[Osmf-talk] Why not an OSMF Tasking Manager ? Was:Re: Humanitarian work

Tue Dec 18 21:38:20 UTC 2018

The TeachOSM project has an instance of the Tasking Manager[1] dedicated
largely to educational projects. It is a fork of the HOT TM, so if you want
something completely different, this isn't it. But there are plenty of
examples out there for running a TM outside the HOT domain.

[1] https://tasks.teachosm.org/

-- SEJ
-- twitter: @geomantic
-- skype: sejohnson8

Wretches, utter wretches, keep your hands from beans! - Empedocles, *Fragments,
141.*

On Tue, Dec 18, 2018 at 1:48 PM Eric Sherman <ericandrewsherman at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I believe Facebook mentioned at SOTM 2017 that they had forked off a
> version to use internally as well.
>
> On Tue, Dec 18, 2018 at 12:10 PM Blake Girardot <bgirardot at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Augustin,
>>
>> An OSM Wide Tasking Manager sounds like a great idea under the
>> auspices of the OSMF and appropriate Working Group.
>>
>> I have helped many people set them up on AWS or bare metal so they can
>> break free of the HOT Hegemony(TM).
>>
>> Happy to help however I can.
>>
>> Respectfully,
>> Blake
>>
>> On Tue, Dec 18, 2018 at 1:01 PM Augustin Doury <xhemp at mykolab.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > Disclaimer : english is not my native language, please don't focus on
>> specific vocabulary choices
>> >
>> > Hi all,
>> >
>> > It's not necessarily linked to Humanitarian stuff, because the Tasking
>> Manager (TM) [1] software can be used for many other kinds of projects, but
>> historically the TM is about humanitarian activations. That's why the idea
>> of having an OSMF Humanitarian WG (which I find very great) makes me think
>> about an OSMF Tasking Manager, here are some reasons :
>> >
>> > Tasking Managers are used by thousands of mappers and concern millions
>> of edit, the software seems to be an inescapable way of contribution for
>> many mappers.
>> >
>> > IMO the Tasking Manager is a pretty good operational tool, I used it
>> personnaly a lot, as a mapper and as a project manager.
>> > Running a TM instance could be considered as a coherent concern for
>> OSMF which is supposed to encourage the growth, development and
>> distribution of free geospatial data.
>> >
>> > propose a TM instance which is not necessarily linked to Humanitarian
>> stuff (but could be)
>> >
>> > The most used TM is the HOT US Inc instance which is deeply linked to
>> humanitarian and development stuff. However the Tasking Manager, as a way
>> of contribution, is particularly suitable and widely used for/by those who
>> edit the map where OSM base features (buildings, roads, landuses,
>> naturals...) still have a huge progress potential and where a lot of
>> mappers practice distant mapping on satellite imagery (often in so-called
>> "developing countries").
>> >
>> > IMO these projects must not be connotated as
>> "humanitarian/developpment"  (an example here for a road project
>> harmonisation in Burkina Faso [2]), they are just OSM projects to improve
>> the base map. They are labeled this way just because their creators did not
>> really have the choice of another TM.
>> >
>> > propose a TM instance which is stable and independant of the Area of
>> Interest
>> >
>> > They are many existing instances [3], but most of them are "country
>> based", are not always up-to-date (the migration from v2 to v3 is not
>> easy), and do not necessarily offer a "guarantee of service".
>> >
>> > propose a TM instance where OSM contributors can contribute
>> independently of any official organisation, especially HOT US Inc
>> >
>> > Reading last Blake email and following his link to HOT US Inc
>> Guidestare page [4], we can see that, for the year 2016, HOT US Inc claims
>> to totals 182,000,000 edits in OSM & 31,000 volunteers around the world.
>> About the calculation method, the context note says "This is the number of
>> HOT volunteers registered on our HOT tasking manager which enables them to
>> contribute to HOT's mapping projects." The huge number of edits claimed is
>> computed in the same way. You can see also this map [5] on the HOT US Inc
>> website which shows how all the TM projects are presented as HOT US Inc
>> projects.
>> >
>> > The problem is that many people who contribute on the "HOT Tasking
>> Manager" don't know that it is the "HOT US Inc Tasking Manager" and that
>> their volunteer work will be presented as HOT US Inc volunteer work (and
