In our second Public Domain Map pilot, OpenStreetMap US is partnering with North Carolina Emergency Management to refresh building footprints in Cumberland County. Volunteer mappers can help improve public safety by contributing directly to the government data creation process. The data will also be made available for use in OpenStreetMap.
How to participate
Mapping is coordinated on the OpenStreetMap US Tasking Manager. Currently, a second account is required to map with Public Domain Map. This workflow will be improved in the future so mappers can seamlessly use their OpenStreetMap account to map with Public Domain Map.
- Sign up for OpenStreetMap or log in if you already have an account. This is required only to sign in to Tasking Manager.
- Sign up for a Public Domain Map account. (This looks very similar to the OpenStreetMap registration but is separate.)
- Visit task #495 on the OpenStreetMap US Tasking Manager.
- Press “Contribute” and sign in to Tasking Manager with your OpenStreetMap account.
- On the task selection screen, press “Map a task”.
- Improve building footprints following the task instructions.
- Save your changes with your Public Domain Map account.
- Submit your task.
Thank you for getting involved! For more information, contact info@publicdomainmap.org or visit the #publicdomainosm channel in the OSM US Slack.
About Public Domain Map
Public Domain Map is a new collaborative mapping tool from OpenStreetMap US that allows map contributors across the United States to edit and contribute to government datasets. The goal of this work is to leverage the power of crowdsourcing to improve public data, which in turn creates data that can be conflated into OpenStreetMap. Developed in collaboration with federal partners, Public Domain Map is designed to multiply the impact of volunteer mappers contributing to the public good by combining crowdsourcing efforts. Using familiar tools and workflows, volunteers will contribute map data that is approved by agencies before publishing to OpenStreetMap and government datasets. As a result, volunteer-contributed data can be leveraged by a greater number of agencies, citizens, companies, and nonprofits to better inform decision-making.
About OpenStreetMap US
OpenStreetMap US is a US-based nonprofit working to support and grow OpenStreetMap—the free, open-source map of the world created by volunteers all over the globe—in the United States. Since 2020, OpenStreetMap US has been an official local chapter of the global OpenStreetMap Foundation.
