📅 Date: 30-1 November 2024 🌍 Location: Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh 🏷️ Hashtags: https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/sotm2024?__s_fcid=6811183504691807194&__s_fbid=1115079362841034 #OMGuru #YouthMappers #EasternUniversity #OSM #MappingForChange #GeospatialRevolution

🌍 A Journey of KNNOrganization, Collaborate, and CONNECTION Besides being a conference the State of the Map Asia 2024 in Cox’s Bazar was an experience that made me feel I am an empowered and global mapper. Held from November 30th to December 1st, 2024, this event truly captured the essence of its theme: “Unite, Inspire, Innovate.” And the best part? I was awarded the Certificate of Participation upon my active participation in this amazing campaign!

🔥 Day 1: 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐊𝐞𝐲 ℚ𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐤 The first day of the map conference State of the Map Asia2024 started with a brilliant and inspiring keynote by Said Turksever from Mapillary&@Meta. His insights into the future of mapping technologies were nothing short of captivating, especially when he raised these two crucial questions: 1) Does Mapillary have certain regulations, or limitations on what and where users can record via their application? 2) What are the further objectives of the Mapillary platform and what updates are further expected from it? These questions raised debates regarding the ethical issues within and the future possibilities of such platforms as Mapillary, thus promising a highly stimulating tone for the whole conference.

🤝 𝔹𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔹𝕣𝕚𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕤: 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗩𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗮𝗾𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝘇𝗲𝗿𝘀⃝ The thing that made State of the Map Asia 2024 truly stand out was the ability to meet and work with people from the same field all around the world. I would like to point out that the Open Mapping Guru Dinner will take place on the December 1st. It a there I had a very insightful talk with one of the Regional Director at Open Mapping Hub - Asia Pacific by the name Nama Raj Budhathoki. He was always so wise and encouraged me concerning my studies and future map out for the mapping goals. In fact, many will be motivated to embark on open mapping careers by reading his experiences and insights. One of the most vivid impressions was made by meeting with Mikko Tamura – the Regional Community Manager at Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT). Even more inspiring was his understanding of mapping as a humanitarian tool and realizing that mapping could change people’s lives for the better let me extend my efforts in this area especially to those who could benefit greatly from this skill.

🌐ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕟𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝔽𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕠𝕨 Open Mapping Gurus One of the most inspiring moments during State of the Map Asia 2024 was to met Nilabrata Sanyal, whom was an Open Mapping Guru from West Bengal, India and Rabina Poudyal from Nepal. Their deas ranged from open mapping techniques to future possibilities for cooperation, and it was fascinating to learn their vision of how the sharing of the geospatial data’s future can be created. I must say, it was a delight to know them — and I’m much looking forward to collaborating with them.

🌊 𝔼𝕩𝕝𝕚𝕝𝕦𝕦 𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕡𝕃𝕒� kvinder ver Н assets The conference sessions gave the head intellectual satisfaction, but Cox’s Bazar offered a fairy touch to the tours. Even the conversations themselves as well as going out to discover more of the spectacular coastal city felt like a very learning experience. The intensity of the participants and especially the because OpenStreetMap gathers people from different life domains was rather inspiring. Each discussion was an opportunity to discuss potential concepts, to reveal more about what colleagues are doing, and to envision the future of open mapping.

🎓 A Milestone Moment: My YouthMappers Journey The author is a participant of YouthMappers Eastern University Bangladesh and he / she was honored to join 7 other youthful mappers from the same university. Through it, we spread information, generated ideas, and build contacts, useful for all our following endeavours. The inclusiveness of State of the Map Asia 2024 was mind-blowing — one realizes that open mapping is not a mere technology; it is people; it is everyone coming together for the betterment of this world by sharing and creating together.

🎓 ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕕 𝕥𝕠 ℝ𝕖𝕔𝕖𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕄𝕪 ℂ𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕚𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕠𝕗 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕚𝕡𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 I experienced a pride as well as thankfulness at the end of the conference. The certificate of participation that I got was not just the piece of paper with some words on it — it was the guarantee of my advocacy for the further development of open mapping. It began writing a new page in my life, that I am not only ready to narrate to people, but improve on further as well.

🙏 Thank You State of the Map Asia 2024! My heartfelt appreciation to everyone involved in the organization of State of the Map Asia 2024, the working committee, volunteers, and all participants. Attending the conference was not only about acquiring new information; it was about becoming a member of a much larger community- a community that is actually reshaping the world one map at a time.