0.5 sotmeu2025 2025-11-14 2025-11-15 2 00:05 https://pretalx.com https://pretalx.com/media/sotmeu2025/img/2025_State_of_the_Map_2025_logo_0xguYCa.png Europe/London Area Other 2025-11-14T09:45:00+00:00 09:45 00:25 A special welcome to start the conference, and helpful information. sotmeu2025-81555-welcome Special sessions en false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/WFWGSQ/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/WFWGSQ/feedback/ Area Other 2025-11-14T10:10:00+00:00 10:10 00:20 Professor Lynne Coventry explores how participatory mapping like OpenStreetMap empowers communities but faces cybersecurity threats, highlighting the need for trust, awareness, and resilient strategies against data manipulation and malicious attacks. sotmeu2025-81557-human-elements-of-trust-and-data-misuse-in-open-maps Community and Vision Professor Lynne Coventry en Community maps such as OpenStreetMap (OSM) require community participation, trust, and data integrity. For participatory community mapping, it's about empowering individuals to share local knowledge and influence local decisions, while for OSM, it's about a community of volunteers contributing to open data. From a cybersecurity perspective, this human element introduces risks, for example, malicious actors who might introduce false data, remove data, or block access until a ransom is paid. There is a need to raise community awareness and build resilience and recovery plans. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/D3PRYU/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/D3PRYU/feedback/ Area Talk 2025-11-14T10:30:00+00:00 10:30 00:30 Walking remains a popular form of transport and exercise in Europe (Ramblers, 2020). Despite this, the provision of trail information that meets individual requirements remains inconsistent. This talk presents how the National Trust is using OpenStreetMap relations and working with others to promote a common representation to describe walking trails. sotmeu2025-82772-equal-access-at-the-national-trust Not just OSM Olivia Ragone en In Europe, walking presents significant benefit as a mode of transport and form of exercise. In the UK, it is the most popular activity undertaken in green spaces (Ramblers, 2020), and in the US, it is ranked the top leisure activity for 59% of adults (NCHS, 2024). Discovering appropriate trails that meet individual needs can be challenging, with start/end points, difficulty and accessibility information described in different ways. As a leading outdoors provider, the National Trust is working with interest groups to define core trail information using consistent language, encouraging diverse audiences to benefit from quality data. Previous work at SoTM 2019 captured an inventory of ways on NT land. Now, we are working to collate these into curated trails using OSM relations. The aim is to create a full inventory of National Trust walking trails, openly available to the public and app developers for innovative offers. This presentation outlines the technical solution and challenges in representing our trail network in OSM. We would also like to understand how volunteers & the OpenStreetMap community can support with capturing and maintaining trails data, both on and off National Trust land, as a national resource. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/9EKBSB/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/9EKBSB/feedback/ Area Panel Discussion 2025-11-14T11:00:00+00:00 11:00 01:00 How is OpenStreetMap and it's community doing across Europe? What are the strengths of each local chapter and what is challenging or surprising them? Gregory will ask questions of a few representatives from different countries. sotmeu2025-80875-news-from-europe-panel Community and Vision Gregory Marler en The panel members will be listed closer to the conference time. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/NA7DJA/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/NA7DJA/feedback/ Area Talk 2025-11-14T13:00:00+00:00 13:00 00:30 It's been another busy year for the development team working on the OpenStreetMap Website. We'll cover some changes you can see, some changes you might have missed, and some behind-the-scenes work laying the foundations for the future. sotmeu2025-80819-what-s-new-with-our-website Community and Vision Andy Allan en The openstreetmap-website project ( https://github.com/openstreetmap/openstreetmap-website ) is the code that powers both the OpenStreetMap website and the OpenStreetMap API. It is developed and maintained by a small team of volunteers, and is considered one of the OSMF's core systems. Following on from a talk given at SotM-EU 2024, in this presentation we'll cover developments over the last fifteen months. We'll consider the hundreds of pull requests that have been opened and merged, and highlight some of the user-facing features along with the behind-the-scenes changes that make life easier for our developers. We'll also look at how you can get involved in the development work. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/YG9HQC/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/YG9HQC/feedback/ Area Talk 2025-11-14T13:30:00+00:00 13:30 00:30 A light-hearted behind-the-scenes look running the OpenStreetMap infrastructure. From fighting bots and scrapers to rescuing failing servers, discover how the Ops Team keeps OSM.org running smoothly. sotmeu2025-80864-servers-on-fire-keeping-openstreetmap-online Software and Engineering Grant Slater en Most of the time OSM.org simply works, and that’s how it should be. But beneath the calm surface there's plenty of activity to keep the project's infrastructure fast, stable, and reliable. This talk gives a light-hearted behind the scenes look at the adventures of the Operations Team. I'll share stories of ISP equipment that fails at the worst possible moment, bots and scrapers that treat our servers a little too enthusiastically, and traffic floods that push our defences. Along the way, I’ll highlight the tools and practices that keep things running - from monitoring and automation to the occasional bits of string. These "fires" are rarely visible to the wider community, but they shape how we plan capacity, improve resilience, and decide where we spend our time. Running OSM.org is equal parts engineering, firefighting, and persistence. If you've ever wondered what really happens when the servers misbehave, this talk will reveal the hidden life of keeping OSM online. false Slides https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/7RREJS/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/7RREJS/feedback/ Area Talk 2025-11-14T14:00:00+00:00 14:00 00:30 The Panoramax project started almost 3 years ago. This session will describe the current status of the project and what we expect for the future, at the code stack level, at the instances level, as well as its governance thru a "Panoramax Foundation". sotmeu2025-80687-state-of-panoramax Not just OSM Christian Quest en false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/FFGNFY/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/FFGNFY/feedback/ Area Talk 2025-11-14T14:30:00+00:00 14:30 00:30 With two styles for mapping sidewalks, it's difficult to map footways and use the data. This talk dives into several new tools for assessing sidewalk coverage, creating personalized and more detailed walkability isochrones, figuring out where to prioritize a new crossing, and routing based on user-defined "interesting streets". sotmeu2025-79089-how-did-the-mapper-cross-the-road Cartography & Outputs /media/sotmeu2025/submissions/ZSA3CN/Screenshot_from_2025-07-_ZJK6U1N.webp Dustin Carlino en With two different styles for mapping sidewalks in OSM, often mixed in the same area, both mapping footways and using the data are tricky. This talk dives into several new tools for reconciling the two mapping styles and doing useful things with the data. We'll cover: - assessing the coverage and quality of sidewalk data, according to criteria like the Pedestrian Working Group's tiers - calculating walkability/isochrones, based on the actual difficulty of crossing a busy road - pinpointing the worst severances stopping an area form being easily walkable - prioritizing which severances to fix based on local priorities, such as safe routes to school or encouraging footfall past local shops - generating routes that don't just optimize speed, safety, or traffic stress, but also a user-defined "attractiveness" score based on what shops, urban morphology, and types of buildings someone likes best We'll briefly discuss how all of these tools run directly in your web browser, without a database or backend server, but you don't need any technical background to enjoy this part. false Slides https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/ZSA3CN/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/ZSA3CN/feedback/ Area Panel Discussion 2025-11-14T15:30:00+00:00 15:30 01:00 This session examines mapping and tagging of coastal landforms in OpenStreetMap for humanitarian purposes and community resilience building. Using case studies of common topologies in Canada and Europe, we will surface shared challenges and collectively shape