Well, it seems that without an end result, then participation will fall off. If the objective is to discuss how OSM can be better, then the result will/should be a better OSM.
However, the real issue with humanitarian mapping is audience. Who is the audience? and What do I get out of participating?
Right now the audience is us, and the likelihood of impacting the ‘aid world’ from this venue seems slim at best. So, I’m a bit lost on the purpose of it all.
I have been trying to offer a different solution for some years, but no one really wants to talk about it, I’m guessing because it’s more than ‘just’ a mapping platform. In fact, in my thing, mapping isn’t explicitly performed, but all the things we’d ever want on a map are provided and the data originator (people) is always in control of what’s viewed.
I see a real growing need for tools that protect sovereignty.
So long as we are throwing messages in a bottle, out into the wild, hoping someone with influence will pay attention and do something about … whatever, then it seems like we’ll never feel like we are winning. Involving yourself with Aid and governance almost always involves compromises, not the least of which is loss of control over one’s data. These days, identity is a big deal and cannot be adequately protected by any central ‘service’.
So, I guess my questions could become topics, but that might sound more like “why are we here?” which isn’t something I’ve seen talked about much.
What is the chance this group will influence the way UN and UNOCHA does business? Will it change how HHI trains aid workers to never tell humans what’s being shipped and when it will arrive? Will it end the colonialist mindset that has completely infected the major organizations across the world?
I feel the only way to regain personal control of data is to ensure that whatever citizens output is completely secured to their control by the very tooling that is used to share information. Once you have that though, you are actually creating a ‘full identity’ solution, which the world and crypto has been seeking desperately. But… if we were able to pull that off, then the participation rate would be insane because there’s no other service offering sovereign protection to individuals.
I’ve described my ideas a bit here: https://github.com/om-design/receipt-chain/issues/2
