OSM Analytics direction discussion

[smit1678]

The HOT Tech Working Group kicked off a number of community conversations around directions and roadmaps of core tools. While we haven’t had a larger conversation on OSM Analytics, a number of previous contributors and stakeholders discussed back in March and April some initial directions and ways of thinking for the OSM Analytics project.

Over the last year a number of tools for OSM analysis have been developed. The OSM Analytics project at osm-analytics.org has been one of those projects that has allowed retrospective insight into statistics and how OSM has evolved over time. Since it launched, HOT and a number of other partners like Heidelberg University, Mapbox, Development Seed, Azavea, and the World Bank have been exploring a number of thematic analyses and additional ways to process and visualize OSM data. OSM-Analytics.org has the opportunity to be a place for coordination and communication of these tools.

Below are some initial notes to spark discussion based on our previous discussions between stakeholders:

• Frame OSM Analytics as an umbrella project with different implementations focused on answering different questions.
• Built on a shared foundation that everyone invests in (time, resources, development). Right now the foundation is QA Tiles.
• Support accessibility of both building tools and using the tools through a single entry point.
• Convene on a periodic basis (once a month) to share updates, development directions to build a larger community of contributors

Full notes are here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QBUEXh51k2ZYKNbI4TlhmUCEEdd1PVGPx2ZGWMY8kcQ/edit?usp=sharing

Near term direction

• Support testing and use of new OSMA Health module (development being led by Devseed and HOT)
• Support integrating additional features into OSMA Beta (current osm-analytics.org application) for Open Cities Africa (development being led by World Bank) https://github.com/hotosm/osm-analytics/issues/79
• Sketch roadmap for places for future QA Tiles development
• Develop a landing page for osm-analytics.org to help users access the right analysis

Other areas of direction we should be thinking about? Or other points of discussion that should be raised?