Organised Editing/Activities/TomTom
About TomTom
TomTom has been making edits in OpenStreetMap through Organised Editing since 2021. More information about the company can be found on this page.
Project Creation
When we create new organized editing projects, we consider several factors:
- Is there a similar project or activity already in existence that might duplicate or conflict with what we are considering?
- Are there appropriate sources, such as recent clear imagery, available for the relevant region?
- Is the project a reasonable size with tasks logically grouped?
- Do the tasks align with local capturing rules?
Prior to creating tasks for our editing projects, we analyze the OSM data to pinpoint possible gaps, inconsistencies, or other potential issues. For some projects, we use sampling to manually validate a selection of tasks within a new project to help maintain accuracy and quality.
Editing Requirements
Our organised editors are careful to ensure that their edits are accurate and compliant with all relevant OSM guidelines.
- Sources such as recent aerial or street level imagery or other community recommended local sources are checked to ensure accuracy of edits, and only edits that are clearly supported by these sources are uploaded to OSM.
- The OSM wiki is checked to ensure an edit follows both general guidelines and local conventions.
- Each changeset references the sources used and is accompanied by a comment that explains the edit made in clear, simple language following OSM changeset guidelines.
- When members of the community comment on our changesets, someone on our team (usually the original editor) responds in a timely manner.
Editing Projects
Below is an overview of all editing projects launched in OSM by TomTom. Apart from that, TomTom regularly contributes to other MapRoulette challenges, Tasking Manager projects and Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) projects.
Map Data Improvements
To improve the map quality, we propose to make edits by sharing and editing several types of projects (see Types of Activity) for most countries in the world (see Geographical Scope) using both MapRoulette and Tasking Manager tools.
If the community deems a challenge more suitable to be solved without organised help, we will leave it for local users interested in completing the tasks.
Geographical Scope
Data improvements are made in the following countries. Occasionally, editing challenges may be targeted at specific states, districts or metropolitan areas.
Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Ghana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kuwait, Laos, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, North Macedonia, Oman, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal , Qatar, Republic of the Congo, Réunion,Romania , Rwanda, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, São Tomé and Príncipe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore , Sint Maarten, Slovakia, Slovenia , Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Türkiye, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Types of Activity
MapRoulette Challenges
We are using MapRoulette to share challenges focused on capturing missing features; modifying already existing ones or fixing data errors as listed below. We in part get inspired by Atlas checks, overpass queries and osmose output. The types of activities depend on the country (see Geographical Scope).
- Add Highways
- Connect Isolated Highways
- Add Surface to Highway
- Fix Duplicated Highways
- Add roundabout tag
- Add Land Use
- Add Buildings
- Fix Building and Highway Intersections
- Fix Highway and Water Intersections
- Add Water Features
- Fix Inconsistent Bridge and Tunnel Tagging
- Fix Inconsistent Highway Intersections
- Add Access Tag
- Inconsistencies in Exits and Signposts
- Route Numbers Inconsistencies
- Fix Incorrect Highway Junctions
- Fix Intersecting Buildings
- Fix Incorrect Junctions on Roundabouts
- Check Small Area Features
- Add/Check Crossing Between Railway and Highway
- Fix Building and Water Intersections
- Fix Spiky Buildings
- Fix Isolated Pedestrians’ network
- Fix Pedestrians’ Areas network
- Updating Junctions and Improving Highway Network
- Advanced Map Editing: Correct Too Short Highways
- Advanced Map Editing: Fix building self-intersections
- Advanced Map Editing: Validate and Fix Water Objects
- Fix objects without tags
- Update deprecated landuse=reservoir tags
- Fix trams’ railways and highways
- Update Speed Limits
- Add Airports types
- Add Name tag for Educational Objects
Tasking Managers Projects
Since 2023, TomTom has been using Tasking Manager tool (e.g. OpenStreetMap US Tasking Manager) to launch projects consisting of grids with task squares to be mapped. The scope of those edits includes roads, buildings and other features.
