OpenStreetMap did not come out of a European research programme. It was not created as a policy instrument, nor was it designed from the top down to support institutional priorities.
Yet many of the ideas behind OpenStreetMap are now central to European strategies on data, digital transformation, innovation and technological sovereignty.
Openness, reuse, collaboration, trusted digital infrastructure, digital commons and technological autonomy are all important elements of current EU policy. They are also principles that have shaped OpenStreetMap for more than twenty years.
The OpenStreetMap Foundation is interested in opportunities to collaborate in EU-funded projects.
OpenStreetMap can make a practical contribution in areas such as digital commons and digital sovereignty.
This post is aimed mainly at people who are developing, or considering de...

Did you miss the call for general and OSM Science presentations? Fret not! You can still present your project and initiatives at State of the Map 2026! The Call for Posters for SotM 2026 is now open!

Your poster could show how well your community is mapped. It could be a new beautiful style or a map. It could be a community project or statistics, or a poster explaining and inviting people to  OpenStreetMap. The important thing is that it is about OSM. We also welcome academic  posters on research around OpenStreetMap data.

For inspiration, you can check out the SotM 2025 posters – https://2025.stateofthemap.org/posters/

The OpenStreetMap Foundation (OSMF) Board of Directors is excited to share this blog post with all of our community members. From June 6th-7th, members of the Board of Directors Craig Allan (Chair), Dani Waltersdorfer Jimenez (Secretary), Roland Olbricht (Treasurer), Héctor Ochoa Ortiz, Laura Mugeha, Maurizio Napolitano, and facilitator Allen Gunn (also known as Gunner), met for two full working days in Madrid to discuss and tackle priorities and action items that need to be accomplished in the next 12 months. Amongst the discussed topics are a fundraising campaign, the “reviving” of the Communications Working Group (CWG), a new job posting which will be shared in the next coming months, the OSMF move to the European Union (EU), the launch of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) policy, and other topics. It is truly a pleasure to work with a team that is aligned on shared values including trust and respect, who are pushing for the success of a shared passion: the OpenStreetMap proje...

From 28th April to 1st May 2026, I attended the Geospatial World Forum (GWF) 2026, representing the OpenStreetMap Foundation. The GWF is an annual forum attended mostly by companies and public administration delegates in the geospatial domain. Henk Hoff, all the way back in 2013, was the last OSMF representative attending the GWF, when we received the award for “Geospatial Content Organisation of the year 2012”. So it was long overdue that OSM’s voice could be heard in this professional setting.

We’re excited to invite bids for the next State of the Map conference, taking place in 2027. This is a unique opportunity to partner with us and host the conference in your city!

Whether you’re passionate about maps, data, or shaping the future of  OpenStreetMap (OSM), the community is always looking for your inspiring ideas! Why not sharing them during State of the Map 2026?

The State of the Map Organizing Committee provides a Travel Grant Programme (TGP) to facilitate accessibility and diversity at the global SotM 2026 Conference, which will happen in Paris, France, August 28-30. 

Taking into consideration the success of last year, the programme will also dedicate a portion of the budget available to support remote attendance (e.g. by providing access to a reliable internet connection) for those who cannot travel to Paris because of imposed restrictions, travel costs, or other reasons.

The call for applications to the Travel Grant Programme will be open until 1st March 12:00 UTC.

Following the call for applications launched in April, we are thrilled to announce the results of the State of the Map 2025 Travel Grant Programme. This initiative aims to support contributors who may face challenges in attending the global OpenStreetMap conference, which will be held in Manila, Philippines, from October 3rd to 5th, 2025.

The Travel Grant Programme is a part of the OpenStreetMap Foundation’s ongoing commitment to making State of the Map more inclusive, diverse, and globally representative. By providing financial assistance, the programme enables community members from various regions and backgrounds to participate in the conference, both in person and online.

Having hosted the Olympic Games, Paris is now preparing to welcome another international gathering centered on community, openness, and diversity. Like the sporting disciplines themselves, OpenStreetMap’s mapping covers a multitude of themes and territories. Nature and hiking enthusiasts will find a space for expression there, as well as professionals in the field of geographic data. 

On 4-6 September, we attended the State of the Map Latam 2025, the Latin American OpenStreetMap conference. This year marked the 7th edition, taking place for the first time in Colombia, in the vibrant city of Medellín. Medellín has been a model of urban transformation and community-led projects in the last couple of decades, with the conference venue being a perfect example of this. The Parque Biblioteca San Javier was the first Lire la suite →

The community voting for the OpenStreetMap Awards 2025 is open! During the call for nominees, you submitted more than a hundred of them. Then, a number of active community members have prepared a shorter list. Now it is again your turn: choose who gets an award during State of the Map in Manila.

We have 28 nominees to choose from 7 categories:

Voting for the 2025 board election has started. You can read the board candidates’ answers and manifestos here.

Emails were sent to eligible OSM Foundation members today, and link directly to the voting page – listing each candidate in random order and allowing you to rank the candidates in order of preference.

by Minh Nguyễn
Core Software Development Facilitator, OpenStreetMap Foundation

In June, I had the privilege of representing OpenStreetMap as part of the Sovereign Tech Agency’s delegation at UN Open Source Week in New York City. Joining me was Sarah Hoffmann, who maintains several well-known OSM software projects. This was a unique opportunity to raise OSM’s profile among global institutional supporters of open source projects and promote best practices for fostering and sustaining authentic open source communities.

Did you miss the call for general and OSM Science presentations? Fret not! You can still present your project and initiatives at State of the Map 2025! The Call for Posters for SotM 2025 is now open!

Your poster could show how well your community is mapped. It could be a new beautiful style or a map. It could be a community project or statistics, or a poster explaining and inviting people to OpenStreetMap. The important thing is that it is about OSM. We also welcome academic posters on research around OpenStreetMap data.

For inspiration, you can check out the SotM 2024 posters – https://2024.stateofthemap.org/posters/

We are happy to announce the deployment of Vector Tiles on OpenStreetMap Foundation servers and the publication of the layer on the OSM website! We have been working hard to bring you a fresh look to OSM data, paired with exciting technological upgrades.

We’re excited to invite bids for the next State of the Map conference, taking place in 2026. This is a unique opportunity to partner with us and host the conference in your city!