When I have first discovered OpenStreetMap in 2010 I was happy that there was an alternative to Google Map Maker. I must say that I have discovered it for the second time and that was in 2015. I was absolutely astonished by the level of details that can be added to this map and I soon began to map out my city. I am now a full-time mapper and I work very hard in order to add in the footprint of every building from my city. I even keep track of my progress on a dedicated website – http://lchermannstadt.weebly.com/charterul-proiectului.html.

I believe that such a historical event in the life of my city needs to be well documented for future reference. I also believe that I can inspire others to map if I document all of my work on a website. Sibiu is a large city but it is not extremely big. A good mapper can finish this entire city in about 3 months of work. However, there are a lot of small towns around the city and this is where the real work needs to be done. There are a lot of miles to travel and without adequate funding or time, it is really impossible to add in these small towns to OpenStreetMap.

However, I am quite confident that with enough willpower these small towns (Cisnadie,Avrig, Talmaciu, etc) will be added to the map in the near future. My plan is to map these towns as well and I plan to do this right after I finish mapping my own city. The biggest problem that I have to face is related to the cost of printing the satellite imagery. As of today, nobody from the local community has offered to help but I will keep on mapping anyway. I want Sibiu to be one of the finest mapped cities in the entire country as this is extremely important for our local community and local economy.

Sibiu is an important tech hub in Romania and it is quite a shame that the overall quality of OSM data is not that great and I took the challenge of mapping the city as if it was a personal mission that must be fulfilled with the utmost sacrifice in terms of personal time and finance. I am fully aware about the effort that is required to finish this project however I am also enlightened to know that my work will help tens of thousands of people that want to have a better understanding of their local community.