solutions, workflows, and documentation to strengthen future practice. sotmeu2025-81064-from-coast-to-coast-osm-coastal-landforms-tagging-mapping-strategies-across-the-atlantic-panel Mapping & Collection Sophia Chen en Hosted by the Canadian Red Cross (CRC), this session stems from its coastal-resilience work in Atlantic Canada and a shared global need to adapt to and mitigate coastal hazards. Part 1 features a 15-minute presentation: why reliable coastal landform and landscape data in OpenStreetMap matter, especially in humanitarian contexts; how similar coasts across the Atlantic (Canada, Scotland, Ireland, Wales/Cornwall, Brittany/Normandy, Galicia/Cantabria, Norway, Iceland, the Faroes) are currently mapped and tagged, to identify where practices converge or diverge, and which common challenges arise. Part 2 (~35 minutes) opens with discussion among panellists and participants, using Menti polls to crowdsource interpretations of coastal imagery, datasets, and tools in use, as well as difficulties encountered. We will probe challenges noted earlier and invite ideas/solutions. Example topics: representing coastal dynamism and intertidal hydrology, balancing portability and standardization with local specificity, reinforcing semantic and style-independent tagging, avoiding mapping for particular renderers (critical as OSM moves to vector tiles), and improving validation and QA workflows. The session concludes (~10 minutes) by sharing CRC’s workflow, brainstorming next steps, and inviting collaboration on documentation, MapRoulette templates, and other practical ways to advance mapping and tagging of coastal landforms. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/G38NXE/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/G38NXE/feedback/ Area Talk 2025-11-14T16:30:00+00:00 16:30 00:30 OpenStreetMap is a powerful foundation for outdoor navigation. Using examples from Mapy.com, specialized in hiking and cycling maps. This session explores outdoor data quality, tagging practices, and gaps across Europe. Learn how OSM supports outdoor enthusiasts today, and where the community can contribute to improve tomorrow’s adventures. sotmeu2025-80812-from-trails-to-cycle-routes-making-openstreetmap-work-for-outdoor-enthusiasts Cartography & Outputs Jakub Zmrzlik en Outdoor adventures, from hiking in the mountains to cycling long-distance routes, depend on high-quality map data. OpenStreetMap has become a key global source for outdoor mapping, and Mapy.com is one of the projects that builds on it, providing detailed hiking and cycling maps for millions of users. This session will show, through concrete examples from Mapy.com, how OSM data is applied to outdoor navigation—covering trails, cycle routes, elevation details, and outdoor-specific points of interest such as shelters, springs, and viewpoints. We will discuss what works well in OSM today and highlight best practices for outdoor tagging. At the same time, we will address challenges: countries or regions where data coverage is incomplete, inconsistent tagging across borders, and missing details that limit outdoor usability. These examples will illustrate how contributors and communities can focus efforts to close gaps and improve OSM for outdoor purposes. Participants will leave with practical insights into how OSM can be used effectively for outdoor activities, and how projects like Mapy.com demonstrate its potential when combined with community contributions. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/XHM78K/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/XHM78K/feedback/ Area Other 2025-11-14T17:00:00+00:00 17:00 00:30 5 slots for quick 5-minute talks. Sign-up was during the conference, making it great for fresh ideas or project updates. sotmeu2025-81585-lightning-talks-1 Special sessions en Open Accessibility Data in OSM - Robin Julien Station mapping for public transport journey planners - Michael Tsang Building maps with vulnerable communities in Kenya & Nigeria through OSM and IDEAMAPS - Diego Pajarito Help Me Help You Help OSM - Pablo Brasero Gamifying OSM contributions in Dundee - Jack Gilmore false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/SDH7HG/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/SDH7HG/feedback/ Way Talk 2025-11-14T11:00:00+00:00 11:00 00:30 In this talk we introduce **ohsomeDB** - the successor of the OpenStreetMap History Database (OSHDB). ohsomeDB is a scalable distributed Postgres database. It’s powered through PostGIS and Citus and a database schema optimized for OSM data analysis. sotmeu2025-80284-goodbye-oshdb-welcome-ohsomedb Software and Engineering Benjamin Herfort en The [ohsome API](https://docs.ohsome.org/ohsome-api/v1/) has been introduced to the wider OSM community at State of the Map 2018 in Milan. Over the years it has served us well to analyse OSM data quality and mapping history. The [OpenStreetMap History Database](https://github.com/GIScience/oshdb) (OSHDB) was at the core of ohsome right from the beginning. At SOTM EU 2025 we want to say goodbye to OSHDB - and introduce its successor **ohsomeDB**. ohsomeDB reviews some of the design decisions we made in the past. First, it’s based on Postgres with PostGIS. We use the Citus extension for partitioning and distribution to improve performance for analytics queries. Our database schema is optimized for OSM (history) data and provides information about changesets metadata. It contains all major and minor OSM element versions including geometry and further attributes (e.g. length, area, centroid, username, valid_from-valid_to timerange and country-code) to facilitate common processing tasks. With ohsomeDB you can analyze completeness, currentness and accuracy of OSM data within a few seconds. During SOTM EU 2025 we will publish the code for ohsomeDB under an open source license and share our timeline to modernize the ohsome API. false SOTM EU 2025 Slides Herfort ohsomeDB https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/MRZK7M/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/MRZK7M/feedback/ Way Talk 2025-11-14T11:30:00+00:00 11:30 00:30 "Clearance" tracks OSM changes and replicates extracts under quality constraints, and its subprojects: OSM Logical History which displays changes at semantic level and UnderpassAPI, which responds to Overpass queries from the partially replicated data. sotmeu2025-80884-osm-data-replication-under-quality-constraints-with-clearance-osm-logical-history-and-underpassapi Software and Engineering /media/sotmeu2025/submissions/Z8GZAQ/Clearance-process_p82jE8l.svg Frédéric Rodrigo en "Clearance" is a tool that helps track changes in OSM on tematics, and keep replication extracts up to date, while still following quality rules. Instead of relying on timestamps or changesets, it focuses on partial and local data updates. If some data is rejected, it either needs to be fixed in OSM or approved manually, data edits are only done in OSM. Reviewing and fixing are done collaboratively. OSM Logical History is a subproject that conflates two versions of OSM to present changes from a semantic point of view, like in the case of a split highway or a semantic move from a node to a polygon. UnderpassAPI is a subproject that returns results for Overpass Query Language but from an SQL database such as Postgres or DuckDB. false Slides https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/Z8GZAQ/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/Z8GZAQ/feedback/ Way Talk 2025-11-14T13:00:00+00:00 13:00 00:30 What is the current state of mapping in Scotland, we will start with some stats and counts of where things are in. terms of current statistics and the kind of mapoping that is taking place, some interesting things mapped in Scotland and some interesting stories of things mapped in Scotland. sotmeu2025-80729-state-of-the-map-scotland Map Progress Chris Fleming en false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/UGMYAX/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/UGMYAX/feedback/ Way Talk 2025-11-14T13:30:00+00:00 13:30 00:30 An update how I have been mapping the visible, and not so visible, aspects of hydro-electric power schemes in Scotland. This covers both modern schemes recently constructed, plus older schemes built over the past century. You will also learn which river now flows into the North Sea and Atlantic… sotmeu2025-80608-mapping-hydropower-schemes-in-scotland Map Progress Donald Noble en false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/LTLLCB/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/LTLLCB/feedback/ Way Talk 2025-11-14T14:00:00+00:00 14:00 00:30 The mappers in Germany are busy as ever mapping every trail in the forest, every train signal, and the occasional collapsed bridge. But there is more going on. sotmeu2025-81011-what-s-happening-in-germany Community and Vision Jochen Topf en The mappers in Germany are busy as ever mapping every trail in the forest, every train signal, and the occasional collapsed bridge. But there is more going on. It seems our maps and tools are used basically everywhere now, from government offices to popular hiking apps to insurance companies. Everybody uses OpenStreetMap, often without knowing that they do. And most don't understand how OSM works and how they can contribute. This talk about the state of Germany will go into some of the issues we are facing today. