Friends,
I am very happy to announce that we have officially joined the OpenStreetMap United Kingdom Community Interest Company (more generally known as “OSM UK”) as a corporate member!
OSM UK is the new legal entity to undertake interests that benefit the OSM community across the UK (in this case also including the Channel Islands and Isle of Man, though they are not technically part of the UK. It’s complicated.) OSM UK is also a local chapter of the OpenStreetMap Foundation (of which we’re also proud to be a corporate member).
OSM UK’s published goals are to
* Increase the quality and quantity of data about the UK in OpenStreetMap.
* Improve and increase the size, skills, toolsets and cohesion of the OpenStreetMap community in the United Kingdom.
* Promote and facilitate the use of OpenStreetMap data by individuals and organisations in the United Kingdom.
* Promote and facilitate the release by organisations in the United Kingdom of data that is suitable for use in OpenStreetMap.
All of which are goals we are delighted to support.
OpenStreetMap was originally started in London almost fifteen years ago, and continues to have very active communities around the UK. A good example is the recent interview we published with the makers of openstreetmap.cymru, but there are many others. If you are a member of the UK community (or just someone who wants to support open geographic data) we encourage you to join OSM UK.
At the next #geomob (the regular London geo dev event we organise) on April 25th Adam Hoyle, one of the OSM UK directors, will be speaking about OSM UK. If you are in London please come along to learn more.
Happy geocoding,