Humanitarian OSM Team/Open Mapping Hub West and Northern Africa
Countries
Community Building
Backgroud
Since its inception, HOT has worked with OSM communities around the world to improve the OSM map, and support humanitarian interventions in times of crisis. As its stock grows, HOT has taken the option of opening regional hubs in Asia, Latin America and Africa. These hubs therefore have the responsibility of coordinating the achievement of HOT's objectives in their regions of intervention.
The West and North Africa hub officially launches in March 2022, with coverage of 24 countries.
In order to give itself more chances of success, particularly on the collaboration part with the communities of OSM contributors in the different countries, the hub has developed a community development project.
Introduction
Restrictions on access to knowledge have given rise to parallel movements for the constitution of collective knowledge. The popularity of Wikipedia first, and that of OpenStreetMap later, demonstrates the magnitude of the unmet demand for access to knowledge. In addition, these popularity reflects the interest of populations to take their time, on a voluntary basis, to provide knowledge in order to enrich the collective database. This movement, called crowdsourcing, is fueled by committed communities around the world, more dynamic in some countries than in others.
The communities of contributors to the open mapping project OpenStreetMap have grown in the West and North African regions over the past decade, contributing substantially to changing the face of the map in that region. These groups of enthusiasts, organized or not, collect and publish geographic data in the OSM database. They are also the ones who, mastering the constraints of the terrain, can provide effective support in emergency situations so that the map data helps to reduce the effects of disasters. They represent an essential link in the OSM chain, for which greater support must be provided in order to make the mapping of the region possible.
Specifics objectives
In its desire to develop the community, the hub wishes to contribute to making communities more sustainable. It does this by adopting the following approaches:
- Institutional development support
To build the trust that attracts new contributors and mobilizes partners, communities need to have an institutional foundation. This includes official recognition at the local level, but also organizational procedures.
Through this objective, the hub plans to support the registration, the establishment of a training plan, a program of activities and an incentive policy for OSM cartographers in the country. The hub will also support registered groups in developing their skills to build partnerships at the local level.
- Development of the partnership
In order to achieve its sectoral objectives, the hub will implement projects in pilot countries in the region. Within the framework of these projects, it is advisable to ensure an adequate contribution of the local OSM communities.
Initially, it will be necessary to ensure co-ownership through shared leadership. Then recognize the community of pilot countries the right to coordinate the implementation of the project and ensure the mobilization of local partners. Finally, it will be necessary to put in place mechanisms for sharing the experience with the rest of the regional community to facilitate the replication of the experience by third parties.
- Support for the development of an action plan
HOT has a strong experience of supporting communities through mini grants. These grants are intended to enable communities to carry out large, high-impact projects that engage partners at the country level.
The WNA hub, in order to support the activities of the country communities, plans to set up a mini-grant program.
Scope
This project focuses on the 24 priority countries of the hub, the list of which is attached. The geographical and linguistic contexts will be taken into account for a good representativeness of the communities.
Operational plan
On the operational plan, actions are identified to enable the achievement of specific objectives.
| Items |
|---|
| SO 1: Institutional strengthening |
| A 1: Support the establishment of OSM chapter |
| A 2: Support the development of training programs |
| A 3: Support the development of incentive programs |
| SO 2: Development of the partnership |
| A 1: Set up a collaboration framework between the hub and the OSM communities |
| A 2: Initiate memorandums of understanding for the implementation of pilot projects |
| A 3: Hold experience sharing sessions |
| OS 3: Implementation of financial support |
| A 1: Set up a system for evaluating the performance of country communities |
| A 2: Set up a financial support program |
| A 3: Evaluate the performance of financial support |
Performance measurement framework
| Output | /outcome items |
| SO 1: Institutional strengthening | The communities and countries have institutional foundations |
| A 1: Support the establishment of OSM chapters | Three countries have OSM chapters |
| A 2: Support the development of training programs | Three countries have a training program for members |
| A 3: Support the development of incentive programs | Threes have a member incentive system |
| OS 2: Development of the partnership | The community collaborates well with the hub |
| A 1: Set up a framework for collaboration between the hub and the OSM communities | The principles and global axes of collaboration between the hub and the communities are agreed |
| A 2: Initiate memorandums of understanding for the implementation of the pilot projects | The conditions of collaboration with the communities within the framework of the implementation of the pilot projects are agreed |