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/NHNN3Q/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/NHNN3Q/feedback/ Way Talk 2025-11-14T14:30:00+00:00 14:30 00:30 OSM can sometimes feel like Europe vs. North America. This talk will discuss the intricacies of OSM in the US, and how and why it differs from OSM in European countries. It was also go over recent US mapping initiatives such as trails stewardship and pedestrian accessibility. sotmeu2025-81031-what-s-going-on-in-america Community and Vision Quincy Morgan en false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/9NPNXT/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/9NPNXT/feedback/ Way Talk 2025-11-14T15:30:00+00:00 15:30 00:30 MapSwipe is an application that enables crowdsourced data collection for OpenStreetMap and helps prioritize mapping efforts by identifying areas needing updates. This talk will explore future possibilities for expanding its role, including potentially allowing direct edits to OSM and strengthening ties with the OSM community for more seamless contributions. sotmeu2025-80929-mapswipe-today-and-its-future-in-osm Humanitarian Benjamin HerfortNicole Siggins en MapSwipe is a mobile and web-based crowdsourcing tool that allows volunteers to identify where up-to-date mapping is needed, supporting OpenStreetMap (OSM) and humanitarian partners worldwide. Originally designed as a triage tool to help prioritize satellite imagery tasks, MapSwipe has grown and adapted based on user needs, partner input, and evolving workflows. This talk will explore MapSwipe’s journey, from its early days, and its role in large-scale disaster preparedness and response. As we look ahead, new possibilities are emerging: could MapSwipe allow contributors to make direct edits to OSM? Help validate current OSM data and enter it back? Integrate AI and machine learning to improve accuracy, accessibility, or task design? What would that mean for data quality, contributor trust, and OSM’s broader ecosystem? With growing discussions around AI-generated data and ethical mapping, it’s more important than ever to collaborate transparently with the OSM community. We aim to strengthen ties with mappers, developers, and data users to co-create a responsible future for MapSwipe. This session will share concepts in development, highlight open questions, and invite discussion and feedback on what comes next: for MapSwipe, OSM, and the future of crowdsourced humanitarian mapping. false Slides https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/MDG338/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/MDG338/feedback/ Way Talk 2025-11-14T16:00:00+00:00 16:00 00:30 Mapping damage on OSM is critical to support the work of humanitarian organizations. Nonetheless, as recent [discussions](https://community.openstreetmap.org/t/how-to-map-damage-on-openstreetmap/129704) demonstrate, there is not yet a consensus on the best approach. Let's continue this conversation! sotmeu2025-80786-mapping-damage-in-a-humanitarian-context Humanitarian Sam Colchester en Building on damage mapping approaches refined by [SeverinGeo](https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/SeverinGeo) (together with Les Libres Géographes), Médecins Sans Frontières and Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team this session aims to continue the [discussion](https://community.openstreetmap.org/t/how-to-map-damage-on-openstreetmap/129704) on best practice when it comes to mapping damage in OSM. Arguably, we are at a critical juncture when it comes to damage mapping in OSM because several organizations/communities are starting to consolidate around a common approach. We hope to use this session to expose that approach to greater scrutiny from the crowd, such that it may be refined (or entirely discarded!). The session will include real world examples of damage mapping, including quick walkthroughs of the damage mapping process carried out by volunteers on behalf of humanitarian organizations. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/UJX7WF/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/UJX7WF/feedback/ Way Talk 2025-11-14T16:30:00+00:00 16:30 00:30 Data Readiness is the ability to use quality and timely information in humanitarian operations and programmes. This presentation will introduce the collaborative 5-year journey of the British and Nigerian Red Cross, where OSM was used to build foundational data capabilities to enhance effective humanitarian decision-making and community engagement. sotmeu2025-80810-building-data-readiness-using-openstreetmap-as-part-of-a-nigerian-red-cross-british-red-cross-programme Humanitarian /media/sotmeu2025/submissions/QUDXUS/SOTM_Europe_Submission_P_MIvnKZo.webp Paul Knight en Building on experiences from 2018 and 2019 flood responses in Nigeria, the British Red Cross (BRC) partnered with the Nigerian Red Cross (NRCS) to strengthen disaster response through data-driven decision making. Together, we applied the IFRC Data Readiness Framework, comprising Data Literacy, Data Preparedness, and Data-Driven Decision Making, using OSM as a foundational tool, as part of a community resilience programme. Data Literacy: OSM and its tagging system was used to develop skills in collecting, cleaning, storing, and interpreting data, in a map format through mapathons. Data Preparedness: we worked with communities to design surveys and conduct field mapping, collecting vulnerability and capacity data. This information was added to OSM, making it accessible to communities and stakeholders to inform decisions and address challenges. Data-Driven Decision Making: we supported decision-makers and leaders in using and integrating data, including maps, to inform planning and response. These activities later enabled NRCS flood responses. In Lagos, to independently develop and deploy data and GIS tools to guide distributions. In Borno, mapping supported targeted interventions in livelihoods and health services. Today, NRCS continues to expand data readiness work across new States, integrating additional OSM tools like MapSwipe to strengthen activities. false Link to PowerPoint Presentation https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/QUDXUS/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/QUDXUS/feedback/ Way Talk 2025-11-14T17:00:00+00:00 17:00 00:30 fAIr is an open AI-assisted mapping service by HOT, supporting faster and more accurate humanitarian mapping using computer vision. This talk covers 2024–2025 progress, UI/UX improvements and the role of OSM in training and output. We’ll also discuss challenges, and future plans for contributing to OSM. sotmeu2025-78577-fair-community-ai-assisted-mapping-for-humanitarian-response Humanitarian /media/sotmeu2025/submissions/EZ8RJ3/Screenshot_2025-07-26_at_YoUi0CD.webp Emmanuel JolaiyaKshitij Raj SharmaBright Nejo en fAIr is an open AI-assisted mapping service developed by the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) to enhance the speed and quality of mapping for humanitarian purposes. Using computer vision models to detect features in satellite and UAV imagery from OpenAerialMap, fAIr provides pre-annotations to reduce manual effort and enable faster crisis response. This talk will highlight our progress through 2024 and key developments in 2025, including the technical evolution of the platform and the dual role of OpenStreetMap (OSM) data as both a training input and an output of AI-assisted workflows. We’ll share how UI/UX improvements, guided by community feedback, have made the interface more intuitive and transparent, supporting both new and experienced mappers. We’ll also cover core challenges and opportunities, including: - The role of human validation in maintaining data quality - Utilization of AI-derived features - fAIr’s feedback loop that helps improve AI models Finally, we’ll outline future plans, including deeper integration with tools like MapSwipe and improved pipelines for contributing validated outputs. false Slide for fAIr-Community AI-Assisted Mapping for Humanitarian Response talk https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/EZ8RJ3/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/EZ8RJ3/feedback/ Way Other 2025-11-14T17:30:00+00:00 17:30 00:30 The annual general meeting of OpenStreetMap UK CIC will be taking place. https://osmuk.org/ Please note: This is for OSM UK members but the board may allow others to attend as 'guests'. sotmeu2025-81559-osm-uk-agm Special sessions OSM UK Board en This is a regular event to deal with legal formalities of the organisation, which is a local chapter of the OpenStreetMap Foundation. The conference has provided a place for the meeting to take place as many members will be present in Dundee. