computer science

OpenStreetMap Foundation

OpenStreetMap Foundation is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand OpenStreetMap Foundation rather than just read about it. In short: The OpenStreetMap Foundation (abbreviated OSMF) is a non-profit organisation whose aim is to support and enable the development of freely-reusable geospatial data. Founded in 2006, it is closely connected with the OpenStreetMap project, although its constitution does not prevent it supporting other projects.

Key takeaways

OpenStreetMap Foundation belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect OpenStreetMap Foundation to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of OpenStreetMap Foundation from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The OpenStreetMap Foundation (abbreviated OSMF) is a non-profit organisation whose aim is to support and enable the development of freely-reusable geospatial data. Founded in 2006, it is closely connected with the OpenStreetMap project, although its constitution does not prevent it supporting other projects.

History

The OpenStreetMap Foundation was registered in England and Wales on 22 August 2006 as a company limited by guarantee. In 2007, it held the first State of the Map conference in Manchester. In October 2009, the foundation announced that its members, rather than the OpenStreetMap contributors at large, would vote on changing OpenStreetMap's data license from Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike to the Open Database License. In 2014, the foundation began accepting corporate memberships in an "associate member" (nonvoting) category. The initial corporate members were Geofabrik, Geotab, Naver, NextGIS, and Mapbox. In 2017, the foundation started giving corporate sponsors of a certain level to have a seat on the advisory board. In 2018, GlobalLogic was implicated in a coordinated effort to sign up employees as individual members. Active contributors membership program was introduced in August 2020. As per this active contributors to OpenStreetMap through editing (at least 42 active days in the latest period of one year) or off-line activities can apply for free of cost membership. They will have voting rights for electing board members. In June 2021, the foundation stated that the effects of Brexit have prompted them to consider a move back into the European Union due to issues with database rights, difficulties with getting charitable status for the foundation, and the increasing difficulty of using PayPal and banking in the United Kingdom. The foundation has not announced the location of its new headquarters. As of February 2024, the candidates for relocation are Belgium and Luxembourg. By the end of 2022, the foundation had recognized 18 local chapters worldwide, including OSM Austria, supporting regional growth and community engagement.

Governance The OpenStreetMap Foundation is a membership organization. Membership in the foundation is separate from a user account on the OpenStreetMap website: a user account is required to contribute to the map, while foundation membership entitles one to vote at a general meeting. The foundation is run by a board of seven members, including the foundation's officers: chairman, secretary and treasurer. Several working groups, composed mostly of volunteers, carry out day-to-day operations on behalf of the foundation:

Data Working Group – counter vandalism and dispute resolution Communication Working Group Engineering Working Group Legal or Licensing Working Group – trademark and licensing issues Local Chapters Working Group Membership Working Group Operations Working Group State of the Map Organizing Committee Several local chapters are affiliated with the OpenStreetMap Foundation. The local chapter for Italy is Wikimedia Italia, which is also a chapter of the Wikimedia Foundation.

Programs and initiatives

The OpenStreetMap Foundation promotes and supports the OpenStreetMap project, but does not formally own the project or its contents. The foundation's relatively low profile in OpenStreetMap's development has been contrasted with the Wikimedia Foundation's relationship to Wikipedia. In addition to day-to-day operations within the OpenStreetMap project, the foundation and its working groups run several initiatives to promote the project's growth. Its annual State of the Map conference is the flagship conference within the OpenStreetMap community. The GPStogo program lends GPS receivers to mappers in developing countries.

Notable people Steve Coast – former board chairman emeritus; founder of OpenStreetMap Allan Mustard – former board member; retired U.S. ambassador

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with OpenStreetMap Foundation

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what OpenStreetMap Foundation claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to OpenStreetMap Foundation before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about OpenStreetMap Foundation ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of OpenStreetMap Foundation

In research: OpenStreetMap Foundation appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses OpenStreetMap Foundation in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: OpenStreetMap Foundation is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2006 establishments in England, Companies based in the West Midlands (county), Free software project foundations, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for OpenStreetMap Foundation outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study OpenStreetMap Foundation in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what OpenStreetMap Foundation means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain OpenStreetMap Foundation out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is OpenStreetMap Foundation in simple terms?

Why does OpenStreetMap Foundation matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study OpenStreetMap Foundation?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on OpenStreetMap Foundation.