[HOT] [CrisisMappers] Please help map Egypt

Katie Filbert filbertk at gmail.com
Tue Feb 1 02:17:59 GMT 2011


On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 8:50 PM, nicolas chavent
<nicolas.chavent at gmail.com>wrote:

> Hi there-
>
> On the OSM end, the things are rather clear, I am less clear on how to
> contribute to the crowdmap instance set up for Egypt (situational data) for
> not Arab speaking persons-
> I might have gone too quick over the app
> Any hint?
>

For Crowdmap, I'm trying to get into contact with the site owner to find out
more what their intentions are.   (1) report what's happening where? (2) for
people to report what's needed where and what's available where? (3)
something else.  From how the site's setup, they have categories for
arrests, attacks by security, gathering places for protesters, and where
there are "gatherings" of security forces.  Of course, the crowdmap site
needs to be updated to have both English and Arabic.  A very large portion
of Egyptians do speak English very good, plus for the benefit of non-Arabic
speakers who can help submit and sort reports.

Assume the site operators do not have internet access and it's a not a
priority, nor would it be very useful for Egyptian people right now.  The
situation is rapidly changing and once we get in contact with more people in
Egypt, we can assess their needs.

>From what I know so far, problems are atms out of money, no Internet (when
it comes back, knowing what Internet cafes are available where is helpful),
if power or water get cut off anywhere, and reporting other problems that
need attention.

Not sure about the food situation now, but believe people are already
helping each other out with needs. (see
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5GSfSRY2PQ)  At this point, I don't think
security is so much of a problem now, though there always are exceptions.

For OSM, even with extensive mapping of the smaller cities, we still have
ways to go to reach the quality that Google Maps has.  Still in the medium
and longer term, having good OSM maps is obviously a good thing.  For Cairo,
the Bing and Yahoo! imagery is terrible so improving there really needs to
happen on the ground or maybe get different imagery sourced somewhere.

Cheers,
Katie



>
> Nicolas
>
>
> On Sun, Jan 30, 2011 at 5:16 PM, Katie Filbert <filbertk at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On Sun, Jan 30, 2011 at 11:12 AM, Mikel Maron <mikel_maron at yahoo.com>wrote:
>>
>>> There's interest in using OSM for geolocating Twitter streams by Meedan.
>>> Could lead to a virtuous circle, identifying specifically where mapping data
>>> is needed. I know the NYTimes has uses OSM a couple times in coverage of
>>> Tunisia and Egypt.
>>>
>>> We have good contacts in the Egyptian community, who are of course cut
>>> off from communication right now. Does anyone know Tunisian mappers? And if
>>> we were to help support mapping in Amman, I have some contacts there too.
>>>
>>
>> Cleaned up the WikiProject Egypt wiki page, and it can be used for
>> coordinating who's mapping where:
>>
>> http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/WikiProject_Egypt
>>
>> Though, there are so many places to map that it's probably fine just to
>> pick a place and dive in.  In case you see someone else mapping with you,
>> then coordinate more.
>>
>> -Katie
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>
>>> == Mikel Maron ==
>>> +254(0)724899738 @mikel s:mikelmaron
>>> http://mapkibera.org/
>>> http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Haiti
>>>
>>>
>>> ------------------------------
>>> *From:* nicolas chavent <nicolas.chavent at gmail.com>
>>> *To:* filbertk at gmail.com; hot <hot at openstreetmap.org>
>>> *Sent:* Sun, January 30, 2011 8:59:12 AM
>>> *Subject:* Re: [HOT] [CrisisMappers] Please help map Egypt
>>>
>>> Katie
>>>
>>> Thanks for your email that for some reason I am just discovering now.
>>> I approached Spot in case we identify areas where Bing and Yahoo can be
>>> completed, we will have to furnish them AOI-
>>> Shall we start with setting up a crisis page on the
>>> OSM_WikiProject_Egypt?
>>>
>>> Ciao
>>> Nicolas
>>>
>>> On Sun, Jan 30, 2011 at 1:13 AM, Katie Filbert <> wrote:
>>>
>>>>  The situation is still early in Egypt but escalating rapidly.  There's
>>>> already an instance of Ushahidi (http://25jan.crowdmap.com/) by the
>>>> Arabic Network for Human Rights Information.
>>>>
>>>> For OpenStreetMap, with the new Bing imagery, there are many places in
>>>> Egypt that are poorly mapped but now have excellent imagery.  Cairo is quite
>>>> good but can always be improved.  Alexandria has many areas that need
>>>> improvement.
>>>>
>>>> Smaller but significant cities that are poorly mapped but have great
>>>> imagery, in the Sinai / Suez region:
>>>>
>>>> * Suez
>>>> * Port Said
>>>> * Ismaiyla
>>>>
>>>> In southern Egypt (upper Egypt):
>>>>
>>>> * Aswan
>>>> * Luxor
>>>> * Minya
>>>> * Asyut
>>>> * Sohag
>>>>
>>>> In the Nile Delta region:
>>>>
>>>> * Tanta
>>>> * Damanhur
>>>> * Desouk
>>>> * Kafr el-Sheikh
>>>> * Alexandria
>>>>
>>>> Just to name a few ...
>>>>
>>>> I know we have wonderful OSM mappers in Egypt who have done a marvelous
>>>> job with mapping Cairo. Please help and improve OSM coverage, especially in
>>>> these smaller but still significant cities and around Egypt.
>>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>> -Katie
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Katie Filbert
>>>> filbertk at gmail.com
>>>> @filbertkm
>>>>
>>>> --
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>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Nicolas Chavent
>>> Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team
>>> http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/WikiProject_Haiti
>>> Mobile (Haiti): +509 389 583 05
>>> Mobile (France): +33 6 89 45 54 58
>>> Landline (FRA): +33 2 97 26 23 08
>>> Email: nicolas.chavent at gmail.com
>>> Skype: c_nicolas
>>> Twitter: nicolas_chavent
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Katie Filbert
>> filbertk at gmail.com
>> @filbertkm
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Nicolas Chavent
> Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team
> http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/WikiProject_Haiti
> Mobile (Haiti): +509 389 583 05
> Mobile (France): +33 6 89 45 54 58
> Landline (FRA): +33 2 97 26 23 08
> Email: nicolas.chavent at gmail.com
> Skype: c_nicolas
> Twitter: nicolas_chavent
>
>


-- 
Katie Filbert
filbertk at gmail.com
@filbertkm
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