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/VDQAVX/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/VDQAVX/feedback/ Node Talk 2025-11-14T13:00:00+00:00 13:00 00:30 Using [Soundscape](https://scottish-tech-army.github.io/Soundscape-Android/) as an example, how we can use OpenStreetMap data for audio only exploration and navigation. sotmeu2025-75756-using-openstreetmap-data-to-create-audio-only-maps Cartography & Outputs Dave Craig en Unsurprisingly, OpenStreetMap data is tailored towards being used in visual maps. However, there are use cases where the mapping data isn't displayed on a screen but is described via speech. Using the example of the [Soundscape Android app](https://scottish-tech-army.github.io/Soundscape-Android/) this talk will describe some of the challenges that this presents. As the user moves around, the Soundscape app provides an audio description of the nearby surroundings with the aim of helping people with visual impairment navigate and explore. Transforming OpenStreetMap data efficiently into this description illustrates how useful some tags are that often have little or no impact on visual maps. false Soundscape project home page https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/HEC7PR/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/HEC7PR/feedback/ Node Talk 2025-11-14T13:30:00+00:00 13:30 00:30 We'll demonstrate how Mapbox is advancing its 3D basemap by moving beyond simple building extrusions. This talk will show how we use a Python-based geospatial computer vision tool to classify roof shapes and apply a logic to style building facades, creating more realistic and immersive maps. sotmeu2025-80742-beyond-the-footprint-automated-roof-shape-classification-and-detailed-3d-buildings Cartography & Outputs /media/sotmeu2025/submissions/Z8VSHM/Screenshot_2025-08-27_at__LGoIGL2.png Topi Tjukanov en Mapbox is taking its long-standing relationship with OpenStreetMap (OSM) to the next level by transforming traditional 3D map representations from basic, featureless cubes into rich, detailed procedural buildings. We've developed a programmatic solution that addresses the common issue of missing or inconsistent data in OSM for detailed features like roof types and facades. In this session, we will reveal how a geospatial computer vision tool combines existing OSM building footprints with high-resolution aerial imagery to automatically classify roof shapes. We will also discuss the logic we use to generate facades based on a building's orientation to adjacent roads. Attendees will see how these dynamically generated 3D models capture the character of urban architecture , providing subtle cues for navigation and enhancing the map experience without sacrificing performance. We will also touch on the rendering of these models and how they are strategically placed along 3D roads and near 3D landmarks to avoid making the map feel too dense. This approach allows us to create the industry's most true-to-life symbolic representation of the world. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/Z8VSHM/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/Z8VSHM/feedback/ Node Discussion group 2025-11-14T14:00:00+00:00 14:00 01:00 The OpenStreetMap Foundation owns the OpenStreetMap hardware and trademarks. It uses money to keep the platform running. However, the income of the Foundation does not meet its current spending level. In this workshop we ask the attendants as members of the OpenStreetMap community for advice. sotmeu2025-81021-future-of-the-openstreetmap-foundation-discussion-group Community and Vision Roland Olbricht en The OpenStreetMap Foundation support but not controls OpenStreetMap. It is the legal entity that owns the hardware and holds the copyrights and trademarks for OpenStreetMap. In recent time, it also employs an Senior Site Reliability Engineer, and that has proven useful to fend off multiple cyber attacks amongst other tasks to keep the platform going. Also, the Foundation finally delivered Vector Tiles to the community after it did not get done by purely volunteers. Funding the maintenance of iD has also effective brought perceived control back to the community. However, the income of the Foundation does not meet its current spending level. In this workshop we ask the attendants as members of the OpenStreetMap community what sources of income the Foundation ideally should have and what measures it shall or at least may take. Shall we really ask our mappers although they volunteer already with time? Is this tenable still when it is recurring yearly? How much money do we want or accept from a single large donor before the influence is too big? Or shall we try the infamous Wikipedia style banners? Even if our actual users sit behind third party apps and never see the osm.org website? false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/YPSJ7Y/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/YPSJ7Y/feedback/ Node Talk 2025-11-14T15:30:00+00:00 15:30 00:30 What are the lessons of an epically stupid quest to get every house in Brighton & Hove mapped? Can community be rekindled? Is enthusiasm dead? Who has the biggest extension in the city? sotmeu2025-78892-5-things-i-learned-plotting-every-house-in-brighton-hove Community and Vision Jez Nicholson en In 2020/21, the UK had Covid restrictions on travel and socialising. These caused me to re-explore my local area on foot, and of course do some mapping. Brighton & Hove was a very early subject area for OSM and since then hadn't changed much. I wondered, while I wandered, could I rekindle my own and other people's enthusiasm to make the map of B&H better? And what would I learn about my own city? false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/DFE3ZQ/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/DFE3ZQ/feedback/ Node Discussion group 2025-11-14T16:00:00+00:00 16:00 01:00 With the Nominatim geocoder we've been struggling for years to make sense of boundary and place data in the UK. In this session I want to start a discussion with the UK mappers about the current state of the data, and how it can be improved. sotmeu2025-81012-it-s-traditional-boundaries-and-places-in-the-uk-discussion-group Mapping & Collection Sarah Hoffmann en If you are looking into dividing the world into smaller parts, administrative boundaries are a good way to start in many countries because the governmental divisions tend to align with the popular perception of areas and regions. Not so in the UK. The British Islands have a long and proud history which has shaped what locals consider as regions: shires, parishes, towns, cities. Administrative boundaries on the other hand seem to follow more bureaucratic necessities than tradition. This is a problem for geocoders which depend on the ability to identify regions and hierarchies to make places properly searchable and present results in a meaningful way. In this talk I want to start a discussion how we could map the on-the-ground situation of boundaries and places in a way that reflects reality but still leaves the data usable for more systematic classification as geocoders would require it. I'll show what data currently exists in the UK, what would be needed to improve the data and then leave the floor to the audience to get a discussion started. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/Y8TMQT/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/Y8TMQT/feedback/ Node Other 2025-11-14T17:30:00+00:00 17:30 01:00 This room and time has been reserved for the shortbread steering committee to meet as several of them will be attending the conference. They may be open for others from the conference to be present. sotmeu2025-81080-shortbread-steering-committee-meeting Special sessions Paul Norman en The Shortbread vector tile schema is intended to be a basic, lean, general-purpose vector tile schema for OpenStreetMap data. The job of the steering committee is to govern the Shortbread project, decide on strategic goals and implement them. This includes as its main job to shepherd the specification for the Shortbread Vector Tiles Schema. true https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/KCNFGV/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/KCNFGV/feedback/ Area Talk 2025-11-15T09:30:00+00:00 09:30 00:30 This talk looks into the complexity of hiking and cycling routes and the new functions of waymarkedtrails.org to show complex route relations. It gives you (slightly opinionated) hints on what to tag and how waymarkedtrails.org can help when creating and maintaining route relations in OpenStreetMap. sotmeu2025-81007-many-paths-lead-to-the-summit-complex-hiking-and-cycling-routes-in-openstreetmap Mapping & Collection Sarah Hoffmann en Hiking and cycling routes are very popular in OpenStreetMap. Thousands of them are already mapped in OpenStreetMap and dozens of applications and apps use them. Recreational routes are not shown on the main openstreetmap.org website but waymarkedtrails.org has been around for many years to make sure mappers can see and check their work. You'd think that mapping of a route should be a simple affair: follow the ways and put them into a relation. But reality is full of little pitfalls and question marks. There are diversions, alternatives, route markers and outlooks. And when does a trail count as waymarked anyway? This talk gives you an overview of how to handle routes that don't just go straight. It gives you (slightly opinionated) hints on what to tag and how waymarkedtrails.org can help when creating and maintaining route relations in OpenStreetMap. