Last week, we celebrated the 4th Pista ng Mapa (Festival of Maps) as well as State of the Map Asia 2022. I finally get to physically meet and interact with open data, open source, open mapping and Openstreetmap advocates and contributors after the pandemic. I will write more about my experience in another entry.

In this diary, I would like to honor a person whom I have never physically met but have made a huge difference in my career - one of the pioneers of GIS in the Philippines, the founder of PhilGIS.org and an open geodata advocate who showed compassion to a young beginner mapper / aspiring GIS Specialist (me), Sir Alejandro “Al” Tongco.

Thank you Pista ng Mapa x SotM Asia organizers for remembering his work through the Tatak OSM PH Award :)

Sir Al Tongco’s Tatak OSM PH Award, photo by Ms. Janjan Orano

PhilGIS.org : The first open geoadata source in the Philippines (that I know of)

As you can read in my profile, I did not get GIS courses when I was in college but I self-trained with the help of friends (ate Jireh) and internet. The internet included PhilGIS.org (now no longer what it was). I did not know of Openstreetmap back then (around 2012) but has lurked in talk-ph mailing list.

PhilGIS.org has been instrumental to where I am now, and a lot of mappers and GIS specialist from the Philippines. It was our #1 source of open geodata when requests for geodata from government agencies took months and only to be given PDF or paper maps. Sir Al Tongco maintained the PhilGIS.org site, and in the site, he not only uploaded data, but gave acknowledgement to the data sharers.

PhilGIS interface, grabbed from Earwin: https://agrigeospatialist.wordpress.com/

Online communication with Sir Al Tongco

I remembered emailing him and receiving quick response from him.

1. In 2014, my first email - I introduced myself thru email and asking if I can attend one of his GIS trainings. He immediately replied telling me that he has a training coming up; unfortunately, I did not make it as it was far and I did not have the money to travel that time.
2. In 2016, my last email - I asked for data source of one of the open geodata uploaded in PhilGIS.org, he was able to connect me with the data sharer.

Sir Al Tongco’s Legacy

Unfortunately earlier this year, news broke that Sir Al Tongco has passed. It is sad that I never get to meet him in-person to tell him how thankful I am for PhilGIS.org, and how his dedication in open geodata, and showing compassionate to a young woman like me inspired and helped me thrive in this space.

Aside from the open geodata he shared, I would remember how he showed kindness to young woman and beginner mapper like me. Sir Al Tongco made me feel that I belong, that I did not ask a stupid question, and that we can harmoniously share space with other geo and mappy people.

I looked back and read my last email to him in 2016, I was able to show gratitude virtually :)

Sir Al Tongco, your legacy - dedication to open geodata and compassion with people / community - lives on.

Version française ci-dessous / Versão portuguesa abaixo / Versión en español a continuación

Sharing here the results and finding of the Project: [Language] Localization as an Inclusion and Participatory Enabler that I shared last year: English / French / Portuguese and was able to present remotely at State of the Map 2022.

You can watch the recording here (in English): SotM 2022 page (with link to English slide presentation / Youtube (with English captions)

Conclusion

The findings of this project are not sufficient to create a self-sustainable localization strategy. The next section highlights key takeaways - challenges, opportunities and recommendation that can be put into action for future localization projects.

Key takeaways

Challenges	Opportunities
No known accurate machine for certain languages. e.g. Tiếng Việt	Collaborate with existing network - e.g. Community <> Industry
We were not able to provide a list of available resources	Maintain a list of available resources to translate to help contributors target resources that will be valuable to translate for their communities.
We translated a resource that cannot be used in the future e.g. Open Mapping Grants	Focus on evergreen or evolving resources
Technical Barrier	Provide onboarding on the use of the translation tools
Time Commitment	Provide value and recognition to contributors
No concrete plan on how to measure impact of localized translation to the communities.	The project should have a more robust approach to evaluating impact plans (i.e. how to monitor, measure and evaluate impact) and should be aligned with your organization’s MERL approach.

Translation workflow

Sharing here the workflow for translating written text.

Next steps / Personal Reflections

During the Q&A section, I was asked what’s [the] next [phase] after the project. I do not know really, but I’ll continue to advocate for this and support contributors and communities. There is an ongoing discussion in the HOT Community WG forum, and there’s community categories who discuss matters in their own language in the OSM Community Forum.

I think written language translation would be easier if there is (and we can find) a machine translator that is accurate in the target languages (eg deepL specializes in certain languages, but not all); if not, then it is an opportunity to collaborate between groups.

Spoken language is another thing; but I keep in mind my former colleague, Lily, saying:

Translation and accessibility take time, planning and patience.” For now, let us continue the discussions, and be patient and understanding through/in our language.

Acknowledgement:

This Project will not commence if not for the time and contributions of the following individuals and groups. Maraming Salamat / Cảm ơn nhiều / Merci beaucoup / Muito obrigado / That you so much!

Français

Nous partageons ici les résultats et les conclusions du projet : [La localisation comme outil d’inclusion et de participation que j’ai partagé l’année dernière : Anglais / Français / Portugais et que j’ai pu présenter à distance lors de la conférence State of the Map 2022.

Vous pouvez regarder l’enregistrement ici (en anglais) : Page SotM 2022 (avec lien vers les diapositives en anglais) / Youtube (avec sous-titres en anglais)

Conclusion

Les résultats de ce projet ne sont pas suffisants pour créer une stratégie de localisation autonome. La section suivante met en évidence les principaux points à retenir - défis, opportunités et recommandations qui peuvent être mis en œuvre pour les futurs projets de localisation.

Principales conclusions

Défis et opportunités
Il n’existe pas de machine précise connue pour certaines langues, par exemple Tiếng Việt.	Collaborer avec le réseau existant - par exemple, Communauté <> Industrie
Nous n’avons pas été en mesure de fournir une liste des ressources disponibles.	Maintenir une liste des ressources disponibles à traduire pour aider les contributeurs à cibler les ressources qui seront précieuses à traduire pour leurs communautés.
Nous avons traduit une ressource qui ne pourra plus être utilisée à l’avenir, par exemple Open Mapping Grants.	Focus sur les ressources à caractère permanent ou évolutif
Technical Barrier	Assurer l’initiation à l’utilisation des outils de traduction
Obstacle technique	Fournir de la valeur et de la reconnaissance aux contributeurs
No concrete plan on how to measure impact of localized translation to the communities.	The project should have a more robust approach to evaluating impact plans (i.e. how to monitor, measure and evaluate impact) and should be aligned with your organization’s MERL approach.

Flux de travail de traduction

Nous partageons ici le flux de travail pour la traduction de textes écrits.

Prochaines étapes / Réflexions personnelles

Au cours de la section Q&R, on m’a demandé quelle serait [la] prochaine [phase] après le projet. Je ne sais pas vraiment, mais je vais continuer à défendre ce projet et à soutenir les contributeurs et les communautés. Il y a une discussion en cours dans le forum du groupe de travail de la communauté HOT, et il y a des catégories de la communauté qui discutent de sujets dans leur propre langue dans le forum de la communauté OSM.

Je pense que la traduction en langage écrit serait plus facile s’il existe (et si nous pouvons trouver) un traducteur automatique qui est précis dans les langues cibles (par exemple deepL est spécialisé dans certaines langues, mais pas toutes) ; sinon, c’est une opportunité de collaboration entre les groupes.

La langue parlée est une autre chose ; mais je garde à l’esprit les propos de mon ancienne collègue, Lily :

La traduction et l’accessibilité demandent du temps, de la planification et de la patience.” Pour l’instant, poursuivons les discussions, et faisons preuve de patience et de compréhension à travers notre langue.

Remerciements :

Ce projet n’aurait pas vu le jour sans le temps et les contributions des personnes et groupes suivants. Maraming Salamat / Cảm ơn nhiều / Merci beaucoup / Muito obrigado / That you so much!.

Português

Partilhando aqui os resultados e as conclusões do Projecto: [Idioma] A localização como facilitador de inclusão e de participação que partilhei no ano passado: Inglês / Francês / Português e pôde apresentar remotamente em Estado do Mapa 2022.

Pode assistir à gravação aqui (em inglês): Página SotM 2022 (com link para apresentação de slides em inglês / Youtube (com legendas em inglês)

Conclusão

As conclusões deste projecto são não suficientes para criar uma estratégia de localização auto-sustentável. A secção seguinte destaca as principais conclusões - desafios, oportunidades e recomendações que podem ser postas em prática para futuros projectos de localização.

Principais conclusões

Desafios	Oportunidades
Nenhuma máquina precisa conhecida para certas línguas. ex. Tiếng Việt	Colaborar com a rede existente - ex. Comunidade <> Indústria
Não fomos capazes de fornecer uma lista de recursos disponíveis	Manter uma lista de recursos disponíveis* para traduzir para ajudar os contribuintes a direccionar recursos que serão valiosos para as suas comunidades.
Traduzimos um recurso que não pode ser utilizado no futuro, por exemplo, Subsídios Cartográficos Abertos	Focus em recursos sempre verdes ou em evolução
Barreira Técnica	Prover a utilização das ferramentas de tradução
Compromisso de tempo	Fornecer valor e reconhecimento aos colaboradores
Nenhum plano concreto sobre como medir o impacto da tradução localizada para as comunidades.	O projecto deve ter uma abordagem mais robusta na avaliação dos planos de impacto (ou seja, como monitorizar, medir e avaliar o impacto) e deve estar alinhado com a abordagem ACEL da sua organização.

