Introduction

Humanitarian Openstreetmap Team (HOT) is an international team dedicated to humanitarian action and community development through open mapping.

Accurate and up-to-date data is essential for effective humanitarian response. Validators use tools such as JOSM and the HOT Tasking Manager to identify and flag errors and mistakes. From experience, i know that this is a complex and time-consuming endeavor.

One tool to save time and enhance the validation process is OSMCha.

The funding for OSMCha is currently at risk, which could lead to the degradation of this invaluable tool. In this diary, i want to highlight the essential role OSMCha plays in my own (and other’s) validation and quality maintenance workflow.

What is OSMCha

OpenStreetMap Changeset Analyzer (OSMCha) is a tool designed to monitor and analyze changes made to OpenStreetMap data. It enables data validators to quickly identify potential issues, track changes, and ensure data quality.

OSMCha is seamlessly integrated with the HOT Tasking Manager. It is possible to launch it directly from both the project and task pages.

Benefits of OSMCha

• Prioritization

  The sheer volume of changesets in HOT projects that need validation can be overwhelming. Through OSMCha’s advanced filtering and sorting options i prioritize changesets based on their potential impact, making the validation process more manageable

• Efficiency

  Thanks to OSMCha’s intuitive interface and filtering options i sift quickly through these large volumes of changesets, identifying those that require immediate attention. This efficiency is vital in urgent HOT projects, where even an hour’s delay can cost lives

• Targeted approach

  With OSMCha, i pinpoint specific changes that may contain errors or inconsistencies. This targeted approach ensures that validation is both thorough and accurate.

• Feedback to beginners

  OSMCha can filter out beginner mappers, enabling me to directly and in a timely manner communicate with those mappers that need the most guidance

• Cooperation

  OSMCha helps me to collaborate with other HOT validators to work on the same changeset

• Vandalism

  The flagging mechanism of OSMCha helps me to expose acts of vandalism

OSMCha and the HOT Tasking Manager

OSMCha is seamlessly integrated with the HOT Tasking Manager.

This enables me to check changesets limited to a specific project or task. Using the date/time sort option i quickly get an overview of the most recent mappings. Feedback can be given almost within minutes after creation of the changeset.

I find this a big bonus. Feedback is most effective when given (and received) immediately. When using the Tasking Manager however, there can be a delay between mapping and validation, ranging from days to even weeks.

Conclusion

In conclusion, i think OSMCha is an invaluable tool for HOT validators like myself and quality maintainers in general. Its efficiency, accuracy, and collaborative features make it an essential part of my workflow.

What are your thoughts on OSMCha? Have you used it in your validation workflow or for your own mapping projects? Share your experiences and tips in the comments below!

NB1: i want to mention that while i used a chatbot (Le Chat Mistral) to help refine the phrasing and ensure clarity in this diary, the ideas and perspectives shared are entirely my own. English is not my first language, and i wanted to make sure i could communicate my thoughts as effective as possible.

NB2: i reworked the text somewhat a day after posting it: more personal and using a more active style. The essence of the text has not been changed.

Links

• https://openstreetmap.us/news/2025/07/charter-projects-face-uncertain-future/
• https://osmcha.org
• https://www.hotosm.org
• https://tasks.hotosm.org