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/XCCRKE/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/XCCRKE/feedback/ Area Talk 2025-11-15T10:00:00+00:00 10:00 00:30 A look at what goes on behind the scenes to power my UK "[Survey Me](https://osm.mathmos.net/survey/)" tool, with advice for anyone looking to run similar tools elsewhere. Sources the tool compares with OSM include [AllThePlaces](https://alltheplaces.xyz/) and datasets for schools, healthcare, defibrillators and postboxes. sotmeu2025-81001-survey-me-using-external-data-comparisons-to-flag-issues-in-osm Mapping & Collection /media/sotmeu2025/submissions/DT93HT/survey-me-dundee_WdOHxy6.png Robert Whittaker en The "[Survey Me](https://osm.mathmos.net/survey/)" tool combines the output of a number of other tools to indicate local issues in the UK that would benefit from an on-the-ground check to resolve. The other tools either check OSM data for consistency, or compare OSM data with different external datasets (including branches of chains from [AllThePlaces](https://alltheplaces.xyz/), and official lists of UK schools, healthcare facilities, defibrillators and postboxes). Errors, omissions and unexpected objects in OSM are flagged for review. I will talk about some of the work that goes on behind the scenes in obtaining the data and running these tools, along with how I deal with various issues in the external datasets. This talk should be of interest to a general OSM audience, anyone working with external datasets, and anyone thinking of setting up similar tools in other countries. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/DT93HT/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/DT93HT/feedback/ Area Talk 2025-11-15T11:00:00+00:00 11:00 00:30 The new OpenStreetMap vector tile service powers the Shortbread maps on the home page, but you can use it too. Learn how to make your own website or style using these tiles, and better ways to customize your style. sotmeu2025-81081-using-the-new-vector-tiles Software and Engineering Paul Norman en false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/GTDWYA/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/GTDWYA/feedback/ Area Panel Discussion 2025-11-15T11:30:00+00:00 11:30 01:00 We know mapping interweaves stories of power and gender, that what we see on a map is not neutral, it is a reflection of those who have made, curated, and maintained that map. Let's unpack. sotmeu2025-80686-maps-maps-and-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-panel Not just OSM Gala Camacho en The latest survey paints a picture that is hard to swallow. If the survey responses are representative of the community ~10% of us identify as _not_ a man (of those who responded to this answer). We know we have work to do to make OSM a community that includes and genuinely represents the entirety of the world it claims to map. This panel discussion will centre around the actions which have been taken, and the actions which we can take in the future to make OSM a better, more inclusive, more representative, and more empowering map, for all. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/N8QKP7/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/N8QKP7/feedback/ Area Talk 2025-11-15T13:30:00+00:00 13:30 00:30 OpenWasteMap (https://openwastemap.uk) is a civic project mapping Household Waste Recycling Centres across the UK using OpenStreetMap. This talk explores how we built a tool from fragmented council data, using open mapping infrastructure and collaborative standards to make waste disposal data more accessible, consistent, and useful to the public. sotmeu2025-78067-mapping-waste-the-open-way-building-openwastemap Not just OSM Jack Gilmore en OpenWasteMap began at a Code the City hack weekend, aiming to solve a simple but widespread problem: where can people recycle or dispose of waste? Local authority websites vary in quality and consistency, and there was no single place to view this data clearly. We set out to change that. Using OpenStreetMap and Wikidata to map Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) across the UK, OpenWasteMap combines open geographic data with civic tech principles to build a usable, public-facing tool. The application was built using .NET and Leaflet.js, while data collection involved scraping, cleaning, and aligning local data with OSM tagging conventions. This talk will cover how the project was conceived, the technical and data challenges faced, how OSM and Wikidata were brought together, and lessons learned from trying to model waste infrastructure in a collaborative mapping ecosystem. It will also reflect on sustainability and reuse, and where the project might go next, including potential integration with standards like Open3R. Whether you're interested in tagging infrastructure, building civic tools, or understanding real-world reuse of OSM data, this talk offers insights from a messy but rewarding mapping journey. false Slides https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/WRUTND/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/WRUTND/feedback/ Area Talk 2025-11-15T14:00:00+00:00 14:00 00:30 How we filter, merge, stabilize & improve OSM & official data at the Belgian National Crisis Centre as part of the common operational picture of police, health workers, fire brigade during times of crisis sotmeu2025-75428-disaster-data-osm-poi-data-with-stable-ids-for-emergency-planning Cartography & Outputs Joost Schouppe en The Belgian National Crisis Center (NCCN) coordinates emergency response in Belgium, using the new Paragon platform. During emergencies, it is the place where all involved parties (police, health workers, fire brigade, …) form a common operational picture. A big part of that is knowing what infrastructure is on the ground, either for use as a resource or as a feature that needs protection. This talk focuses on how we source this information from existing sources. We often use official data, but that has certain limitations when it comes to completeness, level of detail, data modelling and update cycle. That's why we rely heavily on OpenStreetMap data as well. Which of course has its own set of problems. Within Paragon, this external data is used to enrich Cases (specific emergencies) and Emergency Plans. That means we need stable IDs across data updates. This talk will show how we use R to combine different data sources into one integrated dataset on our end, with largely stable IDs. We will also touch upon how our processes detect problems in the datasets, and how we respond to them. Most significant are our steps to improve OpenStreetMap data, in cooperation with the OpenStreetMap community. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/FCKEDZ/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/FCKEDZ/feedback/ Area Panel Discussion 2025-11-15T14:30:00+00:00 14:30 01:00 Several Missing Maps members will be attending the SotM conference, including Médecins Sans Frontières, British Red Cross, HeiGIT and Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team. We hope to use this time to open the panel and floor to questions about the projects and challenges of OSM within Humanitarian organisations. sotmeu2025-80725-missing-maps-panel Humanitarian /media/sotmeu2025/submissions/ZXSDBQ/MM_Logo_white_back_LbdMxgF.png Sam Colchester en Several Missing Maps members will be attending the SotM conference, including Médecins Sans Frontières, British Red Cross, HeiGIT and Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team. We hope to use this time to open the panel and floor to questions about the projects and challenges of OSM within Humanitarian organisations. There will be a mix of questions from the chair/host, but will also be encouraging questions from the audience. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/ZXSDBQ/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/ZXSDBQ/feedback/ Area Talk 2025-11-15T16:00:00+00:00 16:00 00:30 The OpenStreetMap community has assembled an enourmous database of our world. There are lots of more or less specialized maps out there, each showing *some* of the data. But there is no map that shows *all* of the data. How can we discover what is not shown by any map? sotmeu2025-81009-everything-everywhere-all-at-once Cartography & Outputs Jochen Topf en The OpenStreetMap community has assembled an enourmous database of our world. There are lots of more or less specialized maps out there, each showing *some* of the data. But there is no map that shows *all* of the data. How can we discover what is not shown by any map? This talk is about a new Open Source web tool called *OSM Spyglass* that is trying to push the boundaries of what's possible with todays tools. It shows all the data that's currently in OSM. All nodes, ways, and relations planetwide, with their tags, with up-to-the-minute data, and some limited filtering options. Spyglass is a bit like the data overlay on openstreetmap.org on steroids. I'll talk about how the tool came about, what it can do (and where its limits are) and how it works internally to process and present the OSM data. In the process we'll learn something about OSM data, about data processing with a modern osm2pgsql and PostgreSQL/PostGIS, and how to combine