Fluxo de trabalho de tradução

Partilhar aqui o fluxo de trabalho para a tradução de textos escritos.

Próximos passos / Reflexões pessoais

Durante a secção de perguntas e respostas, foi-me perguntado o que será [a] próxima [fase] após o projecto. Não sei realmente, mas continuarei a defender isto e a apoiar os contribuintes e as comunidades. Há discussão em curso no fórum do GT HOT Community WG, e há categorias de comunidades que discutem assuntos na sua própria língua no Fórum da Comunidade OSM.

Penso que ** a tradução de línguas escritas** seria mais fácil se houvesse (e podemos encontrar) um tradutor automático que fosse preciso nas línguas-alvo (por exemplo deepL especializado em certas línguas, mas não em todas); se não, então é uma oportunidade de colaborar entre grupos.

Língua falada* é outra coisa; mas tenho em mente a minha antiga colega, Lily, que disse:

Tradução e acessibilidade levam tempo, planeamento e paciência”. Por agora, continuemos as discussões, e sejamos pacientes e compreensivos através/da nossa língua.

Agradecimento:

Este Projecto não terá início se não for pelo tempo e contribuições dos seguintes indivíduos e grupos. Maraming Salamat / Cảm ơn nhiều / Merci beaucoup / Muito obrigado / Thank you very much!

Español

Compartiendo aquí los resultados y hallazgos del Proyecto La localización [lingüística] como facilitador de la inclusión y la participación que compartí el año pasado: Inglés / Francés / Portugués y que pude presentar a distancia en State of the Map 2022.

Puede ver la grabación aquí (en inglés): Página de SotM 2022 (con enlace a la presentación de diapositivas en inglés / Youtube (con subtítulos en inglés)

Conclusión

Los resultados de este proyecto no son suficientes para crear una estrategia de localización autosostenible. En la siguiente sección se destacan las principales conclusiones, es decir, los retos, las oportunidades y las recomendaciones que pueden ponerse en práctica para futuros proyectos de localización.

Principales conclusiones

Retos y oportunidades
No se conocen máquinas precisas para ciertos idiomas. p. ej. Tiếng Việt	Colaborar con la red existente - p. ej. Comunidad <> Industria
No pudimos proporcionar una lista de recursos disponibles	Mantener una lista de recursos disponibles para traducir para ayudar a los contribuyentes a seleccionar los recursos que serán valiosos para traducir para sus comunidades.
Hemos traducido un recurso que no puede ser utilizado en el futuro, por ejemplo, las subvenciones de Open Mapping	Centrarnos en los recursos siempre verdes o en evolución
Barrera técnica	Proporcionar formación sobre el uso de las herramientas de traducción
Compromiso de tiempo	Proporcionar valor y reconocimiento a los contribuyentes
No hay un plan concreto sobre cómo medir el impacto de la traducción localizada en las comunidades.	El proyecto debería tener un enfoque más robusto para evaluar los planes de impacto (es decir, cómo supervisar, medir y evaluar el impacto) y debería estar alineado con el enfoque MERL de su organización.

Flujo de trabajo de la traducción

Compartiendo aquí el flujo de trabajo para la traducción de textos escritos.

Próximos pasos / Reflexiones personales

Durante la sección de preguntas y respuestas, me preguntaron cuál es la siguiente [fase] después del proyecto. Realmente no lo sé, pero seguiré defendiendo esto y apoyando a los colaboradores y a las comunidades. Hay una discusión en curso en el foro del GT de la Comunidad HOT, y hay categorías de la comunidad que discuten asuntos en su propio idioma en el Foro de la Comunidad OSM.

Creo que la traducción del lenguaje escrito sería más fácil si hay (y podemos encontrar) un traductor automático que sea preciso en los idiomas de destino (por ejemplo, deepL se especializa en ciertos idiomas, pero no en todos); si no, entonces es una oportunidad para colaborar entre grupos.

La lengua hablada es otra cosa; pero tengo en mente a mi antigua colega, Lily, diciendo:

La traducción y la accesibilidad requieren tiempo, planificación y paciencia”. Por ahora, continuemos las discusiones, y seamos pacientes y comprensivos a través de nuestra lengua.

Agradecimiento:

Este proyecto no podría comenzar si no fuera por el tiempo y las contribuciones de las siguientes personas y grupos. Maraming Salamat / Cảm ơn nhiều / Merci beaucoup / Muito obrigado / Thank you very much!

Hello! The humanitarian open mapping community WG invites you to a skillshare session on writing your OSM Diary and editing the OSM Wiki!

The session will be recorded and livestreamed via HOT Youtube channel.

See you on 25 Feb, Friday at 12:00 UTC (check your time here)!

Register here!

Did you know… you can leave “Location” blank and you can’t delete a published diary (only edit it).?

PS. I will edit this diary after the event to share some key takeaways, etc. :)

=Arnalie

Hello! We are planning a skillshare session on creating OSM diary and editing OSM Wiki. The session will be in English.

Would you like to speak on either of those topic?

If yes, please feel free to comment on this diary, message me or comment on this loomio thread.

We’d appreciate your support! :)

Thank you!

Versões: English /

French /

HOT website (English)

Juntamente com as comunidades/contribuintes locais do Vietname, Madagáscar e Moçambique, e os Centros Mapas Abertos (Ásia-Pacífico, e África Oriental e Austral), tenho muito prazer em partilhar convosco a colaboração Projecto: Localização como um facilitador de inclusão e participação (também disponível em Francês, Português e Espanhol).

Resumo dos detalhes do projecto:

Contexto

A barreira linguística e a omissão do inglês coloca os não falantes de inglês em desvantagem sistémica nas comunidades de mapeamento aberto e nas actividades humanitárias de mapeamento aberto que o HOT tenta apoiar, resultando numa falta significativa de participação e impacto (Gayton, 2021) .

Motivação

Acreditamos que a localização linguística permitirá a inclusão e participação de grupos subrepresentados no mapeamento, diálogos e outras actividades humanitárias de mapeamento aberto.

Objectivo

O nosso objectivo é desenvolver dados de base para informar uma estratégia de localização*** auto-sustentável para colmatar a lacuna entre linguagem e acessibilidade dos recursos de cartografia aberta que servem as comunidades envolvidas no trabalho humanitário / de desenvolvimento (ver Países Prioritários do HOT).

Metodologia

Iremos realizar pequenas experiências (isto é, fluxos de trabalho de tradução, e compromissos) com comunidades locais para testar como a localização de recursos poderia funcionar nas principais línguas de 3 países prioritários: Vietname (Tieng Viet), Madagascar (francês) e Moçambique (português).

Linha do tempo (sujeito a alterações)

• June-Julho: brainstorming inicial, preparação e análise dos requisitos (completo)
• *Agosto - Setembro:** Compromissos com as comunidades como colaboradores nas experiências (completo)
• Outubro - Novembro:** Experiências/Translações em curso

1. As comunidades identificam e dão prioridade aos recursos que são importantes para elas e querem localizar para contribuir para o OpenStreetMap e o Open Mapping
2. A Equipa da Comunidade HOT apoia na tradução utilizando o tradutor automático
3. As comunidades revêem o primeiro passo de tradução e finalizam o recurso na sua língua para promover nas suas comunidades

*Médio de Novembro - Dezembro:**

1. Resultados de experiências e insights publicados
2. Proposta inicial de estratégia de localização
3. Revisão comunitária

Como se pode envolver:

• Leia o documento do projecto e comente o seu pensamento directamente no documento, neste diário ou no Humanitarian Open Mapping CommunityWG Forum topico
• Sugira pessoas ou organização(ões) (ou artigos/iniciativas) que pensa poder aconselhar-nos em relação a este projecto (comente ou partilhe-as neste tópico).

Agradecimentos especiais aos colaboradores da comunidade local:

• Vietname: Tony, Huy e Grab Vietnam Map Operation Team
• Madagáscar: Faneva e Dolly
• Moçambique: Rodolfo Júnior, Pechiçoane Pechiço, Dinércia Macaringue, Edmilson Fuel, Daniel Mapsanganhe, Emerson Lopes, Rosário Mulhui e Vânia Muianga.

Se desejar saber mais sobre isto e quiser ter uma conversa, por favor, sinta-se à vontade para me enviar uma mensagem.

Obrigado e esperamos poder colaborar convosco neste projecto! :)

=Arnalie

Versions: English /

Portuguese /

HOT website (English)

Avec les communautés locales/contributeurs du Vietnam, de Madagascar et du Mozambique, et les centres Open Mapping (Asie-Pacifique, et Afrique de l’Est et Afrique australe), je suis très heureux de partager avec vous la collaboration Projet : La localisation comme outil d’inclusion et de participation (également disponible en français, portugais et espagnol).

