[Talk-ca] State of OSM maps in Calgary - comparison with Germany

[stevea]

Having "been around" (OSM for 14 years, including a one-country-away though watchful view of some of Canada's imports over those years), my understanding that units of German government are "cooperative with OSM" as a yet-stronger matter of course is a truly impressive feat.  Germany might even be a leader here (in OSM), though I'd guess other EU countries (e.g. BeNeLux re bicycle routing, Switzerland with ski pistes...) are "right up there."  I will say (from my perspective of a fair bit of interaction between units of California and US governments involvement in OSM) that my respective governments are "much less further along, but certainly more and more are getting on board or are already on the wagon."  Many are "joining up" at harmonizing data with OSM.  I would call the US and its fifty states definitely in "earlier" stages (these have followed "even earlier, somewhat clumsier" stages, though much was learned during these), but there is traction and growth now — sometimes right down to the county level (geographically small areas; only hundreds of square kilometers).

If I had to characterize where Canada is along this spectrum (and I'd only be doing a poor job of that), it might be a similar level of this sort of "government GIS harmony with OSM".  In some instances, it (and/or certain provinces) might be further behind the US and further-along states like California, in some instances it might be ahead (perhaps with First Nations and how some naming, language, admin_level and other tagging conventions have emerged, with quite a bit of harmony — OSM could even be said to be a bit leading-edge, at least in laying a structure of groundwork for other First Nations to mimic or improve upon).

Occasionally, it might make sense to "compare" where / how far along OSM is at being recognized / incorporated with / part of a GIS harmonization trend (such as here and now in this thread).  Though, I think as long as anybody looking at this sees forward momentum (MORE recognition, MORE harmony, MORE incorporation...), OSM is on the right track.  As are the various government units who nod their heads at how much we (OSM and government GIS departments) share and have in common.  There are lots of good examples here, we (Canada, the list, and states in the US, my perspective) may not be as far along as Germany, but we do have good positive momentum.  Recognizing this can help drive such momentum forward.