[OSM-talk-ie] Formalising Openstreetmap Ireland into a proper body and becoming an official OSM Chapter

Dave Corley davecorley at gmail.com
Wed Oct 1 12:37:25 UTC 2014


Hi all,

Something I've been thinking about for a while now, is that we should look
to forming into a proper entity i.e. an official OpenStreetMap Ireland
chapter of OSM.

A few reasons off the top of my head why I'd like to push ahead with this:

- We will have representatives who can speak with authority to the press if
required.

- The Open data / Open Government movement has been steadily growing over
the last 18-24 months here. Every event I've been to, at some point, I've
had to utter the line "well at the moment we are just a group of people
editing on OSM, there is no "Openstreetmap Ireland". Given the volume of
work and effort that people have put it, its embarrassing to say that line.

- When we go looking for maps and/or data we are an actual entity. That
lends weight to any requests we make. The further we take this in relation
to what type of a body we are (non-incorporated, incorporated, recognised
chapter of OSMF)

- Further down  the line, it opens up the possibility of getting funding /
sponsorship. As it stands right now, companies are unlikely to give any
significant kind of donation to us, ever, as they can not write it off as a
donation because, essentially, we don't exist. I would like to

- I would like to see us move up a gear in terms of organisation. What I
mean by this is to take it to the next level in terms of meetup's, for
example, a weekend meetup over a Sat & Sun in, say, Athlone (its central
and is in need of some love mapwise) where a load of us would meetup,
survey and map. Prior to going there though, we'd look for a local mapper
who can get into schools or colleges with a few posters, get on to the
local free paper to do a piece, chat to local radio etc to promote the
event.

- I would like to see us pushing more in the area of advocacy e.g.
advocating for the use of OSM by local govt. and advocating for the release
of data held by local govt's (if they are using our maps, give us stuff to
make them better).

- Finally, there is no reason, none whatsoever, why we shouldn't be able to
start organising our own State of the Map for Ireland. We have more than
enough going on to fill 1-2 days worth of a conference but a major
roadblock to this would be the sponsorship aspect.

I've looked into what would be involved, and starting out, there will be a
body of work to be completed, but its by no means insurmountable.

If there is generally positive feedback the next step would be to agree how
to proceed and what format of an organisation we should be come.

I have some thoughts on all of that, but I'll hold off for a few days to
see what the thoughts are on this proposal.

Thanks,
Dave (DaCor)


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