weeklyOSM 815

26/02/2026-04/03/2026

lead picture

[1] | Podoma in action in Italy | map data © OpenStreetMap Contributors.

About us

  • StreetComplete now has in-app support for weeklyOSM notifications, including a daily update from the weeklyOSM RSS feed, along with user settings to control message types. Also included in this update are notifications about OSM events nearby from the OpenStreetMap Calendar. You can read about all the improvements of v63.0 in the release notes.

Mapping

  • James Wheare has started a wiki discussion on the conflicting definitions of the wetland=tidalflat tag.

Mapping campaigns

  • [1] Daniele has just launched a Podoma instance on the Wikimedia Cloud Services platform to monitor OpenStreetMap Italia’s Project of the Month initiative.
  • The Italian community’s February mapping campaign has ended. Thanks to all participants 100,000 street lamps were added, including details on support types, lamp types, and orientation.

Community

  • In the latest instalment of their OpenStreetMap interview series, OpenCage has spoken with DW Innovation about SPOT, a tool designed to search for geospatial patterns within OpenStreetMap. The discussion explored how the project originated, the technical hurdles encountered during development, and the key insights gained following its launch.
  • France’s Direction interministérielle du numérique has published an interview with Christian Quest discussing the Panoramax project, tracing its origins and early development, the initial challenges in building an active contributor community, and the obstacles it may face in the years ahead.
  • MapRVA has launched The Yesterdays Bot, a Mastodon account that automatically shares geotagged historic photographs from the Yesterdays of Richmond, Virginia (USA), offering followers a glimpse into the city’s past through location-based archival images. The source is available on GitHub.

OpenStreetMap Foundation

  • The OpenStreetMap Foundation Board has formally submitted comments on a proposal by the Open Geospatial Consortium to standardise the Overture Maps Foundation’s Global Entity Reference System. In its response, the Foundation clarified that it does not oppose the concept of a globally interoperable geographic identifier system. However, it urged the OGC to recognise that geographic reality cannot be reduced to a single authoritative source. The board argued that geographic knowledge is generated not only within the data centres of major technology firms, but also through the distributed efforts of volunteers mapping streets, neighbourhoods, and communities around the world. Any standard seeking OGC endorsement, the Foundation said, should be inclusive enough to accommodate both centralised and community-driven sources of geographic data.

Maps

  • OpenStreetMap Americana has made several more multilingual improvements to support language dialects and apply dual language labels to more places. Web developers can install Diplomat to give any MapLibre map the same localised labels as OSM Americana.

Software

  • GanderPL has built an OSM tagging MCP server using the iD Tagging Schema.
  • Conveyal has developed Osmix, a collection of composable libraries for reading, querying, merging, and transforming OpenStreetMap PBF data in browsers or Node.js.
  • Sarath Sabarish has published a diary entry explaining how SafeStreets, a free walkability scoring tool, uses OSM data, Nominatim for geocoding, Overpass API for pedestrian infrastructure and 15-minute city scoring. The post includes a concrete Chiang Mai example showing how missing highway=crossing tags produce near-zero crossing scores, and calls on SE Asia mappers to improve pavement (sidewalk) and crossing tagging.

Programming

  • Pascal Neis described his experience of using LLM AI programming applications. He tested several AI coding assistants to automate coding tasks, building tasks iteratively in a local environment ‘from Flappy Birds to WebGIS’. He compared Microsoft Copilot, OpenAI Codex, and Anthropic Claude. He is seriously considering trying this kind of setup with his students next semester.
  • HeiGIT explained how street-level imagery combined with deep learning methods is transforming how we detect and map critical infrastructure characteristics, which are often missing from existing datasets. Applications range from road surface classification and waste detection to pavement width measurement and weather-adaptive routing.

OSM in the media

  • At FOSDEM 2026 Petya Kangalova, Senior Tech Partnerships Manager at HOT, spoke about how this humanitarian NGO has built a comprehensive technology stack based on the OpenStreetMap environment, designed to support local communities in mapping their surroundings, to strengthen disaster response efforts and support humanitarian operations worldwide.

Other “geo” things

  • NASA and DevGlobal are hosting an online session on the Lifelines Data Studios, resources for collaborative work in some important thematics related to disasters, like wildfires, flooding, and landslides. The one-hour meeting will occur on March 11, 2026, 11:00 ET (UTC-4). You can register for free.
  • Chromy showcased Flexport Atlas, an interactive global map partially powered by OpenStreetMap data that tracks cargo vessels, ports, and aircraft with live data updated every two hours, including precise vessel statuses (moored, at anchor, or in transit), and port dwell times.

