Ten Years of OpenStreetMap

Exactly how does a student take on an open data political stance and transform it into "the largest crowd-sourced mapping project on the internet"?

1 minute read

August 16, 2014, 7:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell

"It’s been exactly ten years since the launch of OpenStreetMap," reports Frederic Lardinois.

To commemorate the anniversary, Lardinois interviewed OpenStreetMap founder Steve Coast, who provides insight into how the project started, gained traction, and evolved into the popular and useful resource it is today.

As a sample, here's Coast's answer to a question about the community around OpenStreeMap has changed:

"The raw numbers have gone up, but it’s also — in the beginning it was very much around open source ideology. 'Data wants to be free' and so on. But as the project grew, it’s got much more diverse. There are lots of companies involved now that want to improve the mapping experience. There is a huge variety of people now involved that wasn’t there in the beginning — and that’s a good thing."

FULL STORY: For The Love Of Open Mapping Data

Friday, August 15, 2014 in TechCrunch

Technology World OpenStreetMap Online Maps Interviews Steve Coast Maps View More

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