The following is an article I wrote originally for The Borneo Post newspaper, hence my focus on Sarawak, but I have adapted it for you to read here as it is applicable wherever you are on our planet:

OpenStreetMap for Sarawak and Beyond

Get out and about and have some fun and leisurely time mapping your locality, or mapping anywhere else on the planet that takes your fancy, it’s gratifying, easy to do and benefits everyone.

What it is

There is a global geographic information and mapping project called OpenStreetMap, OSM for short. It relies on individuals like you to edit the map with additions, updates and corrections and to collect ground truth data and supply local knowledge to create a map that has a greater level of detail than Google, Bing or Yahoo maps and is often as good or better than official or commercially produced maps. Furthermore OSM is usually more up to date as changes can be implemented quickly by people like yourself.

You can find the project at http://www.openstreetmap.org/ (there is a similar project at http://www.fosm.org/ ).

I first heard about the OSM project via the open source community and Linux user group meetings whilst in the UK, from whom I discovered there are numerous keen mappers around the globe who have contributed a significant amount of detail that you see on the maps.

Importance

OpenStreetMap is important for a number of reasons; it is used in SatNav satellite navigation systems, so by keeping the map up to date these navigation systems can keep you and others on the correct route. For example, if a road nearby is temporarily closed for a few weeks, for major repairs, you can edit the map to mark the road as closed for the duration of the work.

A navigation app that can benefit from your mapping efforts is the excellent OsmAnd map and navigation system for Android and Apple devices, it is available via the usual app stores and from F-Droid (F-Droid provides vetted Free and Open Source Software applications for the Android platform).

Another important use is in humanitarian operations; you may have heard of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, HOT. When a disaster strikes a global network of thousands of HOT volunteers mobilise to map the areas impacted and update OpenStreetMap. They make use of donated aerial and satellite imagery of before and after a disaster and input from relief workers on the ground, thus making OSM a great aid to the humanitarian relief. Their efforts were especially valuable to the rescue and relief teams after the Haiti, Nepal and Mexico earthquakes and in other crises, such as the ebola outbreak in West Africa, mapping refugee camps, volcanic eruption, hurricane or flood devastated areas.

For other important reports and uses of OSM search, for example, the BBC website, for news items about openstreetmap.

Getting started

Creating an OSM account simply needs you to specify an email address and password, so that you can login to edit the map.

Editing the map is really easy to do as the website has in-browser editors, called iD and Potlatch, which are reasonably intuitive to use. However it is worth familiarising yourself first and to help you learn OSM mapping you may like to view the learnOSM website.

If you are working from an Android tablet computer then Vespucci, is an excellent OSM editor that is easy to use, providing you read the instructions.

What to add

There is a huge amount of detail that you can add, depending on your time and enthusiasm. For example tree species, size and other details may be added, overhead wires, walls, fences, gates, bridges, grassed areas, banks, your favourite coffee shop, manhole cover locations, fire hydrants and much more, not forgetting the open drains.

For some reason Malaysia is obsessed with open drains, but using an underground pipe would be more effective, efficient, safer, cleaner, more hygienic and less costly.

For navigation purposes it’s important to ensure roads, tracks, footpaths, cycleways etc. all link up correctly and details of name, width, direction and surface material may also help, especially for cyclists or wheelchair users.

There have been many changes to Sarawak in recent years, sadly with much destruction of the flora and fauna thus creating a sterile and lifeless areas, consequently there are many updates and additions required on OSM.

As a related aside, I don't know why so called development cannot integrate with the natural environment rather than destroying it, it would result in a better quality of life and environment for us all to live in. It would be good to leave some avenues of trees and small pockets of forest, the canopy of trees can keep car parks, vehicles and streets cooler, thus reducing fuel costs and energy required for air conditioning.

To aid your mapping you can use the GPS (Global Positioning System) location receiver built in to your mobile phone or tablet computer to find the location coordinates of trees and objects. The OsmAnd app has an option to allow you to capture GPS tracks. These can later be uploaded to the OSM website and overlaid on the map editor to assist you with edits. Under some objects, such as trees, GPS may not work well so can walk around the perimeter of an object to form a GPS track loop to estimate its location.

However when using the editors, satellite or aerial imagery may be displayed as a background image as a guide for you to add your mapping detail, so GPS location data is less critical than it used to be.

From where to do your mapping

You do not have to physically be in the same place that you are mapping, although it helps; My first foray into OSM mapping was of Kuching in Sarawak, an area I knew well having spent much time there. There was nothing on OpenStreetMap of this area a few years ago, until I made the first edits from the comfort of my accommodation in the UK, since then others have contributed a tremendous amount of detail and it is now possible to use a SatNav satellite navigation system with OSM based applications, such as OsmAnd, to find your way around, but there is still much detail to add.

At this time of writing Google Maps still have more detail of the Kuching area and Sarawak than OSM, but with your help OSM can overtake, as it has done in other areas of the world. You may even receive some cryptocurrency for your efforts, in the form of Bitcoin, if you register on the OsmAnd Live website.

So if there is place you know well get out and about, explore your environment and indulge in some mapping of your planet.

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[As a footnote I would like to pay tribute to the late Roland Duncan Klabu, amongst his many achievements he was a journalist and former head of the newsroom and newsreader at Cats Radio, despite serious illness that lead to his demise he proofread this article for me suggesting amendments and improvements.
Dear Roland you are remembered with honour.]