Résumé des détails du projet :

Contexte

La barrière de la langue et le choix par défaut de l’anglais désavantagent systématiquement les non-anglophones dans les communautés de cartographie ouverte et les activités de cartographie ouverte humanitaire que HOT tente de soutenir, ce qui entraîne une participation et un impact manqués (Gayton, 2021).

Motivation

Nous pensons que la localisation de la langue permettra l’inclusion et la participation des groupes sous-représentés dans la cartographie, les dialogues et autres activités de cartographie ouverte humanitaire.

Objectif

Nous visons à développer des données de base pour informer une stratégie de localisation autonome afin de combler le fossé entre la langue et l’accessibilité des ressources de cartographie ouverte qui servent les communautés impliquées dans le travail humanitaire / de développement (voir [Pays prioritaires de HOT] (https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Humanitarian_OSM_Team/Working_groups/Community/Terms_of_Reference#How_we_define_our_community_focus)).

Méthodologie

Nous allons mener de petites expériences (c’est-à-dire des flux de travail de traduction et des engagements) avec les communautés locales pour tester comment la localisation des ressources pourrait fonctionner dans les principales langues de trois pays prioritaires : Vietnam (Tieng Viet), Madagascar (français) et Mozambique (portugais).

Calendrier (sous réserve de modifications)

Juin-Juillet: Brainstorming initial, mise en place et analyse des besoins (terminé)

**Août-Septembre : ** Engagement avec les communautés en tant que collaborateurs dans les expériences (terminé)

Octobre - Novembre: Expériences/traductions en cours

1. Les communautés identifient et classent par ordre de priorité les ressources qui sont importantes pour elles et qu’elles veulent localiser pour contribuer à OpenStreetMap et Open Mapping.
2. L’équipe de la communauté HOT aide à la traduction en utilisant un traducteur automatique.
3. Les communautés révisent le premier passage de la traduction et finalisent la ressource dans leur langue pour la promouvoir dans leurs communautés.

• Mi-novembre - décembre:

1. Publication des résultats de l’expérience et des idées
2. Proposition initiale de stratégie de localisation
3. Révision par la communauté

Comment vous pouvez vous impliquer :

• Lisez le document de projet et commentez vos idées directement dans le document, dans ce journal ou dans le fil de discussion du forum du Humanitarian Open Mapping CommunityWG .
• Suggérez des personnes ou des organisations (ou des articles/initiatives) qui, selon vous, peuvent nous conseiller sur ce projet (commentez ou partagez-les dans ce fil de discussion).

Remerciements particuliers aux collaborateurs des communautés locales :

• Vietnam : Tony, Huy et Grab Vietnam Map Operation Team
• Madagascar : Faneva et Dolly
• Mozambique : Rodolfo Junior, Pechiçoane Pechiço, Dinércia Macaringue, Edmilson Fuel, Daniel Mapsanganhe, Emerson Lopes, Rosário Mulhui et Vânia Muianga.

Si vous souhaitez en savoir plus et si vous voulez discuter, n’hésitez pas à m’envoyer un message.

Merci et nous espérons pouvoir nous engager avec vous dans ce projet ! :)

=Arnalie

Versions: French /

Portuguese /

HOT website (English)

Together with the local communities/contributors from Vietnam, Madagascar and Mozambique, and Open Mapping Hubs (Asia-Pacific, and East & Southern Africa), I am very happy to share with you the collaboration Project: Localization as an Inclusion and Participatory Enabler (also available in French, Portuguese and Spanish).

Summary of the project details:

Context

Language barrier and the default to English puts non-English speakers at a systemic disadvantage throughout open mapping communities and humanitarian open mapping activities that HOT tries to support, resulting in significant missed participation and impact (Gayton, 2021) .

Motivation

We believe that language localization will enable inclusion and participation of underrepresented groups in mapping, dialogues and other humanitarian open mapping activities.

Goal

We aim to develop baseline data to inform a self-sustainable localization strategy to bridge the gap between language and accessibility of Open Mapping resources that serve communities involved in humanitarian / development work (see HOT’s Priority Countries).

Methodology

We will be running small experiments (i.e. translation workflows, and engagements) with local communities to test how localisation of resources could work in the main languages of 3 priority countries: Vietnam (Tieng Viet), Madagascar (French) and Mozambique (Portuguese).

Timeline (subject to change)

• June-July: Initial brainstorming, set-up and analysis on requirements (complete)
• August- September: Engagements with communities as collaborators in the experiments (complete)
• October - November: Experiments/Translations running

1. Communities identify and prioritize which resources are important to them and they want to localize to contribute to OpenStreetMap and Open Mapping
2. HOT Community Team supports in translation using machine translator
3. Communities review the first pass of translation and finalize the resource in their language to promote in their communities

• Mid November - December:

1. Experiment results and insights published
2. Localization strategy initial proposal
3. Community review

How you can get involved:

• Read the project document and comment your thoughts directly to the document, in this diary or in the Humanitarian Open Mapping CommunityWG Forum thread
• Suggest people or organization/s (or articles/initiatives) that you think can advise us regarding this project (comment or share them in this thread).

Special thanks to local community collaborators:

• Vietnam: Tony, Huy and Grab Vietnam Map Operation Team
• Madagascar: Faneva and Dolly
• Mozambique: Rodolfo Junior, Pechiçoane Pechiço, Dinércia Macaringue, Edmilson Fuel, Daniel Mapsanganhe, Emerson Lopes, Rosário Mulhui and Vânia Muianga.

If you wish to know more about this and want to have a chat, please feel free to send me a message.

Thank you and we hope to engage with you in this project! :)

=Arnalie

If you want to translate this post to be more comprehensible, I recommend to use deepL translator.

Disclaimer: All opinions are mine and do not necessarily represent opinions of HOT or other organizations/groups I am affiliated with.

The HOT Board and Chairperson Election period this year started this month of September. Both positions require that you are a voting member to be able to run, nominate and vote.

PS. Becoming a voting member is another cycle/election :)

I’d like to share five (5) challenges or “dare” to the HOT Voting members (which includes Board members and chairperson).

#1 Unengaged membership: How can we engage 1M contributors if we cannot engage our 217 (and growing) voting members?

HOT received funding from the Audacious Project last year - “Over the next five years, HOT will engage one million volunteers to map the places that are home to one billion people.”

When I applied for my staff position, this has been one of my strong drivers/motivations: to meaningfully engage contributors/communities (including the voting membership), and benefit from the work that HOT does. I believe the voting membership is one of the most important of these communities but hasn’t been prioritised in recent years.

I challenge the HOT membership, how can you help engage your fellow voting members, esp. those you nominated as a voting member and vice versa?

#2 Community Participation: How do we actively participate and support communities/groups locally (your local communities), regionally (eg Open Mapping Hubs), and globally (e.g. HOT / OSMF Working Groups)?

HOT shifted from global to regional structure to ensure that power, decision-making and resource allocation happen much closer to the communities we seek to support and in which we want our impact to be. How do you think the voting members can support the Regional Hubs and local communities?

I challenge the HOT membership to play an active role in the Regional hubs. Not only that, HOT has working groups and committees, please consider joining one! And most importantly, I challenge you to continuously actively participate and support your local communities!

#3 Community diversity: How can we be advocates of diversity and inclusion?

In addition to Tyler’s What HOT’s Board Needs: A Top 5 List (which I view as more focused on “skills” that we need), I would like to emphasize the we also need to consider community diversity both in participation and leadership.

I challenge the HOT membership to respect diversity, encourage and listen to unheard opinions and perspectives, be mindful and examine your views, and take action to enable inclusion.

PS. #shamelessplug Check out our blog: Why and How: Challenging Sexism and Misogyny in the Open Mapping Ecosystem :)

#4 Community diversity in Language: How can we localize HOT / OSM activities (map and non-map contributions)?

“My English is not too fluent to be a member of the Board even though I am very interested in participating and sharing my vision as a French-speaking African community of collaborative mapping with HOT.” - from a community leader/voting member who would like to run for Board.

Language is a dimension of diversity and inclusion but I believe it deserves its own spot and should be highlighted. Ivan Gayton (2021) shared, “The default to English puts non-English speakers at a systemic disadvantage throughout HOT and humanitarian open mapping activities.” And this has been true since the start! Official documents, websites, etc are all in English, how can we reach non-English speaking communities we wish to serve and support?

I am pleased that the Election Committee has taken into account the language barrier. Before, we only have live discussions. In this year’s election, we will send a list of questions to the candidates so that they can prepare their answers, e.g. make necessary translations if needed, post it in medium they are comfortable with, and then have a live discussion.

