[OSM-talk] OSMHQ (Open Street Map High Quality): Viable Alternative For The National Map Corps

[Nathan Vander Wilt]

On Aug 19, 2008, at 12:22 PM, Sunburned Surveyor wrote:
> Note: This message will probably be of the most interset to OSM
> mappers in the United States.
>
> I was very disappointed in the recent shut down of the National Map
> Corps. This shutdown prompted me to consider if OSM could be a viable
> alternative to the former federally sponsored base mapping of the
> United States. I started to put down some of my thoughts on paper. I
> realized that it wouldn't take a great deal of changes to have OSM
> fill this much needed role. I started to put together some "suggested"
> procedures and other ideas that would increase the quality of OSM data
> and allow it to provide "base map" layers for a traditional GIS. I'll
> be trying out some of these ideas and procedures on a OSM mapping
> project near my home in Stockton, California.

Here in the US, we have the wonderful benefit of a great deal of  
public domain map data, because of federal sponsorships like that.

Would it be possible, instead of putting this data directly into OSM,  
to set up a separate database/webserver/API stack for the collection  
of data under a public domain license? OSM could then certainly use  
this data, but the main database's "public domain-ness" would not be  
compromised by the viral license.

thanks,
-natevw