SotM Africa Organizing Committee
The State of the Map Africa (SotM Africa) is a bi-annual regional conference that celebrates the culture of open mapping, open data, GIS and its impact across Africa. The first SotM Africa conference was hosted by the OSM community in Uganda in 2017.
This year’s conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania will continue to build on the strategy envisioned for OpenStreetMap in Africa as a renewed, strong, and growing network, and as part of the global OpenStreetMap and Open GIS movement
Sessions
There will be a whiteboard at the conference with allotted time and room for these sessions (usually 5 minutes lightening talk). Speakers will have to put in topics that are related to OSM and Open Mapping, have a ticket and adhere to the SotM Africa Code of Conduct. This is a first-come, first-served session
Theme: How Mapping Communities Create Employment and Professional Opportunities
Mapping communities i.e OpenStreetMap and other geospatial networks have become powerful platforms for learning, collaboration, and career development. They provide pathways for individuals to gain practical experience, build professional networks, access local and international opportunities, and develop skills that are highly valued across humanitarian, government, private sector, and research organizations.
Discussion Points:
Career journeys
Freelancing
International opportunities
Building a geospatial portfolio
Skills employers want
Birds of a Feather (BOF) sessions are informal, self-organized driven by the conference attendees. Unlike the main scheduled program, BOF sessions have no fixed speakers, but gather peers with shared interests, and host spontaneous discussions It is the perfect way to network, debate fresh ideas, and collaborate on a personal or niche project during the event. There will be a white board at the conference for interested participants to 'register' their sessions