PS. We have been doing this in the CommunityWG webinars which enabled more participation and diverse speakers! :)

PS 2. I am leading a project on Language Localization. Let me know what you think here :)

#5 Community diversity in Leadership: “Who leads the mapping and storytelling matters.” (Garcia, 2020)

HOT has its western roots since its incorporation in 2010. Only after four (4) elections (in 2015 Election), did we have non-western leaders to serve in the Board. And as of date, only 5 men from Asia, 2 women from Africa, and 1 woman from Latin America served in the Board. How can we improve this?

My last challenge for the membership is who will you vote as our leaders?

Vote wisely! :)

PS. As I am part of the OSMF membership (as Associate member since 2019), I would like to challenge the OSMF membership with these points (or whatever applies) as well. ;)

If you want to translate this post to be more comprehensible, I recommend to use deepL translator.

Nota: Esta traducción al español es posible gracias a Cyberjuan, ¡gracias! Puedes leer la versión en inglés aquí. (Note: This translation to Spanish is made possible by Cyberjuan, thank you! You can read the English version here).

Tuve la suerte de ser seleccionada como uno de los académicos de la conferencia State of the Map 2018 (mis reflexiones aquí). Este año, tuve la oportunidad de ser parte del Grupo de trabajo (WG) del SotM 2021 organizando la conferencia en línea SotM 2021.

Principalmente he trabajado en el Equipo de Comunicaciones. Comparto en este diario mi experiencia como organizadora y mis aprendizajes, ya que esto puede ayudar a otros organizadores a planificar sus eventos en línea, o similares.

¡A continuación una larga lectura!

1. Reclutamiento de voluntarios para SotM WG (vea la invitación a la Convocatoria de voluntarios mediante la lista de correos)

Debido a la pandemia, el SotM se volvió virtual. Dado que no había un ofrecimiento comunitario involucrado, la presidenta de SotM invitó a los miembros de la comunidad de OSM a unirse al SotM WG. Ella promovió esto a través de la lista de correo y fue compartido por miembros de la comunidad a través de las redes sociales y otros canales comunitarios.

Clave: Definir claramente la estructura del grupo de trabajo (sub-grupos/sub-equipos), sus funciones y quién dirige los equipos, y cómo unirse (tan simple como enviar un correo electrónico).

2. Organización de la estructura/flujo de trabajo del equipo (comunicación sincronizada y asincrónica)

Como se ve en la invitación, hay pequeños grupos/sub-grupos de trabajo dentro del Grupo de trabajo del SotM para una coordinación más organizada.

Claves:

1. Coordinación: Creación de sub-equipos y sub-grupos de trabajo, incluyendo alguna forma de tener comunicación asincrónica (coordinación sin reuniones) para aquellos que no pueden asistir a las reuniones en vivo.

2. Toma de decisiones: Llegamos a decisiones mediante la construcción de un consenso grupal, lo que ha fomentado una participación más activa de los voluntarios.

3. Formato de la conferencia (3 días, en línea)

El SotM 2021 sigue un formato de 3 días como un evento físico.

Contras: No recomiendo el formato de 3 días consecutivos ya que es demasiado exigente para el equipo organizador (para un evento online).

Recomendación: Lo que realmente recomiendo es el formato virtual de 3 días de Pista ng Mapa 2020, quienes organizaron la conferencia de 3 días durante 3 viernes en noviembre de 2020. Permitiendo que el equipo organizador se recargue para el siguiente día de la conferencia (¡durante una semana!). #avisodesvergonzado ¡La convocatoria de propuestas para el Pista ng Mapa 2021 ya está abierta!

4. Plataformas de conferencias: Venueless y BBB

Pros:

1. La interfaz de la plataforma de conferencias, Venueless, es simple y fácil de usar. Parece algo floja con los videos. 2.El número de canales o salas es mínimo y suficiente para que los participantes se familiaricen.
2. Los videos permiten el modo ligero/solo escuchar.
3. Algunos participantes han informado que escuchan simultáneamente tanto las charlas en el escenario principal como los talleres y paneles.

Contras:

1. Para los participantes con un ancho de banda muy bajo, las BBB (sesiones en vivo) generalmente fallan.
2. Si eres un organizador que quiere una plataforma todo en 1, es posible que Venueless no sea lo indicado, ya que necesitarás un servicio separado para la gestión de contenido (SotM 2021 usó Pretalx), gestión de tickets (Pretaix) e interpretación (Mumble).

Recomendación: deberíamos haber probado la plataforma con los conferencistas para que estén familiarizados y evitar confusiones durante la conferencia.

5. Aumentar la accesibilidad garantizando un espacio seguro

a. Interpretación y subtitulado de idiomas en vivo

El equipo organizador de SotM 2021 realizó experimentalmente interpretación y subtítulos en vivo.

El lado tecnológico es simple, los intérpretes y los oyentes se conectan al servidor HOT en Mumble. Van al canal del idioma de su elección. Los intérpretes ven la transmisión en vivo y simultáneamente brindan interpretaciones en vivo en el canal, siendo los únicos que pueden hablar en el canal.

Preparación

• SotM abrió convocatoria de intérpretes voluntarios en la comunidad.
• Recibimos algunos, pero solo la mitad de los que se ofrecieron como voluntarios realmente lo hicieron.
• Solo se ofrecieron interpretaciones en vivo de las charlas pregrabadas. Los intérpretes recibieron un enlace de acceso a las charlas pregrabadas para que pudieran tomar notas/preparar su interpretación.
• Probamos Mumble con los intérpretes voluntarios.
• Se publicó un calendario de interpretación en la wiki de OSM con una guía sobre el uso de mumble para los oyentes/audiencia.

Durante el evento

• Les pedimos a los intérpretes que se graben para que sus contribuciones no se pierdan y podamos luego agregar subtítulos de audio o texto a las charlas de la conferencia.
• El equipo de comunicaciones promovió activamente el horario de interpretación (en la plataforma de la conferencia y en Twitter para llegar a quienes no tenían tickets).
• Me di cuenta de que solo el canal ruso tenía oyentes (el canal más popular).
• Los administradores de soporte de Mumble se aseguraron de que los intérpretes grabaran sus charlas y estuvieran atentos en caso de surgir preguntas de los oyentes/oradores sobre Mumble.

Luego

• Compartimos un enlace con los intérpretes donde puedan cargar su audio grabado.
• La traducción a diversos idiomas y el subtitulado todavía está en proceso :)

Claves:

1. Mumble permite ver si hay oyentes, y encontramos que la oferta fue mayor que la demanda. Nos centramos más en conseguir traductores voluntarios (oferta) que en evaluar qué idioma preferían los participantes (demanda).
2. Deberíamos haber promocionado más esta función antes de la conferencia.

b. Cumplimiento del Código de Conducta

Se redactó un Código de Conducta (CoC) SotM 2021. Nos aseguramos de que sea visible ahora que permitimos más interacciones entre los participantes. Creo que confiamos más en la moderación pasiva/basada en informes.

Recomendación: Lo que recomendaría para que se aplique estrictamente el CoC es tener una moderación activa con una persona CoC para cada sala/canal. La sala posterior a la charla tuvo mucho tráfico, pero no estaba segura de si había una persona CoC en la sala. Sin embargo, no recibimos ningún informe.

6. Estrategia de comunicaciones antes/durante/después del SotM 2021

Antes

• Publicar activamente en TODOS los canales de la comunidad, redes sociales, listas de correo.
• Actualizaciones al menos una vez a la semana durante el último mes antes del evento para generar expectativa y entusiasmo.
• Fuimos invitados a hablar en un podcast para conversar sobre el evento
• Hubo un diseñador visual/de afiches designado y un comunicador/promotor de textos.

Durante el evento

• El Grupo de trabajo de Comunicación tuvo acceso a la cuenta de Twitter a través de Tweetdeck.
• ¡Tweetdeck es genial! ¡aprovechamos el programador de tuits!

En Twitter (Programación de tuits):

1. Para charlas con interpretación en vivo: programar un tuit 10 minutos antes de que comience la sesión.
2. Por sesión, programar un tuit 30 minutos antes del inicio de la sesión.
3. Programar un tuit al momento de la pausa de la sesión y con la hora a la que volveremos.
4. En la plataforma de conferencias, enviar un mensaje en el chat Talks y en el chat global basado en texto, cuando:

• Hay una próxima sesión con interpretación en vivo
• Hay una próxima sesión de panel de discusión (canal de Talleres y Paneles + hora)
• Hay una próxima sesión informal (BoF) (y en qué canal + hora) + promocionar que aún pueden inscribirse en el BoF.

Luego

• Publicar activamente en TODOS los canales de la comunidad, redes sociales, listas de correo.

7. Comentarios y posconferencia

En lugar de un formulario de encuesta, SotM tiene la costumbre de documentar los comentarios mediante la wiki de OSM. Creamos una página de comentarios con un enlace a un pad para comentarios y enlaces para publicaciones de blog posteriores a la conferencia.

Clave: La wiki de OSM permite un informe de retroalimentación colaborativo.

FIN

¡Saludos a los increíbles voluntarios de SotM 2021 (ver hilo de Twitter)!