web mapping technologies from raster to vector tiles to GeoJSON into a seemless experience. false Slides of talk https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/VP8YYB/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/VP8YYB/feedback/ Area Talk 2025-11-15T16:30:00+00:00 16:30 00:30 This talks presents the "Postpass" service, a database that serves OSM data for public querying much like Overpass, but uses PostGIS under the hood. With a few extra characters added to your query, you can have the power of PostGIS at your fingertips from within Overpass Turbo. sotmeu2025-81067-overpass-turbo-goes-postgis Software and Engineering Frederik Ramm en Overpass and Overpass Turbo are indispensable tools for OSM contributors - everyone uses them whenever you need to glance at the data and go beyond what's visible on the map. Show me pizza places in Dundee, which playgrounds in Paris have age restrictions - stuff like that can be done quickly with Overpass and doesn't require any data downloading or software installation. Because such "rapid prototyping" is so easy with Overpass, a lot of community projects small and large have come to depend on Overpass and its two domain-specific query languages as a backbone. Pages upon pages on the community forum and wiki deal with how to solve this or that query with Overpass - and there are cases where a PostGIS query could to the same thing more efficiently or easier than Overpass. The missing link to allow the same "rapid prototyping" and experimenting with PostGIS that we already see with Overpass is a publicly accessible PostGIS instance. The author has been running exactly that for half a year (Github repos https://github.com/woodpeck/postpass and https://github.com/woodpeck/postpass-ops) and this talk explains how to use it, and what its strengths and weaknesses are. false talk slides https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/P33XWD/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/P33XWD/feedback/ Area Talk 2025-11-15T17:00:00+00:00 17:00 00:30 The Overpass API allows for queries for interesting or special data of the OpenStreetMap data. Recent issues and their likelihood to be implemented are presented: compliance with data redactions, fair quotas, and resilience to disk failures. Bring in your questions about Overpass API and how to query OpenStreetMap data. sotmeu2025-80984-overpass-api Software and Engineering Roland Olbricht en The Overpass API is a read-only mirror of the OpenStreetMap main database that support queries for interesting or special data. There are, even after 15 years, both recent developments and plans for the future. The talk will give a very quick overview. Then some issues and their likelihood to be implemented are presented. An open issue is for example the compliance with data redactions, and that will involve both work in and outside the Overpass API source code. Other issues are the fair distribution of the available server capacity and how to improve resilience to disk failures. There will be room to answer questions about how to use the Overpass API and how to find OpenStreetMap data with particular features. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/SPJQNB/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/SPJQNB/feedback/ Way Talk 2025-11-15T09:30:00+00:00 09:30 00:30 This talk unveils a youth-led, women-powered mapping movement from Nepal, where WhatsApp becomes a classroom and OpenStreetMap a canvas. Led by women in geospatial, we chart climate resilience through innovation and storytelling bridging continents with cartography that empowers, educates and proves mapping can be scientific and soulful. sotmeu2025-80732-from-the-himalayas-to-the-highlands-youth-led-mapping-for-climate-resilience Community and Vision Prativa Thapa en In Nepal’s mountainous terrain, where climate risks are rising and connectivity is limited, mapping becomes a tool of survival and solidarity. As President of KU YouthMappers and a Geomatics Engineering student, I’ve led a youth-driven initiative that blends technical precision with emotional outreach—empowering communities through open data and WhatsApp-friendly mapping guides. This talk shares our journey: how student-led mapathons, tribute cartography, and interdisciplinary collaboration have helped visualize flood zones, glacial lake threats, and vulnerable settlements. At the heart of our work is a commitment to women-led geospatial advocacy, where female mappers lead workshops, design resources, and inspire others to map with purpose. By linking Nepal’s grassroots innovation with Europe’s open mapping ecosystem, this presentation invites a conversation on how cartography can be both scalable and soulful. Whether in the highlands of Scotland or the hills of Sindhupalchok, the mission is shared: to map not just terrain, but resilience, memory, and hope. Let’s reimagine mapping as a language of empowerment—spoken in pixels, poetry, and the quiet determination of those who dare to chart a better future. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/QF3HYY/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/QF3HYY/feedback/ Way Other 2025-11-15T10:00:00+00:00 10:00 00:30 5 slots for quick 5-minute talks. Sign-up was during the conference, making it great for fresh ideas or project updates. sotmeu2025-81582-lightning-talks-2 Special sessions en Planning the day hikes using open data - Zsolt Raven Last Mile Delivery (including in war zone) - Petr Nemecek Ascend Maps & geodesk_tiles - Matthew White Mapping aviation on geofiction - Lee Kindness MapLibre: Maps for our apps - Bart Louwers false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/89FTLK/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/89FTLK/feedback/ Way Talk 2025-11-15T11:00:00+00:00 11:00 00:30 [fAIr](https://fair.hotosm.org/) is an open AI-assisted mapping tool developed by HOT, the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team. Recently a new machine learning algorithm was added and OSM users can experiment with mapping buildings around the globe. How well does fAIr work and has the new addition improved this? sotmeu2025-80830-an-academic-insight-on-the-functioning-of-fair Mapping & Collection Benjamin HerfortAnna ZanchettaMarta Magnani en The idea of (semi)automatically and effortlessly mapping OSM features from satellite images by means of some AI tool is fascinating to some, and terrifying to others. Whether you belong to the AI-skeptical or to the more accommodating side of this dispute, it will be of interest to hear the results of our research on the performance of fAIr, a burgeoning tool developed by HOT, the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team. The aim of fAIr is to propose a fully open source mapping workflow, from the satellite imagery to the output data, for suggesting features for OSM, currently buildings footprints. It consists of an online AI mapping platform that allows users to create their own local training dataset, train/fine-tune a pre-trained AI model, and then map into OSM with the assistance of their own local model. The research investigates the performance of both AI computer vision models available in fAIr. One of these was already presented in a few occasions in 2024 (at SoTM scientific track in Nairobi and at Geomob in London). We build up from that research and we show (if), how and where the tool works, and where there is room for improvement. false HOT's webpage about fAIr Video of the talk on fAIr given at SoTM 2024 in the scientific track Slides https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/BWHZS7/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/BWHZS7/feedback/ Way Talk 2025-11-15T11:30:00+00:00 11:30 00:30 I rode my bike from London to Berlin, and had a burning question that I wanted to answer. How many rivers did I cross? With a little bit of geospatial knowledge and some great open data, I found my answer. This is the story of why and how! sotmeu2025-80760-kreuzungen-where-open-geospatial-data-and-cycling-intersect Software and Engineering /media/sotmeu2025/submissions/8SFUEX/Screenshot_2025-08-27_at__CiyfLbS.png David Whittingham en false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/8SFUEX/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/8SFUEX/feedback/ Way Talk 2025-11-15T12:00:00+00:00 12:00 00:30 We analysed 30 official cycling infrastructure datasets across the EU, standardised them, and compared them with OSM data. Missing segments were extracted automatically and then saved as geospatial files per area of analysis. These files will be shared with the community. The work is ongoing, more datasets to be added. sotmeu2025-74205-complementing-osm-cycling-data-through-official-datasets Map Progress Christos Konstantinou en This work focuses on enhancing OpenStreetMap (OSM) cycling infrastructure data using official datasets. We analysed 13 national and 17 regional or city-level datasets across the EU. To ensure comparability, all datasets were transformed into a standardised format. We then conducted a comparison with OSM data to identify infrastructure segments present in the official datasets but missing from OSM. Conversely, we also examined segments present in OSM but absent from the official datasets, as an indicator of potential false positives in OSM. The process is automated, and the resulting outputs are provided as GeoPackage (GPKG) files. These are organised by area and can also be filtered by standardised cycling infrastructure type. These files highlight the gaps in OSM and can be used directly for editing or improving the existing OSM cycling network. Our goal is to share these geospatial outputs with the broader OSM community. The work is in progress, so more datasets will be added. