I’d like to know wheather there is a handling with critical infrastructure in OSM. As fare as I know, I can map whatever is verifiable on the ground. Is it wrong if I map critical infrastructure by that way (I’m thinking about electrical infrastructure and their details). I heared the opinion that people who want that information get these information (because they have the money or the power to collect the data). The difference by collecting the data and make it FOSS by publishing it via OSM is that the data is collected and could be used by everyone. I think thats a valid point.
Further more it is difficult to divide, what could be mapped, what not as it is critical infrastructure.
What do you think? Have there been discussions in the community?
You want to take care about what you are legally allowed to “survey” in your country and what is allowed to be “collected” in UK and EU (Terms of Use - OpenStreetMap Foundation).
Though the first issue is just you private one. OSM does not mind, whether the law in your country permits the collection of data.Best example is China, where OSM has no license from the government and therefore is not allowed to collect geo data. Still you will find data in OSM
in some cases it may be illegal / legal / disliked / liked / have good consequences / have bad consequences / have no consequences / multiple of previously listed.
Impact and result of all above will highly depend on location and circumstances.
There is huge difference between mapping infrastructure in $POOR_COUNTRY and data being used by government workers to maintain infrastructure because country is so dysfunctional that official data does not exist.
And live mapping thermal power plant being bombed where sole effect is to make battle-damage-assessment easier for $INVADING_COUNTRY and to allow for more effective bombing.
This is currently challenged in several countries around the world.
OSM is actually providing useful feedback to many companies, especially utilities ones.
It’s because every single actor can’t be accurate on its own when it comes to deal with dense and capillary infrastructure.
Solving the complex question of should or don’t about knowledge management of infrastructure is about compromise and balance between benefits and risks.
I’m mentioning this diary as well, about ontology. Particularly the most power business one is observed and used in several national workgroups to define professional data models, because we had been pushing forward correctly for years. It’s all about input, feedback and refinement. I’ve made several presentations on the matter, notably this one back at SOTM-EU 2023
companies maintaining fire hydrants and firefighters in Poland use OSM data about fire hydrant locations, as there is no government maintained registry that is working and covering this info (at least when I verified it last time)
there is also no database of AED in Poland superior to what is mapped in OSM
national agency for building and maintaining road network regularly uses OSM-based maps both in public facing announcements and in more official documents (mostly as basemap)
OSM-based maps are also used by rail operators, minor local road agencies, local government, police and so on
OSM-based basemap was seen already in use in volcano monitoring centers, military ads, military software used in active war zones or used by water utilities and firefighters.
In Poland import of level crossing ref data was done by people associated with company making software for firefighters that at that time was powered by OSM data.
