In August 2004, Steve Coast, back then a physics student at UCL, came up with an initiative to create free, editable maps of UK. Like most many things, OpenStreetMap started small. And, even Google with huge investments, cannot match the scale and the power local knowledge of the OSM community. Also, most of the time they only capable of publishing results on a particular schedule and cannot do it every second, as OSM does. Businesses are bound to mapping data that are profitable to sell. This would not be possible with any existing commercial provider. OpenStreetMap volunteers mapping Haiti after 2010 earthquake And when you contribute to Google Maps - well, all changes you make belong to Google, and it is up to Google to decide who and how can use that data. The main difference is - if you contribute to OSM, data belong to you and OSM community, and stay free and open for everybody, under creative commons license. The company introduced Google Map Maker, with familiar OSM-like interface, to allow people around the world to contribute. In fact, OpenStreetMap became so successful that Google had to play a "catch-up" game. No long formalities, no expensive licenses or equipment - anyone with a computer and Internet access could join and start making the world better.įirst 10 years of OpenStreetMap mapping progress It helped to demystify cartography and geography as a science and has given everyone the possibility and tools needed to contribute. OpenStreetMap managed to disrupt the industry and change all of that in just a few years. Most of the time, they were not in a position to know how well data they map reflecting the reality, to validate and timely update them. Mapping itself was done primarily by the teams of GIS specialists. Back then map data were controlled by commercial organizations and governments, hard to use and expensive to buy. OpenStreetMap project was started in 2004. And as Facebook, Uber, Microsoft and thousands of others are utilizing OSM data in their products, almost anyone can be counted as OSM user, direct or indirect. In 2019, OpenStreetMap with its more than 5 000 000 members and more than than 1 200 000 contributors is clearly the biggest and most successful crowd-sourced mapping project in human history. Driving route from Berlin to Potsdam, Germany, calculated on OSM data
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