User:Sejohnson
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All my contributions to OpenStreetMap are released into the public domain. This applies worldwide. In case this is not legally possible, I grant anyone the right to use my contributions for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law. |
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I support the license
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Who I Am:
I've been an active OpenStreetMapper since 2008. I am also an organizer for the TeachOSM project, and largely involved with promoting the use of OpenStreetMap to teach geography. In addition, I teach geography & OpenStreetMap techniques at George Washington University. I map in the Washington, DC area with MappingDC (but not as often as I'd like). Though most of my active mapping is in the national capital region, I often map areas I visit as a means to get acquainted with a new place. Lately, I've been doing street surveys using FieldPapers to capture hyperlocal features that may be useful at a neighborhood or community level. In addition to serving on the US Chapter board in 2019-20, I served on the charter board of the United States Chapter
Here are my HDYC stats and my YOSMHM heatmap.
Why I OpenStreetMap:
- OpenStreetMap is digital public infrastructure and should be regarded as such. In making the case for such infrastructure, Ethan Zuckerman says, “we need to consider what technologies we want and need for digital media to have a productive role in democratic societies.” OpenStreetMap is as much about democratizing information and investments in digital citizenship as it is about mapping. OpenStreetMap fits squarely in the category of a public good and our mapping community has an important role to play in fostering open, inclusive, and democratic institutions.
- OpenStreetMap is an unparalleled tool for teaching geography. No other tool offers direct access to geographic techniques at a comparable price. Armchair mapping and field mapping encourage development of skills in spatial reasoning and abstraction, location awareness, and how to read the landscape. This informs much of my motivation for the TeachOSM project.
- OpenStreetMap is unmatched in its support for a granularity of features and mapping at a human scale. The growth in #sidewalk channel indicative growth and need for more mapping at a hyperlocal level.
- Descriptive and flexible tagging schemes for those odd features and how we tag things to keep them found and useful. There are some thoughtful and measured chats going on the #tagging channel.
- OpenStreetMap is nearly ubiquitous, accessible, and available to virtually anyone with some kind of device, worldwide.
What I hope to do:
With the addition of an executive director in 2019, OSM US has increased capacity to respond to the needs of you, the mapping community. With this increased capacity, there are more opportunities for us to contribute to the project by expanding our programming, building a more inclusive community of users, and growing the ecosystem of mapping tools. Priorities for 2020 include:
- Strategic Planning - Support the executive director in development of a strategic plan for OSM-US including fundraising, programming, and communications. Having a strategic plan to guide our programming decisions will help us step up community engagement, sustain the project financially, and attract new energy to the project.
- Diversity - Addressing the gender gap & urban/rural Divide - Broaden participation in small towns, rural areas, community liaisons, target mapping opportunities. The notion of having local or regional groups to provide a focal point for mappers that may be dispersed across large areas. Libraries and librarians as an under-served vector for expanding the open mapping community. I’d also like to see us do more with the OSM Welcome Mat as a full-service onboarding site.
- Fundraising - It is incumbent on the board to see that the OSM US project remains sustainable and viable. To that end, I will be working to raise funds for the organization, and specifically working to diversify our funding streams.
- Education - Use education as an outreach and community development strategy, specifically to train the next generation of mappers and to develop an inclusive community. TeachOSM has trained ~500 high school & college teachers and has had great success at workshops pairing experienced local mappers with teachers and local librarians as anchors to a local network.