This weekend, I was at State of the Map 2026, the international OpenStreetMap conference, which took place in Paris this year. Here’s a brief, personal feedback and a round-up of a few presentations that stood out for me. You can also find all the videos at https://peertube.openstreetmap.fr.

NB: there is a French version here. This one was translated with the help of DeepL translate.

The most inspiring: cartes.app

Inspiring: cartes.app is a slightly mad project aimed at creating a new Google Maps, but without its car-centric bias. It started with a single contributor, but he’s managed to build a strong team around him: he has the insight to use the best open-source software components for his project – MapLibre for map navigation, vector tiles for map rendering, Photon for geocoding, and Transitious for public transport. Today, the developer is no longer working alone: he is securing funding and attracting contributors from around the world to improve his app and translate it so it can reach a global audience. It’s a wonderful project worth supporting, and you can do so by subscribing to cartes.app premium for just €1 a month.

The clearest: Use of OSM data by emergency services in Germany

A clear, practical and positive presentation by a contributor who is himself a member of a volunteer fire brigade. There is no longer any need to demonstrate the value of OSM to the emergency services: according to him, the use of OSM is widespread and extensive amongst German emergency services – as a base map, for specialised route planning, and for cartographic products in situation rooms, etc. A motivating call to contribute local knowledge to OSM: an unofficial address number displayed on a house number plate, the former name of a café still used by the local population, local place names, and of course all the information useful for lorry navigation: maximum width, bollards, etc.

The most surprising: How OSM inspire European standards for cycling infrastructure

This came as a surprise to me: I knew that OSM was the main source of data for numerous private cycling apps, and I’d already seen this study by the European Cyclists’ Federation, which used OSM to assess cycling infrastructure across Europe (here and there). But this presentation taught me more: some European standardisation body is actually going to use OSM as the basis for defining standards for cycling data infrastructure in Europe. To my knowledge, this is probably the greatest recognition of OSM data by a public authority to date. This does not mean that OSM data will simply be copied, identically, into the national inventories of each Member State, but rather that OSM models for cycling and existing data will serve as the basis for defining European (and potentially national) standards, as well as national databases. In my view, this is a superb outcome of the involvement of contributors who have patiently taken part in mapping cycling infrastructure at their local level. And ultimately, it is recognition of a fact: OpenStreetMap is probably the best database in terms of cycling data at a European level.

The most scenic: the French OSM Outdoor group

Let’s go hiking (or skiing or climbing), in the mountains and elsewhere, with this introduction to the OSM Plein Air group. This group brings together volunteers who are passionate about outdoor activities and mapping on OSM. It’s an opportunity to discuss certain tagging practices, the maintenance of data for 30,000 km of signposted routes, and managing links with the contributor community.

The most practical: a workshop on GNSS positioning with RTK

The SOTM programme isn’t just about talks; it also features hands-on workshops. One of these was a demonstration workshop on RTK positioning, which is a technique for improving GNSS (often referred to as GPS) positioning through the use of a GNSS antenna and a network of base stations. One such network is the Centipede network, which originated in France and is mainly used in the agricultural sector. During this demonstration, with a few antennas made available, we went outside and experimented with using these antennas to improve the positioning accuracy of a mobile phone, reducing the margin of error from a few metres to a few centimetres. This is something I’d like to try out soon with the QField app.

And the others

There were loads of interesting presentations: the one on Panoramax, those related to railways, my discovery of a map generalisation library – cartAGen (to be tested in OpenArdenneMap), the one on freemap.sk, … and all the others I missed.

Where is OpenStreetMap going?

This was already my fourth State of the Map (after Brussels, Milan and Heidelberg), not counting the State of the Map Europe event organised in Antwerp by the Belgian community. I’ve seen the OSM community and ecosystem develop significantly through all these conferences. In Milan in 2018, the community was witnessing the growing influence of Big Tech players (Facebook, Microsoft, Apple), who were investing heavily in the project through the development of software solutions, the payment of contributors (paid mapping) and attempts to infiltrate the OSM Foundation. This growing interest from these large companies was not well received by part of the community, nor by several long-standing members of the project. This year, what struck me was the absence of these companies: both in the conference sponsorship and in the presentations. I learnt that several humanitarian mapping activities previously funded by the United States have been halted, and that, overall, the proportion of paid contributions is falling. We are therefore witnessing a shift – one which, for my part, I did not expect – back towards the voluntary contributions that formed the heart of the OSM project in its early days, and a withdrawal of investment by major American companies. At the same time, however, the economic ecosystem surrounding OSM has probably never been so dynamic in Europe. This was demonstrated by the great vitality of the Fédération des Pros d’OpenStreetMap (France), and by numerous presentations on the reuse of OSM by public authorities, transport companies and businesses.

One participant pointed out to me that there were relatively few presentations on contributing to the project itself, and an increasing number focusing on use cases. This is because use cases are becoming increasingly common, successful and widespread. However, there is still much to be done to make even better use of OpenStreetMap data, and above all to continue taking care of our community.