Erica Hagen
Erica is the co-founder and current trustee of Map Kibera Trust, a groundbreaking Kenyan NGO that uses maps, data and video to empower communities, and director of the consulting company GroundTruth Initiative. Erica helped develop the field of participatory open community mapping in urban informal settlements. She also worked with the World Bank and the American Geographical Society to research sustainable OSM communities and the ethical use of geospatial technologies. Following many years working primarily with OSM and mapping, Erica joined the USAID foreign service in 2022 and lives in the Dominican Republic.
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Session
Map Kibera arose from a desire to expand OSM beyond the confines of Europe and North America. In 2009, it pushed the boundaries of what then-new technologies could do. What have the mappers learned over the years? This talk will welcome you to Nairobi and through the ups and downs of mapping in Kenya - from the history of mapping in 20th Kenya, through Map Kibera’s start, into slums and rural parts of Kenya, and finally to current-day Kibera, where mappers are mapping street lights, waste disposal, schools, and more. How has Map Kibera and OSM had a community impact even as drones, satellite technology and AI are revolutionizing mapping? What has changed, and what has remained the same? We will discuss the global impact of Map Kibera, on community-based mapping in OSM and on the general application of technology in developing countries.