Welcome Mat

Welcome Mat [1] is a webpage by the OSMF Advisory Board which aims to inform corporate stakeholders of OpenStreetMap about the project. It features guides about contributing, the community, and using OSM data. The service was launched in November 2018.

Motivation

While many organisations work with OpenStreetMap as part of their business, the community did not hear from such projects until they were launched resulting in frustration and poor integration of ideas by the community. The organisations in turn often did not realise how the community and the OpenStreetMap Foundation work. As a result, some projects had a negative impact on the community even though they started with good intentions. The webpage should inform interested organisations about paths to productive cooperation with OSM.

Reception

The concept was criticised for being a separate web page instead of integration with other web pages like the official OSMF web page. Additionally, it is under control of the Advisory Board instead of Communications Working Group or the community, even though the Advisory Board claims that it mainly advises the Board of Directors upon request.

Apart from that, there has also been positive feedback on the web page.

Weblinks

• GitHub repository