Si tienes comentarios sobre la conferencia, agrégalos a la página Wikipage de comentarios sobre la conferencia.

Si fuiste voluntario durante el evento, ¡no dudes en agregar tus aprendizajes y conclusiones también! ¡Gracias! :)

Nota: Esta traducción al español es posible gracias a Cyberjuan, ¡gracias! Puedes leer la versión en inglés aquí. (Note: This translation to Spanish is made possible by Cyberjuan, thank you! You can read the English version here).

Note: This post has been translated and available in Spanish! Thanks to Cyberjuan! (Nota: Este post ha sido traducido y disponible en español! ¡Gracias a Cyberjuan!)

At State of the Map 2018, I was lucky to be selected as one of the conference scholars (my reflections here). This year, I took the chance to be part of the SotM 2021 WG to organize SotM 2021 online conference.

I mainly worked in the Communications team. I am sharing in this diary my experience and learnings as an organizer as this might help organizers in planning their online events, among others.

Long post ahead!

1. Recruiting volunteers for SotM WG (view Call for Volunteers invitation via mailing list)

Because of the pandemic, SotM became online. Since there is no community bidding involved, SotM Chairperson invited OSM community members to join the SotM WG. She promoted this via the mailing list, and was shared by community members via social media and other community channels.

Takeaway: Clearly lay out structure of the WG (sub-wg/sub-teams), its functions and who’s leading the teams, and how to join (as simple as sending an email).

2. Organizing team structure / workflow (sync and async communication)

As seen in the invitation, there were small groups/sub-wg’s within the SotM WG for a more organized coordination.

Takeaways:

1. Coordination: Creation of sub-teams and sub-wgs, with a way to have asynchronous communication (no-meeting required coordination) for those who could not make it to the live meetings

2. Decision-making: We arrived at decisions by building a group consensus - this have encourage more active participation from the volunteers

3. Conference Format (3 days, online)

SotM 2021 followed a 3day-format just like a physical event.

Cons: I don’t recommend the 3 consecutive days format as this is too exhaustive in the part of the organizing team (for an online event).

Recommendation: What I really commend is the 3day-format of Pista ng Mapa 2020 online, they hosted the 3days conference for 3 Fridays in November 2020. Allowing the organizing team to recharge for the next day of the conference (for a week!). #shamelessplug Pista ng Mapa 2021 Call for Proposals is now open!

4. Conference Platforms - Venueless & BBB

Pros:

1. Conference platform’s interface, Venueless, is simple and user friendly. It looks like slack with videos.
2. The number of channels or rooms were minimal and just enough for participants to be familiar.
3. Videos allowed lite/listen only mode
4. Some participants had reported that they simultaneously listen to both Talks in the main stage and workshops&panels.

Cons:

1. For very low bandwidth participants, BBB (live sessions) usually crashed.
2. If you’re an organizer who want an all-in-1 platform, Venueless might not be right for you since you will need separate service for content management (SotM 2021 used pretalx), ticket management (pretaix), and translations (Mumble).

Recommendation: We should’ve hosted testing sessions about the platform with speakers so they can familiarize themselves and to avoid confusion during the conference

5. Increasing accessibility while ensuring a safe space

a. Live language translations and subtitling

SotM 2021 organizing team had an experiment on live language translations and subtitling.

The tech side is simple, translators and listeners connect to the HOT Server in Mumble. Go to the language channel of their choosing. Translators watch the livestream and simultaneously provide live interpretations in the channel, they are the only ones who can speak in the channel.

Preparation

• SotM opened call for volunteer translators in the community
• we received a couple, but only half of those who volunteered actually made it
• Only pre-recored talks were offered live translations. Translators were given access link to the precorded talks so they can make notes/prepare their translation
• we tested Mumble with the volunteer translators
• there is a translation schedule in the osm wiki with guide on using mumble for listeners/audience

During

• We asked the Translators to record themselves so their contributions won’t be lost and we can add an audio translation or text subtitle to the talks later for the conference
• Comms team actively promoted the translation schedule (in the conference platform and twitter to reach those who did not have tickets)
• I noticed that only the Russian channel had listeners (most popular channel)
• Mumble support admins made sure translators record their talks, and were on lookout/helpdesk in case there are questions from listeners/speakers regarding the use of Mumble

After

• we shared a link to translators where they can upload their recorded audio
• language translation and subtitling still a work in progress :)

Takeaways:

1. Mumble allowed us to see if there are listeners - offer is higher than the demand. We focused more on getting volunteer translators (offer) than assessing which language are most preferred by the participants
2. We should’ve promoted this feature more before the conference

b. Enforcement of Code of Conduct

There is a SotM 2021 Code of Conduct. We made sure that this is in place now that we allow more interactions within participants. I believe we relied more on passive / report-based moderation.

Recommendation: What I would recommend for CoC to be strictly enforced is to have an active moderation where there is a CoC person for each room/channel. The Post-talk room had very high traffic but I wasn’t sure if there’s a CoC person in the room. We did not receive any reports though.

6. Comms strategy before/during/after SotM 2021

Before

• actively posting in ALL community channels, social media, mailing list
• Provided updates at least once a week for the last month before the event to build momentum and excitement
• we were invited to speak for a podcast to discuss about the event
• There was a designated visual /poster designer, and written communicator /promoter

During

• Comms wg have access in the twitter account via tweetdeck
• Tweetdeck is great! we took advantage of the tweet scheduler!

On twitter (Schedule tweets):

1. for talks with live translation: schedule a tweet 10mins before the session start
2. per session, schedule a tweet 30mins before the session start
3. Schedule a Tweet at the time of the session break and what time we will be back
4. In the conference platform, send a message in Talks chat and global text-based chat, when:

• there is an upcoming session with live translations
• there is an upcoming panel discussion session (Workshops & Panels channel + time)
• there is an upcoming BoF session (and what channel + time) + promote that they can still sign up for a BoF

After

• active posting in ALL community channels, social media, mailing list

7. Feedback and post-conference

Rather than a survey form, SotM has the habit of documenting feedback through the osm wiki. We set up a feedback page with link to a pad for feedback, and links for post-conference blogposts.

Takeaway: OSM Wiki allows for a collaborative feedback-reporting

END

Shoutout to the amazing volunteers of SotM 2021 (see Twitter thread)!

If you have feedback on the conference, please add them to the Conference Feedback Wikipage.

If you were a volunteer during the event, please feel free to share your learnings and takeaways too! Thanks! :)

Note: This post has been translated and available in Spanish! Thanks to Cyberjuan! (Nota: Este post ha sido traducido y disponible en español! ¡Gracias a Cyberjuan!)

See Part 1/n here.

We are happy to share the draft OSM Philippines’ Code of Conduct (CoC) made for and written by the OSM Philippines community members. It is now available for review and comments!

Based from the response on the Miro Board Workshop during Pista ng Mapa 2020, we categorized the “Expected Behavior” into four:

1. Be Respectful
2. Be open and constructively critical
3. Be Inclusive
4. Put the community first, but still prioritize our health

Other topics and questions that we want to consult with the OSM PH community stands: - What should be the consequences of violating the OSM PH CoC? - How do we approve the CoC? - How do we ensure that it is enforced? (One thing that comes to mind is to have an open feedback mechanism/form for members to express criticisms or report violation which should be managed by a committed group of people) - And many more…

The OSM PH CoC is one of the agenda for tomorrow’s 2021 OSM PH Annual Planning Meeting. We hope you can join us! If not, please feel free to comment on the draft. :)

Also, please message me for the google calendar invite for tomorrow’s planning meeting.

Join the OSM LoCos Telegram Channel and subscribe to the talk-ph mailing list for more updates and info!

Maraming salamat/Thank you!

I would like to share a previous talk and an experience to relate WHY women are pushing for a safe and inclusive space in OSM, as well as a strong and enforceable Code of Conduct (CoC).

We all love maps right? Ok, here is a map for you showing two (2) routes.

Imagine this scenario: It’s late at night and you’re walking home from point A point B. I would like to ask you, which route will you choose?

Is it Route 1 - a sidewalk outside a University Campus, along the road, with no lamp posts along the way, straight forward, and is a shorter walk

Or Route 2 - a footway inside the University Campus, with lamp posts along the way, have a bit of left and right turns, and is a bit longer compared to Route 1

To provide you mental images (actual pictures of the routes):

My (actual) experience:

This happened at night, I was with two male friends (2 of my favorite people!). We came from the mall (point A), and we decided to walk going to the place where we will depart from each other (point B). Friend 1 suggested we take the CP Garcia sidewalk (Route 1), while I suggested we take the footway (Route 2). We argued for a bit, Friend 1’s reasoning was that Route 1 is shorter and is more efficient to take. But I told them that it will be safer for us to take Route 2. Friend 1 wanted to argue more but we resorted to asking the Friend 2, he agreed to take my route (Route 2) if it makes me feel safe.

So which route did you choose?

Three points I want to raise:

1. Depending on our priorities and experiences, we all have different motivations in choosing our own path. And it’s like apples and oranges, we cannot compare. What is important to you might not be important for me. Nonetheless, not one is more important than the other.

