OpenStreetMap in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental, PH

Posted by GOwin on 7 September 2015 in English.

Three weeks ago, near the end of August, The Asia Foundation(TAF)[0] organized an introductory workshop on crowd-sourced mapping in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental. Working with local partners: the Negros Oriental Planning and Development Office; the biker associations in Negros Oriental and the city of Dumaguete, they hope to introduce OpenStreetMap as a platform for participatory mapping activities to improve local maps, help determine infrastructure priorities, or asses the effectiveness of governance or projects.

The Dumaguete crowd-sourced mapping activity is a continuation of a series of introductory workshops carried out within the framework of the Coordinating Roads and Infrastructure Investment for Development (CR+ID) Project implemented by TAF-Philippines[1]. It is meant to promote the idea of mobilizing and nurturing local volunteer groups and informal associations to assist local governments in mapping their own communities using the OpenStreetMap platform.

I am thankful to TAF for the opportunity to engage other communities in Dumaguete, in particular, two of the biggest universities in the city, the Foundation University[2] and the Silliman University, College of Computer Studies[3] for a quick introduction to FOSS and OpenStreetMap.

So, how did they fare? Check it out for yourself: screencap of http://overpass-turbo.eu/s/bjy

Period: 20-24 August - TAF-CfC workshop + Foundation U + Silliman U

Loaded – nodes: 7027, ways: 758, relations: 15
Displayed – pois: 599, lines: 231, polygons: 216
Source: http://overpass-turbo.eu/s/bjy[5]

It’s been three weeks since, and I am glad to see some participants from said workshops continue to work on improving local map coverage[4] and contributing to OpenStreetMap.