Upcoming Events

CountryWhereVenueWhatWhen
flagСофияRectorate of Sofia University St. Kliment of OhridFOSS4G:BG Open GIS Conference 2026 2026-03-06 – 2026-03-07
OSMF Engineering Working Group meeting 2026-03-06
flagTiranëDestil Creative Hub TiranaOpenStreetMap Community Meetup – Tirana 2026-03-06
flagGentWijgaardOpenStreetMap meetup in Gent – Pre-VLA-congres editie 2026-03-06
flagHogeschool Odissee Hospitaalstraat 23 Sint-NiklaasVereniging Leraars Aardrijkskunde (VLA) conference 2026 2026-03-07
flagPerthEspresso Perk U LaterSocial Mapping Sunday: Moort-ak Waadiny / Wellington Square Perth 2026-03-07
flagPerthEspresso Perk U LaterSocial Mapping Sunday: Moort-ak Waadiny / Wellington Square Perth 2026-03-08
flagKøbenhavnCafe Bevar’sOSMmapperCPH 2026-03-08
flagDelhiBooks and Beans Café, Mayur Vihar Phase 1OSM Delhi Mapping Party No.27 (East Zone) 2026-03-08
flagLondonSocial Sciences Centre – Western UniversityFriends of MSF UWO Mapathon 2026-03-09
Missing Maps : Mapathon en ligne – CartONG [fr] 2026-03-09
flagBrnoGeografický ústav, PřF MUNI, BrnoBřeznový brněnský Missing Maps Mapathon na Geografickém ústavu 2026-03-09
flagGrenobleLa Turbine CoopDécouverte d’OpenStreetMap 2026-03-09
flag臺北市MozSpace TaipeiOpenStreetMap x Wikidata Taipei #86 2026-03-09
flagHamburgVoraussichtlich: “Variable”, Karolinenstraße 23Hamburger Mappertreffen 2026-03-10
flagCorkLogitech, Cork, IrelandLogitech Missing Maps – Office Mapathon 2026-03-11
flagRestonGeorge Mason University, HUB VIP 3The GAIN Mapathon 2026-03-11
flagZürichBitwäscherei Zürich185. OSM-Stammtisch Zürich 2026-03-11
flagZürichSchweizerisches Rotes KreuzMissing Maps Zürich Mapathon 2026-03-11
flagMilanoBuilding 3A Ground Floor – Politecnico di MilanoPoliMappers Maptedì 2026-03-12
flagBerlinDieselhaus, Forum a. d. Museumsinsel 10213. OSM-Stammtisch Berlin-Brandenburg 2026-03-12
flagMünchenWikiMUCMünchner OSM-Treffen 2026-03-12
flagMagrathea Laboratories Chaos Computer Club FuldaOSM-Tools: Wenn die Welt zur Spielwiese wird 2026-03-13
flagLeuvenRomaanse PoortCamera’s in kaart brengen 2026-03-14
Missing Maps London: (Online) Mid-Month Mapathon [eng] 2026-03-17
flagLyonTubàRéunion du groupe local de Lyon 2026-03-17
flagBonnDotty’s198. OSM-Stammtisch Bonn 2026-03-17
flagOnlineLüneburger Mappertreffen (online) 2026-03-17
flagMJC de VienneRéunion des contributeurs de Vienne (38) 2026-03-18
Online Mapathon – Ärzte ohne Grenzen 2026-03-18
flagStainach-PürggOnline20. Österreichischer OSM-Stammtisch (online) 2026-03-18
flagHeidelbergDEZERNAT#16Rhein-Neckar OSM Treffen // Intro iD-Editor 2026-03-19
flagOlomoucPřírodovědecká fakulta Univerzity PalackéhoMissing Maps Day Olomouc 2026 2026-03-21
flagFrühlingsmapping 2026 2026-03-22
Missing Maps : Mapathon en ligne – CartONG [fr] 2026-03-23

Note:
If you like to see your event here, please put it into the OSM calendar. Only data which is there, will appear in weeklyOSM.

This weeklyOSM was produced by PierZen, Raquel IVIDES DATA, Strubbl, Andrew Davidson, barefootstache, derFred, izen57, s8321414.
We welcome link suggestions for the next issue via this form and look forward to your contributions.