2. The “sense of security” or “being safe” doesn’t leave women’s top priorities. Patriarchy, toxicity, misogyny, sexism - who suffers most because of these? Yesterday, Celine sent the A Call to Take Action and Confront Systemic Offensive Behaviour in the OSM Community to the talk and osmf-talk mailing list and Heather also shared it on a diary post. The replies are overwhelming! And the top and most responses (along with other threads/posts about different topics) confirmed the dominant voice / contributor in OSM: white, Western and male.

3. As volunteers/contributors in OSM, we are sharing the same landscape. Do we really welcome diversity and inclusion?

Let us reflect, as individuals and as an OSM community with one goal - to make the best map of the world, which path do we choose to take?

Thank you for your patience! :)

For this year’s Pista Ng Mapa (PnM), or Festival of Maps, Geoladies PH with the Ministry of Mapping (MoM) led a workshop on co-creating a Code of Conduct (CoC) for OpenStreetMap Philippines (OSM PH).

The Workshop aimed to gather and engage local community members of OSM and/or other open geospatial communities in the Philippines in co-creating a safe space for learning and collaborating, and the OSM PH CoC.

Background/Why form CoC?

Geoladies PH advocates for community diversity, collaborative participation, and affirmative spaces especially for women and under-represented communities in OSM and the local geospatial community/field. To achieve this, we believe that we should have a strong and enforceable guidelines or Code of Conduct in place; and we noticed that OSM PH or the local mapping community doesn’t have one yet. We were inspired by the MoM’s Code of Conduct and Kindness #Caretography and PnM’s Code of Conduct, as well as the works of GeochicasOSM, specifically @mapeadora’s talk/workshop at State of the Map 2018.

Initially, we applied for a 2-day or 2-sessions workshop, but there were lots of amazing talks and workshops. We were accepted for a 1-day workshop and were able to conduct Session 1; thank you Pista Ng Mapa for the opportunity!

Session 1 (during Pista Ng Mapa 2020): Building an inclusive/collaborative space for the OSM PH Community

In this session, we brainstormed on how to have a safe space for learning and collaboration in the OSM PH local community, either it be online or physical, through a participatory workshop using Miro and/or Google forms.

The Program was divided in three (3) parts:

A. 7 minute pre-recorded talk/presentation from Leigh (Feminist 101) and Hannah (Caretography)

B. 20 minutes interactive workshop via Miro with Cham

(Amazing Miro board created by Cham!)

A google form of the Workshop is available for those who wish to be anonymous/had difficulties in accessing the Miro board, and/or those who want to give additional inputs after the workshop.

(Numbers 1-2 quick are warm up questions)

1. Maligayang pagdating (Warm welcome!) - We asked the participants to introduce themselves by uploading a photo/drawing their picture, write their aliases/name, and to greet fellow participants. Participants made their own tourist pass.

2. Taga-saan ka? (Where are you from?) - Participants were asked to drop pins of their location. One participant dropped a pin in the ocean, and one even drew their country (outside of the Philippines) :D

3. Brgy. Paborito (Barangay Favorite) - We asked the participates to think of their favorite place/space; what emotions do they associate with it; and why is it their favorite? Participants filled up a ‘boarding pass’ sharing their favorite place, why it is their favorite, and added an emoji relating to how they feel about it. Some of our favorites are our college universities, and the natural beaches and mountains of the country!

4. Publico Park (Public Park) - Now, think of a (public) place/space where people gather together to collaborate and learn. What do you think are the characteristics of that (public) place that makes it conducive for learning/collaboration? Participants filled up a thought bubble sharing a public place they like, its characteristics, and images/screenshots of the place. Most of the answers are (still) parks and spaces in our college universities; some answered were cafes and a restobar. ヽ(°〇°)ﾉ

5. Virtual Place - Situate that place/space into a virtual space, what characteristics should it have? Participants filled up a postcard/s to share how they wish a virtual community for collaboration and learning should be. Read the postcards, heart-warming :)

6. Lego building - What do you think we must do, we shall start/stop to do to create a space for learning and collaboration? Participants wrote down action points we can do to build a space that is safe and conducive for learning and collaboration on the Lego pieces. We asked the to complete the sentences: I will __, We should start __, We should stop __.

C. Synthesis and discussion with MapmakerDavid

Because of overtime, we needed to wrap up quickly. MapmakerDavid gave a brief but meaningful discussion on why we need a Code of Conduct, and to shift our attention from expertise to community.

Non-verbatim: Basically I would like to propose, especially for those who get used to the system of toxic masculine culture in the Philippines, to decenter cartographic privilege. It means that we need to shift our attention from expertise to community; and for us to focus not just on the technical aspects of mapping, but see mapping as both social and technical. I believe that and the literature/researchers backs it… our knowledge and experiences are not just defined by what is in the wiki or the GIS layers… and this means that we need to improve our way of relating to each other, and we can do that by highlighting and foregrounding our interests, the power that we try to promote, desires, and purpose why we do this…Open the space for everyone to contribute, for everyone to have control over multiple sources and process..

He goes on to share this slide and highlighted that Filipinos, unlike other nationals who are more task-oriented, focus first on good relationships and team dynamics. “Out of that good relationships are high quality maps.”

“Our islands and who we are… are part of a web of relationships… it takes good relationships to navigate a great ocean.”

Next steps / Session 2: CoC drafting/commenting (with inputs from Session 1)

Session 2 or the crafting of the OSM PH CoC which encompasses all online channels and activities relating to OSM PH, is still in process. The outputs from Session 1 will be inputs for the OSM PH CoC.

If you wish to be updated, send feedback and get involved in drafting the CoC for OSM PH, please subscribe to the talk-ph mailing list. We will update and share through the mailing list and other OSM PH channels once the CoC draft is available.

We chose to use the talk-ph mailing list channel since not everyone is on the OSM LoCos telegram chat, and because e-mail is the most used channel for communication.

Other topics and questions that we want to consult with the OSM PH community are: - What should be the consequences of violating the OSM PH CoC? - How do we approve the CoC? - How do we ensure that it is enforced? (One thing that comes to mind is to have an open feedback mechanism/form for members to express criticisms or report violation which should be managed by a committed group of people) - And many more…

With the CoC at place for OSM PH, we hope to abolish patriarchy and/or “rock stars” in our local geospatial community. It’s about time to create and ensure safe and inclusive space for collaboration in the OSM landscape.

PS. Here’s another Miro board (Wall of Places) made by Cham! We used this board as practice to have participants explore Miro and familiarize themselves with the board before the workshop proper :)

My entry… lol

In October 2016, I became part of Project NOAH’s ISAIAH (Integrated Scenario Assessment of Impacts And Hazards) that aims to map 17 provinces in the Philippines through OpenStreetMap (OSM). I was part of a team of seven (7) people who trained Local Government Units (LGUs) in the northwestern part of the country. It was a roller coaster ride for us as we experienced both unwelcoming and accepting remarks from the LGUs. Nonetheless, it was a fulfilling journey. The six (6) people I worked with have become close to my heart, we call ourselves the “dream team” at that time.

LGU Ilocos Norte with the “dream team.” We’re the ones sitting on the floor (photo from Feye Andal @feyeandal)

In ISAIAH, we mainly use Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team’s (HOT) Tasking Manager to organize mapping efforts and avoid duplication of data. Aside from training people, we also helped complete the building footprints of the provinces. We had a weekly report of percent completion of the tasks and “top mappers of the week.” I was always happy every time I saw my OSM username in the list.

It was heartbreaking when Project NOAH ISAIAH ended in February 2017. I had to leave the team and move on to another job.

In March 2017, I joined the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and in the succeeding year in 2018, we first conducted “MAPAbabae: OSM Workshop and Mapathon with Women and for Women”. Up until this year, we were able to conduct MAPAbabae during the Women’s Month (March). It is a beloved project for me, as inspired by Maning Sambale’s GeoLadies Meetup: How can We Change the Ratio in 2014. Along with five (5) other Filipina, we have decided to form the group, GeoLadiesPH, during Pista ng Mapa in August 2019.

Photo from Erwin Olario @GOwin

Other than that, one of the most significant things that happened to me in 2018 was attending the State of the Map in Milan, Italy (I was granted a scholarship :). I’ve met lots of amazing people including HOT people (and fellow scholars) like Geoffrey, Wulan, and Rebecca, and learned more about the Organization (I only knew HOT because of the Tasking Manager). You can read about my experiences in my OSM diary.

What I didn’t mention in the diary was what happened off-conference. I will not write it in detail, but it was in Milan where I first met my mapper and it was on the next month after SotM 2018, during FOSS4G 2018 and HOT Summit, when I knew he’s my mapper. You can find Russell and me beside each other in the HOT Summit 2018 group pic, along with other OhSoMe people.

Photo from HOT

This year 2020, I became a HOT Voting member. It became an interest for me to join HOT because I find that humanitarian mapping helps communities and governments to be prepared and to respond to disasters, among others (just like Project NOAH).

