Several months ago, when I began working as the OSMF’s Core Software Development Facilitator, I went around talking to various people in this community who are closely involved with OSM’s core software stack and other related software projects. Pretty much everyone had a personal wishlist of things they’d push for or work on if only they had the time and energy. I tried to collect/collate/distill my notes into something more organized.
Gradually, these notes became something resembling a software roadmap, which I’ve published as a separate repository for reference. The scope of this roadmap is for 2026 going into 2027.
A proper roadmap can benefit a software project in several ways. Prospective contributors can feel more confident investigating and working on prioritized features. Maintainers can more easily justify accepting a contribution that implements what’s on the roadmap, or turn it down or ask for modifications if it conflicts with the general direction expressed in the roadmap. Users like you will see fewer surprises when we recap the month’s changes. Prospective donors get a better sense of our current ambition, which can start a discussion about what their additional funds would accomplish for the project. Assuming I did a decent job of it, anyways.
I have to admit, publishing a roadmap related to OSM is a daunting prospect. As an overall community, we don’t all agree on a shared vision for the site, its audience, or its future. As is, the document is already quite ambitious for a year or two, yet it omits so many desirable things this community will quickly remind me of. Still, I hope this will serve as a valuable discussion piece as we have the necessary debates about the project’s overall goals.
The difference between a roadmap and a wishlist is a deliberate scope and a plan to act upon the contents. Think of this as a plan (subject to change like any other plan). Not everything will be finished or even started, but we have enough buy-in from maintainers and other stakeholders to at least begin the groundwork for many of these items. If you have any interest in seeing these ideas come to fruition, you can find a related issue on the issue tracker for openstreetmap-website, cgimap, etc. and start moving it forward with investigation or discussion. Or you can reach out to me directly and I’ll try to provide context and offer some guidance.
Many of these items are big and complex, require more scoping and design, and need some expertise in relevant technologies. We also have quite a backlog of bug reports and feature requests that you could potentially help with. Just remember to ask clarifying questions in the issue and get buy-in from the maintainers before sinking a lot of time and energy into a particular solution. Even if you don’t have the relevant experience, you can still follow along to understand the project more deeply.