I am a physical planner, working for the Government of Lesotho. I am an experienced GIS user within a very focused context of laying out sites for human settlements. I am very committed to open things, whether that is opendata and this includes OpenStreetMap, and also opensource approaches to solving the problems of measurement, scale and needs. My HOTOSM record as a mapper dates back to 2015, and in these 4 years I have grown to understand that HOTOSM is the most important humanitarian platform when it comes to supporting logistical responses to disasters. I have also noticed that, while not fitting into the “crisis mapping” definition other HOTOSM projects have the capability of recording and documenting environmental damage and other larger scale threats caused by climate events, and in particular I was a big contributor to the #MapLesotho mapping tasks supported on the hotosm tasking platform.

#MapLesotho has led to a unique outcome, which is to show the top level of Government in my country the extent to which environmental mismanagement has taken place, and the need to urgently initiate a National Spatial strategy to set out how better control of the urban, rural and wild landscapes will take place. Involvement in this has shown me the importance of re-using data and documenting use-cases, which I see HOTOSM needs to make it clearer to people who are at the entry level of participation. For this reason I have promised to set up an OSGeo chapter in Lesotho, so that data re-users have networks of support and inspiration.

I have been Voting Member since 2018 and taken part in drafting the Strategic Planning Document for HOTOSM and that gave me a clear inside of how HOT operate. If I am elected to the board I will contribute and lead on issues that I have mentioned here, as well as offer assistance to HOT in its current strategic plan.