This post was sparked off by some very dubious reporting of OpenStreetMap plus continued misunderstanding about what OpenStreetMap actually “maps” by some of the public at large. So its time to set the records straight, well for today anyway, tomorrow we will have slain another dragon and the world will be an even better place, such is the march of OSM progress.

The point is that there is barely time to draw breath for a moment before OpenStreetMap as we, and therefore you, knew it, has changed beyond all recognition. Even to those of us who have been intensely involved with or contributing to the project on an hour by hour, minute by minute level, it is still difficult to comprehend the scale and impact of what is being achieved daily.

Earlier this week the project surpassed 50,000 registered users with over 5,000 actively contributing data each month. Historically the contributor base has doubled every 5 months. That means there will be around 50,000 adding data monthly by the end of 2009. That’s a ten fold increase from today.

Right now on each and every day, 25,000km of roads gets added to the OpenStreetMap database, on the historical trend that will be over 200,000km per day by the end of 2009. And that doesn’t include all the other data that makes OpenStreetMap the richest dataset available online. As Etienne succinctly put it in a response to one commentator.

“OpenStreetMap maps a lot more than roads. All the things you mention: roads, paths, buildings, heights, pylons, fences … AND … post boxes, pubs, airfields, canals, rock climbing routes, shipwrecks, lighthouses, ski runs, whitewater rapids, universities, toucan crossings, coffeeshops (the dutch kind), trees, fields, toilets, speed cameras, toll booths, recycling points and a whole lot more.”

Finally its worth saying a word or two about the bigger picture. Until very recently we talked about OpenStreetMap being a global project but the reality was that outside of Europe and the TIGER-Line fed USA the pockets of OpenStreetMap activity were sporadic, often just one contributor in each place, or the devoted work of one or two burning the midnight oil tracing over the Yahoo! imagery layer in far flung places. Even that’s changing though. The OpenStreetMap community itself is growing and one of the best examples of that is the proliferation of national websites acting as local language portals for the project. Already there is openstreetmap.ca, .ch, .cl, .de, .fr, .it, .jp, .nl, .se, .org.za and that’s probably missing a few that are on the way.

OpenStreetMap really is on the road to everywhere and with everyone’s help it will produce a better map than what’s out there anywhere now and a lot lot sooner than you’d think.

Google have launched MapMaker, a kind of faux OpenStreetMap where they own all the data and you’re only allowed to map in certain Freedom Of Speech Zones.

Like Knol, the mooted ‘wikipedia killer’, Google refuse to acknowledge existing communities, trample on their hard work and lack the mindset to engage with an open project.

But, this really doesn’t matter.

What’s fascinating is that they haven’t set themselves up against OpenStreetMap so much but rather TeleAtlas/TomTom, NAVTEQ/Nokia and AND. This is really a swipe at things like TomTom’s MapShare(TM) and ANDs Map 2.0. The question is now going to be, when do they switch on editing of existing data markets, if at all? Only those with intimate knowledge of the contracts will know.

The fundamental reasons for OpenStreetMap remain intact and if anything are now stronger. At first glance it sounds like OpenStreetMap, until you realise that Google own that data you give them, there’s no community and you are unlikely to see use of the data in ‘creative, productive, or unexpected ways’.

The terms of use are hilarious – the bottom line seems to be that Google ends up owning excusively the entire aggregate work, but it is your fault if anything goes wrong.

Some things MapMaker lacks might include our awesome open RESTful API (before REST was sexy), Osmarender (the open tile rendering distributed stack), cycle maps (showing how powerful community data can be), Community events list longer than your arm, dumps of all the data and of course Germans.

If you contribute to Google MapMaker, you are contributing to one single map view that looks how Google wants it to look. If you contribute to OpenStreetMap, you are contributing to a myriad of possibilities … most not even thought of yet. The cycle map is a good example.

Google very kindly sponsored our first conference (and you should come to our second which they didn’t) but if they wish to turn it in to an us or them, then it is us!

Check out eworld, a tool which imports and visualizes OSM data and allows the adding of events that are interesting for traffic simulation, e.g. weather conditions or road works. All this data are passed to the traffic simulator SUMO and is used for traffic simulation.

Are you familiar with setting up Mapnik and TileCache, and other components of the OSM stack? Do you want to volunteer time to help support disaster relief in Myanmar?

We’re urgently looking for one or two developers with time, right now, to help set up OpenStreetMap infrastructure in Myanmar.

Due to network constraints, to start they require tile rendering locally. They’ll be collecting data for OSM too, to provide very up to date maps of impacted areas. OSM will be integrated with Sahana. This system could very well be crucial in the relief and recovery efforts, and a great benefit to the people of Myanmar.

Brett Henderson has been working hard setting things up. But we can definitely use more help here. If you are interested to volunteer your technical skills, get in touch with me at “mikel at osmfoundation dot org”.

If I get frustrated with Dash, can you imagine the abuse it would get from Steve Jobs? He must just throw the damn thing out the window, be it a Dash, TomTom or whatever.

Wouldn’t the iPhone make a perfect PND platform (if it had a GPS)? Roughly a good size, thin, onboard wifi and cell network. It gets it in the car, so more music playing / revenue for iTunes.

As the OpenSteetMap project rolls on and continues to grow exponentially (32,500+ registered users now!) the number of administrative tasks that crop up for the Foundation to do each month grows and it becomes more and more difficult for the management team to get around to dealing with everything and to advance the project into new areas.

We would like to invite anyone who wishes to get involved on the administrative side of the project to get in contact. Even if you can only devote a small amount of time it can be put to good use. What is most important is that you can offer the time on a regularly basis. If it is just a couple of hours next week and nothing after that it’s difficult to get a task rolling and see it through.

Some of the areas that the Foundation is working on or are organising currently include:

The State of the Map Conference
The proposed change in OSM Licence
Finances and fundraising for the project
Managing the OSMF membership
Local and targeted initiatives
Dealing with offers of support and queries
Supporting and promoting the community

There are however many other areas we wish to do more in, especially on things like OSM Merchandising and greater outreach around the world to name just two.

If you are interested or curious about getting involved on the administrative side of the project, then please get in touch with the secretary, Andy Robinson (blackadder) or one of the other board members. You will find us a warm and friendly group and you would be most welcome.