The OpenStreetMap US team is gearing up for State of the Map US 2025. Before we kick off our planning efforts, we are taking a moment to look back at State of the Map US 2024. Thank you to Susanne Schroeder-Bergen, a 2024 attendee and speaker who is pursuing a PhD in digital and social geography at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany, for her reflection on the June 2024 conference in Salt Lake City.
As I was attending the State of the Map US conference in Salt Lake City this June, I often heard that a lot of people were there for the first time. I was not one of them, though. This was my second SotM US conference. Still, what is a German PhD candidate doing at a conference in the middle of the US?
To set the scene, I first got involved with OpenStreetMap (OSM) back in 2013 when I was studying Geography in Münster, Germany, and signed up for the GIS course. At the time, I had no idea that ten years later I would be pursuing a PhD at the FAU in Erlangen, Germany, in digital and political geography. And now I am also focusing my research on OSM! When I started my PhD a few years ago, my research group was mainly looking at volunteered geographic information and the strength of local knowledge, particularly in OSM but also in other projects. But I soon realized there is a lot more to OSM than just local mappers mapping local data. I got to know the whole OSM community and started focusing my research on the challenges and opportunities for the community and the project as a whole, given its growing significance and interactions with (big) companies.
I would like to revisit the question of why I returned to SotM US as a “second-timer.” Last year, I had the chance to deepen my research in the US with a Fulbright fellowship. That is also when I met folks at the SotM US in Richmond. I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to come back. To be honest, I went back to SotM US not only to present my research or say hi to them again but also to network because I’m now also open to a job.
And it was a huge success! It is always great to spend time with this community. I ran into folks I already knew from previous SotM conferences or from interviews that I conducted, but I also met lots of new people. Everyone was friendly and interested at every gathering, and sponsors were well-integrated into the programming and invested in strengthening the community. I was also really excited to have the opportunity to speak at a Birds of a Feather event during the conference. Jyotsna Budideti invited me to share insights about my work, research, and impact at the Women in Geospatial session. It was great to learn more about the network and to share insights and success stories about our personal experience in the geospatial with my co-speakers Jazzy Smith and Camilla Green as well as the audience.
What else did I take away from this SotM US 2024? I think the overall topic of the conference, “The Great Outdoors,” was well chosen. It focused a lot on trails, which I enjoyed. Walking and cycling were also a popular topic at the social events. It was great to see people from different groups—public authorities, researchers, locals, and biking enthusiasts—all coming together around this shared interest. I had some great conversations with attendees about it, and even got to go on a discovery tour with one of them to the mountains bordering the campus/venue of the conference.
I am really excited to see what the future holds for OSM. I think it’s going to be amazing! This conference has already been a great reminder of the amazing diversity of the OSM community, and how we can all come together within it. As a speaker at the last SotM US conference said, OSM is a successful multilingual project - people from all over the world are contributing. There are not many projects like that, which makes this one all the more special. I am thrilled to be part of this community and hope to continue to be part of it in the future.
Join us next summer for State of the Map 2025 in Boston! Receive updates here and view the sponsor prospectus here.