TomTom Map Feedback
Since 2023 TomTom is validating map feedback from end users for potential updates to OSM which is explained in further detail on the following page: Organised Editing/Activities/TomTom Map Feedback
Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT)
TomTom participates in HOTOSM’s Disaster and Humanitarian response as a way to be aware of response activities, communicate support capacity, and promote engagement and participation within TomTom in areas of priority and need.
Automated Edits
Our activity includes mechanical updates where appropriate and in such a way that avoids any risk of data regression. For this purpose, TomTom is using the TTmechanicalupdates bot account. All automated actions are announced in the respective communication channels while reasoning and algorithms are documented in detail on corresponding pages prior to update execution. Details about mechanical updates done by TomTom can be found here: Automated edits/TTmechanicalupdates.
Virtual Projects
Virtual Projects offer a flexible way to organize diverse challenges into ad-hoc project groupings. In the future, we may create Virtual Projects to take advantage of this, based on dedicated feature improvements, error resolution, or any other reasons leading to enhanced OSM data.
- Unusual and missing buildings challenges
We gather challenges related to missing and unusual buildings – their size and shape are doubtful, hence we see value in solving related issues and improving rendering and display experience of buildings in OSM data.
Cultural and Sporting Events
This collaborative mapping project, introduced by TomTom, aims to ensure the correctness and completeness of OpenStreetMap data worldwide for countries hosting international, national and regional cultural and sports events.
For your reference and review: if you want to participate in this project, you can find it here
Tools
JOSM and iD Editor. Standard tools within the editor and public information.
Data Sources
Our team always starts with searching for the latest local sources, however, if up-to-date local imagery is not available, we may make use of other sources. See examples below:
- Esri World Imagery
- Bing Maps Aerial
- Other ESRI World Clarity (Beta)
- Mapbox Imagery
For some OSM map edits TomTom editors will use proprietary sources for support. This will typically be the case in situations where there is not sufficient evidence using the available sources in OSM editors themselves. The proprietary sources will be ground-level imagery and GPS traces, both collected by TomTom's mobile mapping vans. On occasion, we will also use sources collected from a field survey by one of TomTom's sourcing specialists who have visited the location and collected data to support the required map updates. We will gladly share screenshots of those sources for viewing by anyone interested.
Editing Team
Apart from a small dedicated editing team, many other TomTom team members do personal mapping in OpenStreetMap as a hobby. They are not listed here. In addition, some of the mappers listed here do not edit exclusively for TomTom; some of their edits will be in pursuit of their own mapping interests.
| username | role |
|---|---|
| sbaido | project manager |
| Mapiate | coordinator |
| changio | coordinator |
| Hajar-El | project manager |
| CasGroenigen | coordinator |
| spughetti_tomtom | coordinator |
| unenTT | coordinator |
| vtrtsxlegend | coordinator |
| SupanchatMetta | coordinator |
| Natasha963 | coordinator |
| Lolek123 | coodinator |
| DomiAr | project manager |
| SK@_TT | coordinator |
| ahirek | project manager |
| TTCHLOE | coordinator |
| Bert_vm | editor |
| Tabzi | editor* / team lead |
| Tomek_Koz | project administrator |
| KasiaaBaa | project administrator |
| Priscilla_Zachée | editor |
| Ziad_abdalhamed | editor |
| MMersch_TT | editor |
| Cotelabarca | editor |
| DarioS_TT | editor |
| Sebasawk | editor* |
| dazzlep | editor* |
| Geo_Cop | editor* / team lead |
| Ra_colate | editor* |
| Swihail | editor* |
| BR_pebble | editor* |
| NumisK | editor* |
| Crick_RN | editor* |
| melody_Tej | editor |
| Ky_AT | editor* |
| optimistic9 | editor* |
| 007Transformer | editor* |
| syazici | editor |
| BerkU_ | editor |
| Captain_America_802 | editor |