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/BWRGEZ/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/BWRGEZ/feedback/ Way Talk 2025-11-15T13:30:00+00:00 13:30 00:30 AI content in OSM has surged over the past decade, prompting mixed reactions from contributors. We analyzed community discussions to understand emotional concerns and the shifting role of mappers. We then explored whether machine-generated roads can be reliably identified in OSM after they’ve been integrated into the database. sotmeu2025-78834-transparency-and-trust-in-collaborative-mapping-concerns-and-dilemmas-in-ai-generated-road-integration-within-openstreetmap Mapping & Collection Francis Andorful en Community discussions highlight a growing tension between rapid efficiency gains of AI-assisted mapping and the foundational values of OSM project. While many acknowledge AI’s ability to accelerate mapping in underserved areas, concerns persist about its use without adequate local context. Contributors repeatedly caution against treating machine-generated content (MGC) as authoritative, citing risks to OSM’s ethos of ground-truthing. The community calls for better transparency through standardized tagging or changeset-level indicators to track the origin of content. Importantly, the governance debate which was once informal norms are now evolving into formal demands for stronger OSM Foundation oversight, reflecting broader concerns about corporate influence and data sovereignty. AI-assisted mapping currently lacks consistent tagging scheme, making the provenance of data unclear for downstream users. Though geometric or temporal patterns may help identify MGC, these remain uncertain and unstable over time. Our findings underscore the risk of data quality erosion through issues like validation-loop bias and the accountability sink effect. With global regulatory efforts like the EU and Brazil’s AI Acts pushing for dataset transparency, it is important to ensure long-term integrity and usability of OSM data in an era increasingly shaped by AI contributions. false Presentation slides https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/AT3XT9/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/AT3XT9/feedback/ Way Talk 2025-11-15T14:00:00+00:00 14:00 00:30 With MapTCHA we explore if the validation of computationally generated predictions of map features could serve as an image based CAPTCHA to map new OSM objects. Following an earlier proof-of-concept at FOSDEM 2025, here we provide a development update. sotmeu2025-78597-where-are-we-at-with-maptcha Mapping & Collection Anna ZanchettaBastian Greshake TzovarasOliver FritzStuart lynm en CAPTCHAs are widely used by websites to stop automated registrations or scrapers. Often, they act as data-crowdsourcing at the same time, e.g. for image recognition as in Google's reCAPTCHA. With [MapTCHA](https://github.com/ciupava/maptcha_dev), we are evaluating whether such an approach could help improve OpenStreetMap. Through efforts like mapathons and mapping initiatives led by the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT), volunteers of varying levels of experience create large amounts of objects for OSM. Similarly, there are efforts to use image recognition to create potential OSM additions. Both of these require extra, labour-intensive validations. The idea of MapTCHA is to explore if we can present website visitors with both unvalidated and pre-validated sets of satellite images that include human/machine-drawn object annotations, currently buildings, asking them to mark the ones that are correctly outlined. At FOSDEM 2025 we presented an early prototype to demonstrate our general idea. Here, we present some first data on the validity and accuracy of such crowd-sourced validations. We compare it to data that has already been validated through the use of MapSwipe, a similar crowdsourcing-based data validation tool developed by the MissingMaps project in collaboration with HeiGit. false Link to the talk given at FOSDEM 2025 Github repo for MapTCHA development Slides https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/MAGQDL/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/MAGQDL/feedback/ Way Talk 2025-11-15T14:30:00+00:00 14:30 00:30 The OSMF's new vector tile service updates every minute. This talk takes a deep dive into how we accomplish this, focusing on the software behind the scenes. sotmeu2025-78862-minutely-vector-tiles-deep-dive Software and Engineering Paul Norman en Most vector tile services don't update every minute, only offer a limited amount of data, or have low traffic, which allows them to generate tiles as needed. The OSMF's vector tile service is unusual because it needs minutely updated global data, a basemap with many layers, and has to handle high traffic. This talk takes a deep dive into how this is possible, looking at the software we use, how it's set up, and how the different components work together. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/ECXGL8/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/ECXGL8/feedback/ Way Other 2025-11-15T15:00:00+00:00 15:00 00:30 5 slots for quick 5-minute talks. Sign-up was during the conference, making it great for fresh ideas or project updates. sotmeu2025-81583-lightning-talks-3 Special sessions en Core software facilitator roadmap - Adam Hoyle Woodlands are not what you think! - Mike N Humanitarian Isolation Index for air access - Matthew Sampias Mapping Trees - Jerry Clough (SK53) Every Door for obessed mappers - Ilja Zverek false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/KLLYLY/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/KLLYLY/feedback/ Way Other 2025-11-15T16:00:00+00:00 16:00 00:30 5 slots for quick 5-minute talks. Sign-up was during the conference, making it great for fresh ideas or project updates. sotmeu2025-81584-lightning-talks-4 Special sessions en Panoramax instance for Europe? - Lorenzo Is the OSM data model creaking? - Martin, Cycle Streets #30 Day Map Challenge - Tim Foster Linear maps for shopping streets - Robert Whittaker Mapping for low traffic neighbourhoods - Martin false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/THBEEA/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/THBEEA/feedback/ Way Talk 2025-11-15T16:30:00+00:00 16:30 00:30 An exploration of how can we derive data for objects which are not mapped, or tagged explicitly, from OpenStreet. sotmeu2025-81035-schrodinger-s-data-in-openstreetmap Cartography & Outputs Jerry Clough en Over 21 years a significant consensus has emerged as to the granularity and level of detail which is mapped on OSM. This approximates to what is represented on traditional maps at scales between 1:2,500 and 1:10,000. A consequence is that we do not map explicitly many larger things which are obvious, albeit implicit, to someone using a rendered map. However usable implicit data is for humans, for many purposes we need to find ways to make these data concrete. This talk explores various examples of such data, such as urban areas, waterway centrelines, avenues of trees, and hydrographic basins, and a variety of techniques to make useful derived datasets from OSM. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/NH3FYD/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/NH3FYD/feedback/ Way Talk 2025-11-15T17:00:00+00:00 17:00 00:30 A talk / discussion about "Notes". Do you ever use this OpenStreetMap feature? More people should! (mappers and newcomers), but we see some problems. Sometimes the remedy may be to just to think about them differently. Let's learn to love Notes! sotmeu2025-81073-working-with-osm-notes-and-getting-osm-notes-working OSM Basics Harry Wood en Briefly introducing Notes for those that don't know (More people should know about this feature!) and presenting some thoughts on the different types of Notes that we see (maybe inviting audience participation and/or advanced submission of notes in various categories) Thinking about whether/how we might actually categorise them. Discussing some thoughts on the problems we see with notes, and some recommendations for the right way to work with Notes and think about Notes. Also "Notathon" events, existing tools for working with notes, and possibly some ideas for new tools. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/DGZFXR/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/DGZFXR/feedback/ Node Talk 2025-11-15T09:30:00+00:00 09:30 00:30 Public transport mapping is a delicate issue in OSM. PTSA visualizes all data related to public transport stops, provides hints on tagging mistakes, and automatically groups platforms, poles and stop positions to stops. See https://gauss.whz.de/ptsa. sotmeu2025-75141-visualization-and-analysis-of-osm-s-public-transport-stop-data-with-ptsa Mapping & Collection /media/sotmeu2025/submissions/73CHAQ/ptsa_aO7gV7X.png Jens FlemmingMarcus Wittig en Tagging habits for mapping public transport stops in OSM vary greatly from region to region. Next to the original tagging scheme there are the PTv2 scheme and some non-standard tagging habits. For data consumers it's hard to simply get a list of, say, all bus stops in a city. For some stops there's only a stop position on the road, others only have a platform, and some are mapped as a combination of pole, platform and stop position. PTSA (Public Transport Stop Analysis for OSM) on the one hand visualizes all public transport stop related data available in OSM across all modalities and, thus, helps to analyze local tagging habits and to find mistakes in the data. On the other hand, PTSA automatically generates groups of stop objects belonging to one and the same stop, whether it's mapped as a single object are as a combination of two or three objects. PTSA is updated once per day and has worldwide coverage. See https://gauss.whz.de/ptsa. The talk provides an introduction to PTSA for data analysis and quality assurance and discusses some technical issues faced during the development of the project. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/73CHAQ/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/73CHAQ/feedback/ Node Talk 2025-11-15T10:00:00+00:00 10:00 00:30 Join us for an in-depth look at how Machine Learning (ML) models can be used to detect missing footway data in OSM. sotmeu2025-80996-ai-assisted-pedestrian-infrastructure-mapping Mapping & Collection Said TurkseverKurt Schellhase en Join us for an in-depth look at how Machine Learning (ML) models can be used to detect missing footway data in OSM. By finding missing marked crosswalks using ML, we can help point mappers to coverage gaps. We will discuss our technical approach as well as how we want to partner with local communities. We will also cover a unique approach to mapping these missing footways using the Rapid editor’s new Map Roulette integration. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/7ARQRE/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/7ARQRE/feedback/ Node Talk 2025-11-15T11:00:00+00:00 11:00 00:30 We take an intuition about a local school crossing and, using OSM, find data to make this feeling precise through a careful analysis, and use this analysis to advocate for local change. We hope this serves as a blueprint for other people to do the similar work in their communities. sotmeu2025-81076-at-the-intersection-of-python-and-inclusive-urbanism-does-this-school-have-the-worst-crossing-in-edinburgh Not just OSM Noon van der SilkGala Camacho en Have you ever walked or cycled somewhere and wondered if there is a safer path to take? “Active travel” is the term used in urbanism to describe travel (for some particular purpose) by walking, wheeling or cycling. Active travel has huge benefits: for us - for our health, and for the places where we live and spend time in - on air quality, increased road safety, reduced carbon emissions... to name a few. Most places were not designed for active travel and those of use who travel actively, we know. But putting data behind the feeling is not your average walk in the park. Is it possible to take these intuitions and convert them into data-backed analytical questions that can be answered definitively? In this talk, we are going to try! We show, using open-source data and tools, that we can hone in and ask, does this school have the worst intersection in Edinburgh? And in doing so, we find some data to back our intuition, resolve ours and, maybe even, other questions, and turn it into a tangible analysis we can use to promote actionable change in our neighbourhood. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/KJVF9Y/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/KJVF9Y/feedback/ Node Workshop 2025-11-15T11:30:00+00:00 11:30 01:00 OpenStreetMap is now well known for providing reliable power grids data worldwide. It has been achieved with yet more elaborated tooling and strategies to survey the appropriate data on ground. MapYourGrid initiative proposes to train and try on some simple practices to make grids more detailed on the map. sotmeu2025-78208-enabling-power-grid-mapping-with-appropriate-tools-workshop Mapping & Collection François Lacombe en Open data about power grids is now crucial to achieve energy transition with the most reliable and affordable solutions. For many countries in the world it's first of all a matter of planning and it needs open data and open source software. As to reinforce the ability of low and medium income countries, MapYourGrid initiative is committed to build strategies and collaborate with OpenStreetMap local communities for power assets inventories completion. In this workshop we aim to introduce, train and discuss some best practices to complete the power grid where it's the most relevant: how to target unfinished power lines, how to connect the recently built substation or power plant? How to survey this infrastructure with all due respect to safety and local regulations? We welcome anyone who wants to learn how OpenStreetMap can play a key role in the energy transition and sustainable development. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/VC7W9C/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/VC7W9C/feedback/ Node Workshop 2025-11-15T13:30:00+00:00 13:30 01:00 In this workshop we will generate base map tiles from OSM data using Planetiler, set up Martin tile server, set up nginx to serve our sample web site that will use MapLibre GL JS to show the map. sotmeu2025-81018-make-your-own-base-map-with-maplibre-and-planetiler-workshop Cartography & Outputs Bart Louwers en You do not need to install any software prior to the workshop. Requirements: - A laptop. - A GitHub account. This is needed because we will use GitHub Codespaces to set up the working environment. - Some experience with the terminal is helpful. Or bring a friend that does. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/QFFEAW/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/QFFEAW/feedback/ Node Workshop 2025-11-15T14:30:00+00:00 14:30 01:00 Let's deep-dive into accessibility-related tagging schemes – featuring a short demo of [a11yScore](https://beta.a11yscore.org/)'s new beta release. sotmeu2025-79159-what-s-next-in-accessibility-tagging-workshop Mapping & Collection /media/sotmeu2025/submissions/FXSEFX/Neukoelln_macht_auf_476__K6kehIU.webp Sebastian Felix ZappeLynn Janzen en Being in its early stages, accessibility tagging on OSM is very wheelchair-centric and needs coordination for extensions. In this workshop, we want to focus on: - existing tags related to entrances, doors, stairs, ramps, and toilets - missing tags related to blindness, visual and hearing impairment, learning disabilities, and neurodiversity. Let's discuss the current state, possible improvements, and plan next steps together. As part of the workshop, we shortly present our current project [a11yScore](https://beta.a11yscore.org/), and give insights on how [Sozialhelden e.V.](https://sozialhelden.de) uses OSM data to help cities monitor and fix accessibility issues. false What's Next in Accessibility Tagging - Slides https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/FXSEFX/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/FXSEFX/feedback/ Node Discussion group 2025-11-15T16:00:00+00:00 16:00 01:00 Open discussion about quality of OSM data created over HOT TM (Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team Tasking Manager) and during Missing Maps mapathons. sotmeu2025-80881-quality-of-osm-data-created-by-humanitarian-mappers-discussion-group Humanitarian Patrik Brigant en OSM data created by new mappers over HOT TM are not always good enough according to OSM standards. Join this discussion to find together the most effective approach how to tackle this challenge, what are the most common issues and how to possibly prevent them. Everyone is welcome to join, humanitarian mapper or not. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/M9KTYY/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/M9KTYY/feedback/ Node Talk 2025-11-15T17:00:00+00:00 17:00 00:30 The synergy between mapping and the use of data lies at the heart of OpenStreetMap but relations have not always been as good as they ought to be. This talk examines how communication between mappers and data consumers can be improved. sotmeu2025-81068-a-better-relationship-between-the-mapping-community-and-data-consumers Community and Vision Andrew Hain en The synergy between mapping and the use of data lies at the heart of OpenStreetMap but relations have not always been as good as they ought to be. Mappers have sought to improve the structure of the mapping data, while data consumers have seen interpreting the map how they see fit as their prerogative and have sometimes frustrated efforts by mappers to improve the map. This talk examines how communication between mappers and data consumers can be improved. false https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/DDHVTJ/ https://pretalx.com/sotmeu2025/talk/DDHVTJ/feedback/