I am pleased to join an organization that not only cares about (and builds) the data, but also cares for the data users and data-makers, and builds communities on and off the map. This year also marks a decade of love through open mapping.

Happy 10th Anniversary, Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team! Thank you for building communities (and families too! Haha)!

PS. I haven’t watched How I Met Your Mother, but this is just a short story (and the beginning) of How I Met My Mapper.

PS2. Thanks to Iyan & mapmakerdavid for giving me the title idea! hahaha

PS3. I wanted to post this on the exact day of HOT’s birthday but I couldn’t find it so posting it today, August 19, 2020, since it is also #WorldHumanitarianDay! Thanks to my husband, the truth-finder, who helped me find out and suggested today. Love ya! Haha

PS4. ‪Post-reflection: It should be How I Met (My) Mappers hehe. Mostly about my humanitarian mapping journey (from NOAH to being a mamapper) and the people who inspired me. It’s your day too, humanitarian mappers! Have an amazing day! 🤗 🗺 💗

Last March, DSWD-ICTMS conducted a mapping workshop called MAPAbabae, a fusion of mapa (map) and babae (woman), to celebrate the Women’s Month.

Starting October 2018, we are having a series of mapathons entitled: MAPAbabae II: Mapping Violence Against Women and their Children (VAWC) Desks and Centers. It aims to create a VAWC Desks and Centers Information Map which will be made accessible and available to everyone, to be launched during the 2018 18-Day Campaign to End VAW on November 25 to December 12, 2018. Through the Map, we want to raise public awareness that these facilities exist and they can always call for help.

VAW-free community starts with me! is the official theme for the 2016-2021 Campaign to End VAW. We encourage everyone’s participation in this mapping activity.

The first mapathon for MAPAbabae II was done on October 25, 2018 at the DSWD Central Office Boardroom, and attended by DSWD employees and IACVAWC representatives. We have mapped 74/82 Department of Health-Women and Children Protection Units (DOH-WCPU).

Mapping VAWC desks and centers with DSWD and IACVAWC representatives!

We had an extended mapathon through MapaTime! last Saturday, October 27 at Co.lab Pasig City. MapaTime! is an activity initiated by MapAmore Initiative, and happened every last Saturday of the month. We thank GeoLadies and Erwin of MapAmore for facilitating the event, volunteer mappers and lightning talks presenters, as well as PRC-VCAD for the venue! Through MapaTime!, we have mapped 122 VAWC facilities.

MapaTime! presents MAPAbabaeII attendees pose for a #VAWfreePH. More photos here and Lightning Talks presentations.

Help us map VAWC facilities through MapContrib! Kindly read the instructions carefully. If you have any questions, you can message here or on telegram (@arnaliee). Thank you!

Map for a #VAWfreePH!

Edit: We had a mini-mapathon last November 7-9 at Chalet Hotel, Baguio City. This was an extra activity during the our GIS Training with DSWD FO CAR. We have mapped a total of 56 facilities in CAR.

Ang Agosto ay Buwan ng Wikang Filipino sa Pilipinas. Kaya naman ang OSM Diary na ito ay isinulat ko sa aking lokal na wika. Ang Ingles na bersyon ay mababasa dito.

Noong nakaraang taon, namangha ako sa konsepto ng “inclusive mobility o inklusibong pagkilos” at nagsimulang gawin itong adbokasiya. Para sa akin, ang inklusibong pagkilos ay isang kalagayan kung saan lahat ay malayang nakakakilos saan man sa mundo at nakakagamit ng anumang uri ng transportasyon, at lahat ng kalye at tulay ay nadaraanan

Nakakahangang makita at maranasan ang mga kalsada sa Milan. Naniniwala akong naabot na nila ang estado ng inklusibong pagkilos kung saan lahat ng sasakyan at ang mga pedestriyan ay naisasaalang-alang sa proseso ng pagpaplano.

Pagpunta sa SotM 2018 sa Politecnico di Milano…

Ngayong taon, ang SotM ay ginanap sa Politecnico di Milano. Maraming paraan upang makapunta dito. Gamit ang maps.me, nagmumungkahi ito na maaring sumakay ng kotse, maglakad, gumamit ng bisikleta (maraming bike-share programs sa Milan ngunit hindi ko ito nasubukan :() o sumakay ng tren (ang mungkahi ay paggamit lang ng subway at hindi ng tram). Sa unang araw ng SotM 2018, nahuli ako ng gising kaya walang akong kasabay papunta. Nabigyan naman ako ng instruksiyon ng aking mga kasama kung paano makarating doon (Salamat Geoffrey at Tima!). Sumakay ako ng subway mula Republicca patungong Piola. Pagbaba sa Piola, naglakad ako ng halos 40minuto dahil mali ang lokasyong na-pin ko sa mapa. Alam kong naliligaw na ako kaya nagtanong na lang ako sa isa sa mga nakasalubong at nakarating rin sa Politecnico.

Hindi ko na naabutan ang unang bahagi ng SotM Day 1. Buti na lang at nairekord ang buong aktibidad at nailagay sa Youtube.

Pagsasama-sama (ingklusibiti), pagkakaiba-iba (daybersiti), at pangangatawan (representasyon)…

Bago ko to sinulat, pinanood ko muna ang Unang Pagsasalita nila Kate at Heather. Ibinahagi ni Heather ang limang sangkap ng pagiging “open” o bukas na organisasyon/komunidad na tinalakay ng OpenOrg. Isa dito ang inclusivity o pagsasama-sama na binigyang diin niyang isa sa mga mahirap na parte ng pagiging bukas na organisasyon.

Ang ingklusibiti o pagsasama-sama ay nangangahulugan na ang lahat ng tao, anuman ang kasarian, lahi, relihiyon, estado sa buhay, etc, ay kasakop at naikokonsidera. Relatibo dito ang konsepto ng pagkakaiba (daybersiti) at pangangatawan (representasyon). Kailangan ng pagkakaiba-iba o daybersiti sa mga taga-mapa sapagkat bawat isa ay mayroong iba’t-ibang perspektibo, pagpapahalaga at paniniwala. Ang mga perspektibo, pagpapahalaga at paniniwala ay kumakatawan o nagrerepresenta sa sektor kung saan sila kabilang.

Sa pamamagitan ng OSM, tayo ay konektado at nabubuklod ng isang bisyon na malayang paggawa at pag-eedit na mapa ng mundo. Ito ang ating shared landscape o lupaing pinagsasamahan.

Kaya natin hinihikayat ang pagkakaiba-iba at pagsasama-sama upang matiyak na lahat ay may representasyon at makikita sa mapa.

Kaya naman para sa akin, ang pagsasama-sama o ingklusibiti sa OSM ay kung saan lahat, saan man sa mundo, ay malaya at maunlad na nagmamapa.

Pagsasama-sama sa SotM 2018

Naniniwala akong mahusay ang pag-organisa upang gawing inklusibo ang kagaganap lang na SotM2018. Narito ang ilang sa mga obserbasyon at kwento ko ukol sa ingklusibong SotM 2018:

1. Mula sa 56 na bansa ang mga lumahok. Ito’y higit pa sa ¼ ng lahat ng bansa sa mundo!
2. Nagkaroon ng livestreaming ang mga sesyon para sa mga hindi nakapunta, ito ay nailagay rin sa Youtube pagkatapos
3. Ang edad ng mga lumahok ay mula bata (nakilala ko si Austin na 18 taong gulang at may nakita rin akong bata na mga nasa eda 9-12 taong gulang) hanggang sa mga matatanda!
4. Napakalaki rin ang nasaklaw ng mga presentasyon at talakayan ukol sa konsepto ng pagsasama-sama/ingklusibiti (sa tingin ko’y lahat naman ay may kinalaman at nahikayat ang pagiging inklusibo). Ito ay ilan lamang sa mga pangkalahatang paksa na aking narinig: * Pagkakaiba-iba ng kasarian: Open Gender Monologues by Heather Leson (OSM) and The road towards diversity in OSM still needs to be mapped by Celine Jacquin (Geochicas) * Iba’t-ibang kakayahan ng mga tao: mga may kapansanan, mga batang taga-mapa o youthmappers, mga nalipat/tumakas na komunidad, at mga mahihirap * Pag-iinterpoleyt ng numero ng mga tirahan * Mga diskusyon ukol sa inklusibong pagkilos! (Napakarami nito at marami rin dito ay hindi ko napuntahan ☹ ) * Mga gamit at pamamaraan sa pagmamapa para sa lahat! * Iba’t-ibang interpretasyon ng mga imahe at datos ng OSM mula sa iba’t-ibang lente/sektor! * OSM para sa pangangalaga ng kalikasan! * Academic tracks o mga akademikong pananaliksik ay naisama rin!
5. Isa ako sa mga nabigyan ng Iskolarship ng OSM Foundation. Pantay ang bilang ng lalaki at babaeng nabigyan ng iskolarship mula sa iba’t-ibang bansa! Kudos sa OSMF sa pagbibigay ng pantay na oportunidad!
6. Nakakalugod rin ang paghihikayat na magsulat ng OSM diary gamit ang sariling lenggwahe. Woohoo!

