Inclusivity at State of Map 2018

August is the Philippines’ National Language Month. So I took the time to translate this diary in my local language, Filipino/Tagalog, which can be found here. _________________

Late last year I’ve been fascinated with the concept of and started advocating about “inclusive mobility.” For me, inclusive mobility refers to a state where everyone and everybody are free to move everywhere and have access to all modes of transit, and all roads and bridges are passable.

It was amazing to see and experience the streets of Milan. I believe they have reached the state of inclusive mobility where both automobiles and differently-abled pedestrians have been taken into consideration in the transport planning process.

Getting to SotM 2018 at Politecnico di Milano…

For this year, SotM was hosted at the Politecnico di Milano. There are a lots of ways to reach the venue. maps.me suggests either by car, walking, cycling (bike share programs are available in Milan but I wasn’t able to try it :( ) or train (but no tram?). In the first day of the conference, I traveled alone because I woke up late and I didn’t want my mates to wait. But they instructed me how to go there (thank you Geoffrey and Tima!). I opted to take the subway from Republicca to Milano Centrale to Piola. At Piola, I found myself walking towards the wrong pin location and walking around the area for 40 minutes under the heat of the sun! I was so lost that I decided to ask a stranger to point me in the right direction (thank you!).

So yeah, I missed 1/4 of SotM Day 1. But good thing there are recorded videos of the whole conference which can be found in Youtube.

Inclusivity, diversity and representation…

Before writing this diary, I watched the keynote address by Kate and Heather which I missed. Heather discussed the 5 components/values of being an “open” organization/community by OpenOrg. One (1) of it is inclusivity, which she stressed to be one of the hardest part.

Inclusivity means that we cover or include all regardless of gender, race, age, religion, income status, etc. This brings us to the topic of diversity and representation. We need diversity of mappers because each of these sectors have different perspectives, values and beliefs. These perspectives, values, and beliefs are representations of the sector they belong to.

Through OSM, we are connected and bound by the same vision which is to create a free and editable map of the world. It is our shared landscape.

This is why we promote diversity, include and encourage the youth and the young at heart, etc, to make sure everyone is well-represented and visible on the map.

So for me, inclusivity in OSM is where everyone and everybody from all parts of the world are free and empowered to map.

Inclusivity at SotM 2018

I believe the SotM2018 organizers had put their best effort in making the conference an “inclusive” one. Here are some of my observations and stories regarding inclusivity at SotM 2018:

1. Participants came from 56 countries, that’s more than a fourth of all the countries in the world!
2. SotM organizers livestreamed the event for those who couldn’t come personally; and uploaded the videos on Youtube afterwards
3. Participants’ age range varied! I met Austin, who is 18 years old (I hope Heather was able to meet him too!), I also saw a young kid, maybe around 9-12 years old!
4. A wide range of talks and panel discussions presented the concept of inclusivity (I believe all talks have somehow touched the subject of and promoted the concept of inclusivity) Here are some of the general topics: * Gender diversity: Open Gender Monologues by Heather Leson (OSM) and The road towards diversity in OSM still needs to be mapped by Celine Jacquin (Geochicas) must be noted * Differently-abled persons: persons with disabilities, youthmappers, displaced communities, and low income setors * Interpolating number addresses * Talks on inclusive mobility! (There were many talks on transportation that I wasn’t able to attend ☹ ) * Mapping tools and techniques for everyone! * Interpretations of OSM imagery and data for all ages, sectors and background! * OSM for Environmental Protection! Even trash should be visible in the map! * Academic tracks were included at SotM 2018! I find this very interesting especially as someone who is still a student in the uni. Lol
5. I was part of the Scholarship program and we have a 50:50 men to women ratio, and came from different regions of the world. Kudos to OSMF for giving equal opportunities!
6. It is also great that we’re encouraged to write OSM diaries in our own languages!

A word of thanks…

I would like to express my deep gratitude and congratulations to the OSM Foundation (especially to Rob and Dorothea), Wikimedia Italya and other organizers, volunteers (Polimappers!), sponsors, speakers, facilitators and awardess, as well as the different OSM organizations and local communities and all the participants of SotM 2018. This conference would have not been great and successful if not for you.

More powers to OSM and open data/mapping!

___________________________

PS. I posted a thread on twitter on the things I love most about Milan.

Here are some photos of the talks.

And photos of the wonderful people whom I met in Milan.

Thanks for reading! :)