| A 3: Hold experience sharing | sessions Experience sharing sessions are organized in connection with each pilot project. |
| SO 3: Establishment of financial support | The community has an impact on the ground |
| A 1: Set up a system for evaluating the performance of communities country | An evaluation system for each country is available |
| A 2: Set up a financial support | program A subsidy program for the benefit of the communities is available |
| A 3: Evaluate the performance of the financial support | The level of effectiveness of the subsidies is known |
Risk analysis
| Risk | Description | Mitigation action |
| Insufficient funding | The hub is unable to mobilize sufficient financial resources to carry out the planned actions | Guarantee the availability of the budget before announcing the actions to the community |
| Intoxication | The objectives are intentionally transformed to reduce the commitment actors at the local level | Organize informal and formal explanation sessions. Hold group meetings, to create the overall dynamic. |
| Different crises | The different crises in the region can lead to the loss of interest in voluntary contributions, the actors being occupied with survival, especially in Mali, Burkina and Niger | . Transform these crises into opportunities and work on them as subjects of projects. Pay actors for certain activities, to enable them to survive. |
| Fear of losing interests | Many community actors have developed economic activities based on their positions in OSM. Greater openness may seem like a threat to them. | Take into account the maintenance of potential current economic interests. Talk openly with the people involved. |
| Leadership conflict | In some communities, several people claim to be leaders of the community. | Support the development of transparent organizations that value everyone's contributions. And propose open governance mechanisms. |
| Non-compliance with OSMF's objectives | Some activities may be developed by the community, which could call into question its non-profit vocation. Especially the services. | Establish with the communities a good practice guide for the OSM community. And encourage communities to follow it. |
Community building programs
Training program on civil society organisation governance and management
Community granting
University fellowship
OSMer in Residence
Conclusion
West African countries are the poorest in Africa. This level of poverty exposes people to a very high risk of vulnerability to the various shocks they face.
The experiences of work on the use of free mapping teach us that a high level of subsidiarity is necessary, first to understand the issues, then to have the support of the beneficiaries for the implementation of actions and finally to ensure sustainability of results. It is in order to guarantee these various successes that the West and North Africa hub has opted to implement an OSM community development program. This program aims to build organized and dynamic communities, which inspire the confidence of local partners, in order to build long-term projects at country level.
Partnership
Regional projects
Technologies and innovation
Coordinate and collaborate with key functional leads across the Hub and with the wider global team. Bring together the problems, needs and requirements of communities across the region in a way that grows and evolves HOT’s technology in a way that builds equity, increases accessibility and influences the design and development of transformative open mapping innovation.
HOT_Tech core ethics:
●Human: Our Human ethic is our commitment to people as our priority. At the center of all our technology sits a human. The ultimate purpose of our technology is to improve human conditions. We use technology to enable and amplify human efforts. We support them at personal and professional levels. We invest in their well-being and their growth. We provide security and stability. When our people thrive, so do we.
●Open: Our Open ethic permeates all we do. Our actions reflect radical openness and transparency. We encourage open inputs and outputs. Our team and technology openly welcomes and engages community, collaboration and contribution.
●Truth: Our Truth ethic reflects an OpenStreetMap core principle; the ‘truth on the ground’.Our activities and decisions will be guided by this ethic, conflicts not easily resolved will defer to this ethic to determine what best reflects and prioritizes the truth on the ground.
●HOT_Tech Principles > https://github.com/hotosm/tech/blob/master/principles/README.md
Priority Areas for Action
● Capacity - A key component will be building and extending the capacity of groups and individuals across the region. The successful candidate will be experienced and comfortable and mentorship, coaching and facilitating people to grow and expand their innovation and open tech skills. They will also be able to augment the capacity of global and regional teams as capacity grows.
● Community - Community centered innovation and technology is at the heart of all our technologies and should be at the heart of the candidate. We strive to build technologies that reflect the most pressing and impactful needs of the communities we work with.
● Contribution - Core to open innovation and technology is a collective of contributors that are committed to the collaborative growth of both products and people. A dynamic collective of contributors ensures shared vision and direction, joint ownership and project sustainability.
Actions & Activities
- Open Mapping & Techdays (OMTD)
- WNAH- OpenGeoTech Team ( WOG2T)
- Mwalai Grant
- Design Thinking: Small Island Project- REFEPAS