| NewEngland_CountryGirl | editor |
| TT_Chili_King | editor |
| Training_Queen | editor |
| darylcav | editor |
| David_TT | editor |
| aramis_TT | editor |
| whitepanda | editor* |
| Szumisia | editor |
| Archi_Ma | editor* |
| Flamen_Sru | editor* |
| ajmat | editor* |
| rajdhani | editor* |
| Wildsharky | editor* |
| Murrumbidgee | editor* |
| Metauro | editor* |
| Kaduna | editor* |
| Brentar | editor* |
| Gorger | editor* |
| World_Winner | editor* |
| MG_TT | editor |
| dwarfs_rule | editor |
| ShadowSeeker_TT | editor |
| Tomasz_D | editor |
| EZ_TT | editor |
| WayWise | editor |
| Wayfinder9 | editor |
| Fighter_Hulk | editor |
| Dwight-Schrute | editor |
| Nitz1981 | editor |
| Madi-Red | editor* |
| Fil_Vim | editor* |
| Nar_ach | editor* |
| Tinetto | editor* |
| Sammamish | editor* |
| Shel_Sri | editor* |
| Saint_Vincent | editor* |
| Shre_WD | editor* |
| Pan_Nug | editor* |
| Bod_Ger | editor* |
| Byenin | editor* |
* next to the user role indicates those editors who are full time.
Hashtags
Current practice is to use the #tomtom hashtag on edits. Edits based on user feedback additionally have the hashtag #tt_mapfeedback.
#tt is a hashtag that has been used for TomTom’s edits in the past.
TomTom is actively organizing mapping events. All edits made during those events are distinguished by the hashtag #tt_events.
Community Consultation
We contact the community about all organised editing projects using the preferred communication channel.
Timeframe
We started making data improvements to OSM through organised editing in 2021. We plan to continue making these improvements on an ongoing basis for the foreseeable future.
Measuring our Success and Performance
We perform quality checks to ensure that the changesets made by our editors are accurate, add value to the map, and meet community guidelines. For each quality check, a live editor double checks the following elements of the changeset under review:
- Did the editor follow the instructions in the challenge and task description?
- Does the completed changeset fit the scope of the project/challenge/task?
- Did the editor use the correct task status?
- Did the editor correctly use the appropriate hashtags?
- Is the edited map data accurate, according to the applicable source material?
- Does the changeset follow all country-specific capturing methods on the OSM wiki pages?
- Are the changeset comments clear and accurate?
- Was there any community feedback, and, if so, was it implemented correctly?
These quality checks are performed in the following cases:
- 100% of changesets made by new editors are checked until at least 95% of that editor’s changesets pass the quality checks without any issues.
- 100% of changesets that are part of a new project are checked until at least 95% of that project’s changesets pass the quality checks without any issues.
Whenever a quality check uncovers an issue with a changeset, that changeset is returned to the original editor to be reworked. Once the editor resubmits the changeset, a new quality check occurs. This process repeats until the changeset passes the quality check without issues.
Training/Instructions
New editors are directed to existing OSM training materials, such as the OSM Wiki and the Help panel of the iD editor. Our team also holds regular editing parties where less experienced editors receive help and guidance from their more experienced peers.
Post-Event Clean Up
As referenced above, under Measuring Our Success and Performance, we regularly perform quality checks on our changesets. Whenever a quality check uncovers an issue with a changeset, that changeset is returned to the original editor to be reworked. Once the editor resubmits the changeset, a new quality check occurs. This process repeats until the changeset passes the quality check without issues. To ensure that no issues are missed, each changeset that successfully passes its quality check is then passed on to a second reviewer for an additional check.
Contact
If you have remarks about a specific edit of ours, please drop a comment in the changeset, and we will do our best to respond thoughtfully. Or, you can also:
- Reach out to osm@tomtom.com with any questions
- Join the conversation in the local community channels