Pasasalamat…

Nais kong pasalamatan at batiin ang OSM Foundation (higit kila Rob at Dorothea), Wikimedia Italya at iba pang mga nagtaguyod, mga boluntaryo (Polimappers), mga nagbigay pinansyal, mga tagapagsalita, taga-pasilidad at mga nanalo ng OSM Award pati na ang iba’t ibang organisasyon at lokal na komunidad ng OSM at lahat ng dumalo ng SotM 2018. Ang aktibidad at karanasang ito ay hindi magiging matagumpay at kaaya-aya kung hindi dahil sa inyo.

Mabuhay ang OSM at malayang pagmamapa para sa lahat!

---

PS. Mayroon akong naisulat sa Twitter ukol sa mga bagay na napamahal/nagustuhan ko sa Milan.

Narito rin ang ilang mga litrato ng mga presentasyon at mga nakasama sa Milan.

Maraming salamat sa pagbabasa! :)

August is the Philippines’ National Language Month. So I took the time to translate this diary in my local language, Filipino/Tagalog, which can be found here. _________________

Late last year I’ve been fascinated with the concept of and started advocating about “inclusive mobility.” For me, inclusive mobility refers to a state where everyone and everybody are free to move everywhere and have access to all modes of transit, and all roads and bridges are passable.

It was amazing to see and experience the streets of Milan. I believe they have reached the state of inclusive mobility where both automobiles and differently-abled pedestrians have been taken into consideration in the transport planning process.

Getting to SotM 2018 at Politecnico di Milano…

For this year, SotM was hosted at the Politecnico di Milano. There are a lots of ways to reach the venue. maps.me suggests either by car, walking, cycling (bike share programs are available in Milan but I wasn’t able to try it :( ) or train (but no tram?). In the first day of the conference, I traveled alone because I woke up late and I didn’t want my mates to wait. But they instructed me how to go there (thank you Geoffrey and Tima!). I opted to take the subway from Republicca to Milano Centrale to Piola. At Piola, I found myself walking towards the wrong pin location and walking around the area for 40 minutes under the heat of the sun! I was so lost that I decided to ask a stranger to point me in the right direction (thank you!).

So yeah, I missed 1/4 of SotM Day 1. But good thing there are recorded videos of the whole conference which can be found in Youtube.

Inclusivity, diversity and representation…

Before writing this diary, I watched the keynote address by Kate and Heather which I missed. Heather discussed the 5 components/values of being an “open” organization/community by OpenOrg. One (1) of it is inclusivity, which she stressed to be one of the hardest part.

Inclusivity means that we cover or include all regardless of gender, race, age, religion, income status, etc. This brings us to the topic of diversity and representation. We need diversity of mappers because each of these sectors have different perspectives, values and beliefs. These perspectives, values, and beliefs are representations of the sector they belong to.

Through OSM, we are connected and bound by the same vision which is to create a free and editable map of the world. It is our shared landscape.

This is why we promote diversity, include and encourage the youth and the young at heart, etc, to make sure everyone is well-represented and visible on the map.

So for me, inclusivity in OSM is where everyone and everybody from all parts of the world are free and empowered to map.

Inclusivity at SotM 2018

I believe the SotM2018 organizers had put their best effort in making the conference an “inclusive” one. Here are some of my observations and stories regarding inclusivity at SotM 2018:

1. Participants came from 56 countries, that’s more than a fourth of all the countries in the world!
2. SotM organizers livestreamed the event for those who couldn’t come personally; and uploaded the videos on Youtube afterwards
3. Participants’ age range varied! I met Austin, who is 18 years old (I hope Heather was able to meet him too!), I also saw a young kid, maybe around 9-12 years old!
4. A wide range of talks and panel discussions presented the concept of inclusivity (I believe all talks have somehow touched the subject of and promoted the concept of inclusivity) Here are some of the general topics: * Gender diversity: Open Gender Monologues by Heather Leson (OSM) and The road towards diversity in OSM still needs to be mapped by Celine Jacquin (Geochicas) must be noted * Differently-abled persons: persons with disabilities, youthmappers, displaced communities, and low income setors * Interpolating number addresses * Talks on inclusive mobility! (There were many talks on transportation that I wasn’t able to attend ☹ ) * Mapping tools and techniques for everyone! * Interpretations of OSM imagery and data for all ages, sectors and background! * OSM for Environmental Protection! Even trash should be visible in the map! * Academic tracks were included at SotM 2018! I find this very interesting especially as someone who is still a student in the uni. Lol
5. I was part of the Scholarship program and we have a 50:50 men to women ratio, and came from different regions of the world. Kudos to OSMF for giving equal opportunities!
6. It is also great that we’re encouraged to write OSM diaries in our own languages!

A word of thanks…

I would like to express my deep gratitude and congratulations to the OSM Foundation (especially to Rob and Dorothea), Wikimedia Italya and other organizers, volunteers (Polimappers!), sponsors, speakers, facilitators and awardess, as well as the different OSM organizations and local communities and all the participants of SotM 2018. This conference would have not been great and successful if not for you.

More powers to OSM and open data/mapping!

___________________________

PS. I posted a thread on twitter on the things I love most about Milan.

Here are some photos of the talks.

And photos of the wonderful people whom I met in Milan.

Thanks for reading! :)

The workshop: Orientation and Consultation on Geographic Information System (GIS) and its Applicability to Social Welfare and Development of the DSWD GIS Unit was conducted on July 18-20, 2018 in Quezon City. It was attended by the Planning Officers and Technical Staff from the Central Office, Field Offices and Attached Agencies of the Department.

The program consisted of several talks from various resource speakers of different sectors (academe, social/community development, environment, Indigenous Peoples, disaster response, and private sector).

Being one of the main sources of free spatial data, OpenStreetMap was briefly presented by OSM mapper advocate, Ms. Jen Ayco (@jenjereren). She encouraged the participants to sign up for an account to increase visibility of each of their communities, and raise diversity (gender, ethnicity, PWD’s) on the map. Surprisingly, few participants were already mapping volunteers of OSM! :)

During the afternoon break, I found myself surrounded with the three women mappers/resource speakers we invited. They’ve shared experiences in the field of GIS and discussed the importance of an integrated and free geographic data source in the country. There is an existing one though, PhilGIS.org, but still needs to be populated and updated.

Ms. Kail’s remark on this topic was something to ponder about: “No one owns spatial data. Nobody can have copyrights on your location.”

Maybe the act of gathering location information (purchasing of tools and investing effort) gives data collectors the right to own it. Giving proper credits to data collectors would facilitate sharing of data. And there are still privacy issues. It’s still a case to case basis. And maybe, spatial data can be also be tagged as “special” data depending on its purpose.

On the last day of activity, we asked participants to identify data which can be translated spatially. Data were classified as data for internal use or data for sharing. It’s great to know that they’ve appreciated how GIS can be applied to their work. Not only for mapping/visualzation purposes, but also for planning purposes such as attending to the needs of vulnerable sectors in times of disaster by building inclusive evaculation centers and other gaps on social facilities.

Indeed, transforming their special data to spatial data to communicate and serve the peolple better.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development-Information and Communication Technology Service (DSWD-ICTMS) joined the celebration of Women’s Month with “MAPAbabae: OSM Workshop and Mapathon with Women and for Women” last March 22, 2018, Thursday, 1:30-5PM.

MAPAbabae aims to map women and child-friendly spaces/facilities (as well as other mapping priorities of women) in the country through a collaborative (OSM) and gender-inclusive (not limited to women partcipation!) approach.

The program started off with an Opening Remarks from Dir. Noy Castro, mentioning the importance of having an integrated georaphic information system (GIS) in the Department with emphasis on mapping locations of facilities and resources for vulnerable sectors i.e. women, children, PWDs and senior citizens. We had two (2) speakers, Mike Labrador and Jen Alconis-Ayco, who shared their mapping experiences with women and for women, and another two (2), Gellie Apolinario and Dianne Bencito, who discussed about and demonstrated OSM. This was followed by a mapathon and sharing of mapping experience by the participants, then closing remarks from Andi Tabinas, our OIC-Division chief (wooo!).

Most of the partcipants are new mappers and they learned about collaborative community mapping through OSM. Based on their feedback, they are very willing to make use of the technology and contribute to it, either be it for work or volunteerism! :)

We used the hashtag #DSWDMAPAbabae as changeset comment and as of now, we have 446 map changes! I will be posting the mapping priorities and tags to use once finalized.

My takeaway: Mapping is an inclusive and powerful tool, let’s exhaust its capabilities. Right now, there is a disproportion on men and women mappers (97/3, Lechner 2011). So why should women map? As Ate Jen mentioned on her presentation, “(Men and women have) different perspectives in a shared landscape.”

Empower a women today by encouraging her visibility on the map!

(All photos from @GOwin)