User:Steve/AlternativeStrategicPlan

This is an alternative strategic plan originally posted here on the mailing list. It has been updated since then:

We formed OSMF to take care of the map. Let’s reset and focus on that with a strategic plan by the mappers for the mappers:

1. The website will focus on completing the map. The map currently shows the “best” view of the map, it will be changed via voluntary or paid efforts to show the “worst” view of the map to encourage completion, like in the beginning when it was blank, and it led to huge efforts to fill the map in:
   1. We will decide what the main thing to complete is. For example, if we decide it’s address data then we will do the following:
      1. OSM will only render roads with a new tag “addr:complete", where mappers manually will have to mark roads as address complete. All other roads will be translucent. This will immediately make the map go nearly blank/translucent and create a large global project to finish addressing, which is the main thing missing in OSM.
      2. Once complete, we will take similar steps to map, for example, PoIs and only show roads will all PoIs added.
   2. OSM will render features older than 24 months as translucent to encourage refreshing and revisiting. A tag “feature:verified_2023” or equivalent will be used to do this, along with the last edit date of the feature.
   3. Map notes will be turned on by default.
   4. Social and map quality features will be built in to osm.org which will drive engagement and mapping towards completion, for example alerting users to edits or routing problems near where they edit.[2]
   5. Leaderboards of editors, countries, states, regions and counties will be front and center to encourage editing, for example percentage of “addr:complete” roads per country.
2. Funding will focus on completing the map:
   1. By having a clear metrics-based plan above we can seek funding to build specific tools and features towards map completion.
   2. A paid “OpenStreetMap Approved” program will standardize corporate membership by certifying a company uses OSM data in a way that respects the license and community.
   3. A certified version of OSM will be released quarterly that has been semi-automatically checked for validity and correctness. Paid corporate members can be involved in the process.
3. The board will focus on completing the map:
   1. Reduce the board size and require regional representation.
   2. Board members must make a public financial and time commitment.
   3. The board will build completion metrics for the map, by using existing tools and working with companies who already have many tools, and engaging with the community. These will be the main agenda of the board meetings.
   4. All discretionary funding will go to projects and community members who build credible plans to help complete the map.

If this is interesting, I’d love feedback. We can run some BoF sessions at SOTM US, EU and Africa in July, November and December. Then SOTM Asia when it is confirmed.