[OSGeo Oceania] The beginnings of an Oceania OSMF local chapter

[Edoardo Neerhut]

Hi everyone,


There have been conversations in the OSM community about creating a more
formalised group to coordinate OSM activities in the region. This would be
important step to getting recognition as a local chapter of the
OpenStreetMap Foundation which would in turn allow us to collaborate more
closely and potentially be eligible for grants and support going forward.


By formalised group, we were thinking of a working group that would be part
of OSGeo Oceania. An initial discussion was initiated here:
https://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/talk-au/2020-May/013823.html.
Please note that this application relates to the application we made to the
OSMF to have OSGeo recognised as a local chapter:
https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Local_Chapters/Applications.


Some of the objectives of a working group we discussed include:



   - Growing the number of people contributing to OSM as well as the
   overall number of edits in our region.
   - Coordinating with authorities and companies in the region to get
   access to new data for OSM, but also to show how OSM can be used by these
   organisations.
   - Introducing students and any interested members of the public to
   mapping
   - Coordinating mapping events to focus on thematic mapping tasks such as
   humanitarian mapping, bushfire mapping, wheelchair accessibility etc.
   - Serving as a point of contact for anyone around the world or locally
   interested in engaging the Oceania OSM community.
   - Running and maintaining infrastructure such as tile servers that could
   help to grow OSM in our region.


To get things moving forward:

   - Do you think an OSM focused working group under OSGeo Oceania is a
   good idea?
   - What other objectives do you think are important?
   - Would you be willing to lead this working group or be part of it?
   Leading the working group would require a formalization of the objectives
   and the working group team.


Looking at the direction other countries and regions around the world have
taken, I’m confident an OSM working group and eventually a local chapter
would be a huge step forward for OSM as a whole in Oceania.


Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.


Edoardo


Note: I will be sharing this message in multiple channels throughout
Oceania to make sure we engage a wide and representative audience.
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