>> used notably for story-telling and fund-raising). Or others, like me, don't
>> have the choice to contribute, in a pure OSM volunteer way, to the tasks
>> without being labeled as "hottie" and see their work reclaimed by somebody
>> else.
>> >
>> > It raises more generally the problem of distinction between HOT and HOT
>> US Inc, which has been raised for approximately 4 years in the HOT
>> membership and on this OSMF mailing list, and which is IMO the core
>> problem. Unfortunately it seems that considering this as an issue is still
>> not acceptable for the organisation.
>> >
>> > Just to avoid any proposition to debate this topic internally within
>> HOT US Inc membership, as it has been proposed on other threads, I need to
>> remind some context just to explain that it had already been tried before
>> without success. > I've been a HOT volunteer contractor in Senegal in 2012
>> and resigned from my membership in May 2016, already explaining that "The
>> concept of attribution is essential in the OSM project and I feel like HOT
>> US Inc, by its communication hegemony, benefits from the work of numerous
>> volunteers from South and North who give their time for the HOT/OSM
>> project, not for a NGO (which is nowadays in an active fundraising
>> campain).[...] HOT US board rejected this approach, saying that there is
>> not HOT US Inc, there is just HOT and HOT US Inc is HOT and should not be
>> called « US Inc » because it creates dividness within the HOT community."
>> Two years before, in 2014, these issues were already raised through a HOT
>> US Inc Manifesto of a collective of 15 active hotties [6].
>> >
>> > --
>> >
>> > In my opinion OSMF should propose an independant and robust Tasking
>> Manager alternative to the OSM community.
>> > I don't have skills in Python but would be happy to help define such a
>> project and participate to it's implementation and maintenance.
>> > If it makes sense, what would be the next steps to make this
>> proposition more officially to the OSMF ?
>> >
>> > Thanks in advance, have a good day,
>> >
>> > Augustin Doury
>> >
>> > [1] Tasking Manager - Github page
>> > https://github.com/hotosm/tasking-manager
>> > [2] Tasking Manager - project #1245 - Burkina Faso, consolidated
>> mapping, Base Roads Check
>> > https://tasks.hotosm.org/project/1245
>> > [3] Wiki OSM - Tasking Manager - Operational installations of the TM
>> >
>> https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_Tasking_Manager#Operational_installations_of_the_Tasking_Manager
>> > [4] GuideStar (HOT US Inc profile)
>> > https://www.guidestar.org/profile/27-3166713
>> > [5] HOT US Inc website
>> > https://www.hotosm.org/our-work
>> > [6] 2014 HOT US Inc Manifesto of a collective of 15 active hotties
>> >
>> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MMaCNSEvblAgQtxFRCcw8hOnd9WpHJdC3eJXkJLql4I/edit#heading=h.213ghf9zd35p
>> >
>> >
>> > Le 2018-12-17 16:47, Blake Girardot a écrit :
>> >
>> > On Mon, Dec 17, 2018 at 6:05 AM Simon Poole <simon at poole.ch> wrote:
>> >
>> >
>> > One of the ways this could/could have been addressed would be do have a
>> majority of the HOT board be nominated by the OSMF.
>> >
>> > Further I don't believe HOT is a charity (in the sense of the UK legal
>> construct), naturally to continue to benefit from their US special tax
>> status business would need to be executed in an appropriate fashion.
>> >
>> > Simon
>> >
>> >
>> > You can believe it, HOT US Inc. is a US 501(c)(3) charitable
>> organization.
>> >
>> > https://www.hotosm.org/downloads/2017-Form-990.pdf
>> >
>> > (our tax filings are available for the past 6 years as well)
>> >
>> > And a highly rated one for transparency as well:
>> >
>> > https://www.guidestar.org/profile/27-3166713
>> >
>> > Cheers,
>> > Blake
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>> --
>> ----------------------------------------------------
>> Blake Girardot
>> OSM Wiki - https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/User:Bgirardot
>> HOTOSM Member - https://hotosm.org/users/blake_girardot
>> skype: jblakegirardot
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> osmf-talk mailing list
>> osmf-talk at openstreetmap.org
>> https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/osmf-talk
>>
> _______________________________________________
> osmf-talk mailing list
> osmf-talk at openstreetmap.org
> https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/osmf-talk
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/osmf-talk/attachments/20181218/4121a58a/attachment.html>