Post #791174

2025-03-04 18:15 UTC

I can’t overstate how excited I am that @sovtechfund is investing in the core technology powering OpenStreetMap. Throughout my years in open source, OSM and its incredible global community of volunteers have always been close to me. It was one of the first profound examples of the power of openness and its impact on digital sovereignty and personal autonomy.

Replies (3)

@tarakiyee@mastodon.online 2025-03-04 18:15

My first interactions with OSM were in a country that, at the time, banned individuals from participating in mapping activities. The project back then was less popular (under 100,000 users), so we had to be really careful in participating in it. I only bring it up because to underline how powerful geospatial data is and how it is often taken for granted these days.

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@sri@mastodon.social 2025-03-05 03:19

@tarakiyee@mastodon.online @sovtechfund@mastodon.social It makes sense because we now have an alternative to google maps. If you're goal is to separate yourself from relying on U.S. corporations (especially ones that will change bodies of water on the whim of their govt)

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@eighthave@social.librem.one 2025-03-05 08:14

@tarakiyee@mastodon.online @sovtechfund@mastodon.social Really great news! I hope this means that more places in the world can have their mapping freed. OSM is widely adopted in #Austria and local government data is synced with OSM. The OSM maps are clearly more accurate than #GoogleMaps. When properly supported, the OSM model works better than proprietary, company-owned mapping.

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