OpenStreetMap
I’ve made OpenStreetMap a major part of my life and work since 2005. I love the sparkling audacity of a complete, freely-licensed, street-scale map of the world built from the ground up by a community motivated to share work for collective benefit. Living in the United States I know firsthand the benefits of high-quality free public data like we get from the US Geological Survey and Census, and OSM promises to extend this benefit to the whole planet.
OSM for me has always been a story of global impact through work: at Stamen Design I led our participation in open mapping with a mix of early San Francisco mapping parties, paid clients, and experimental projects. Some, like Field Papers (presented as “Walking Papers” at SOTM 2009 in Amsterdam) helped OSM become a force in humanitarian mapping and have since matured into useful infrastructure. I’ve helped OSM US since its first conference in Atlanta in 2010 and served a term on the US Foundation board in 2012. In 2016, I coined the term “craft mapping” in a widely-read and commented-upon blog post to tell a story about the contrast between OSM’s hand-made history and its potential utility future. OSM’s greatest strengths are its worldwide reach, open contribution model, and free license. I have recently grown so excited by the large-scale use and expansion of OSM that I joined the Facebook mapping team last year to contribute to our OSM efforts.
Read my complete manifesto on the Wiki for more about why I think I’d make a good OSMF board member.
Discussion
Comment from pnorman on 6 December 2019 at 05:07
You’ve indicated a connection between your OSMF candidacy and your paid work. Do you intend to ask the board permission to do OSMF work on paid time as a conflict of interest under appropriate legislation. I have always taken time off for board duties (e.g. take vacation time for in-person meetings, rearrange my work schedule for monthly meetings).
Comment from migurski on 6 December 2019 at 05:15
Hey Paul, thanks for posting. Are you asking because you’re curious, or because you’re trying to communicate to me that permission from the board is required for doing board-related work on paid time? I have permission and support from my employer to participate in the board, and I intend to follow any conflict of interest rules that apply.