of evolving perspectives on Diversity and Inclusion, what do you envision as the ideal end-state of OpenStreetMap's Diversity and Inclusion Statements?
- Do you have any Key Performance Indicators you would advocate for?
Roland Olbricht - Q03 On Diversity and Inclusion
The ideal state of OpenStreetMap is trivially a state where everyone knows that the project exists. The threshold to contribute shall be so low that everyone can record or update any map feature they consider notable.
There are a lot of things still to do to arrive there. Better attribution by in particular large players will improve the visibility. There are still technological barriers, in particular in the interplay with what resources of time, attention, and equipment people actually have. There are also many under-documented aspects of the project.
Guillaume Rischard - Q03 On Diversity and Inclusion
We have a diversity statement that I still like. I think that diversity in the community isn't only a good thing by itself, but also leads to a better map for everyone. We don't have an inclusion statement like the question refers to, but the diversity statement tries to be "all-inclusive".
We originally had a Diversity and Inclusion Special Committee (DISC), but that has become dormant. The diversity mailing list is similarly inactive - the last email by Arnalie was more than a year ago. I am not sure how to revive that and whether it has failed due to lack of volunteers, but I intend to find out, and am still convinced that the foundation should promote diversity and inclusion from within.
KPIs should be the resort of DISC. My thoughts on them are vague and I don't want to be prescriptive, but I would like to have, for example, better metrics on demographics, on how inclusive and included the community feels, on how much different groups of mappers participate in the community, on how accessible our ecosystem is for mappers and users with disabilities. Currently, all we have is anecdata.
I am noticing that we would have, for the first time, if Daniela gets elected, three women on a board of seven directors. I'm seeing State of the Map conferences in Asia, Europe, Oceania, and many national ones. Some of these conferences have organised childcare. We have more local chapters than ever. The membership of the foundation is more geographically diverse. Through my inevitably biased point of view, it feels that this is something where we have been improving, even though the project, unfortunately, still consists mostly of white European males like myself. But maybe I can ask you, dear member reading these answers, to message me and help the board out if you have ideas on how we can improve diversity? This is something we rarely receive feedback on.
Daniela (Dani) Waltersdorfer Jimenez - Q03 On Diversity and Inclusion
The OSM Foundation should continue pushing for a diverse community that welcomes and includes all. This means being equitable, which by definition means understanding that not all community members and chapters will have the same privileges and opportunities as others. As such, the Foundation should work towards making our environment an equitable one. I would also vouch for a revised and official Code of Conduct that is used at all OSMF sponsored events, including in-person and virtual meetings.
Włodzimierz Bartczak - Q03 On Diversity and Inclusion
This is a very difficult question and I don't know if it can be answered in a simple way, but I will try. I was lucky to be able to participate in SotMEu this year. I met many editors from all over the world and saw firsthand how diverse the OSM community is. People from many countries, different cultures, united by the idea of creating the best map of the world.
Due to the diversity of the OSM community, it will be very difficult to determine which KPIs may indicate areas where particular communities may feel excluded. Financial or technological exclusion is easy to measure, if, of course, we know in which countries our editors live. In other cases, creating working KPIs may require obtaining more accurate data from editors, which may be considered a lack of respect for privacy.
In this case, the best solution seems to be to establish cooperation with organizations that deal with this on a daily basis and specialize in these issues.
Ivo Reano - Q03 On Diversity and Inclusion
To evolve, humanity must make diversity a source of development and not a reason for conflict.
OSM Foundation's board election 2023: official questions
Q01 Strategic Plan
| Q02 On imagery sources
| Q03 On Diversity and Inclusion
| Q04 On Fundraising
| Q05 On appointive board-adjacent positions
| Q06 OSMF and Overture Maps Foundation
| Q07 OSM Data: Protection
| Q08 OSM Data: Legal Threats
| Q09 OSM Data: Vandalism
All board candidates' manifestos
2023 OpenStreetMap Foundation's: Board election - Voting information and instructions - Annual General Meeting
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