1. MapKathmandu
Creating a better, accessible and
efficient online map of
Kathmandu Valley
adyota.org
2. What is "MapKathmandu?"
● Initiative to make a detailed online map of
Kathmandu Valley
● Make the map free to use
● Use crowdsourcing to speed up data upload
● Create a community of active mappers
3. Who are we?
● Group of graduate students and young
professionals who want to see change in
Nepal
● 3 based in the U.S., 2 in Europe and 1 in
Nepal
● Diverse background from mapping and
engineering to journalism and management
4. Why map Kathmandu?
● Disaster relief and medical emergency
● Easy navigation
● Enable businesses to deliver services and
products easily
● Enable innovation in location based mobile
apps and services
7. Saw the problems?
● Many streets are not traced yet
● Names of most of the streets are missing
● Many other items of interest are missing
● Not very usable, same with Google maps
8. Is there a solution? YES!
● Low budget, no politics
● Crowd effort
● Community of active OSM contributors
● Youth who want to make a difference
9. Why is it the right time?
● Active and growing OSM Nepal community
● Support from universities and media
● Earthquake awareness
● Smartphone revolution, faster internet
● Youths want to solve problems themselves
Opportunity to build a critical mass of
active contributors
10. How we can help?
● Map the city with the help of interns and
volunteers at Adyota
● Provide training on OSM
● Form a community of active mappers
● Support with funding
● Run projects with universities and other
youth groups to make direct impact
○ Part of the curriculum/course
○ Competition based projects
○ Extracurricular credits
11. What we will map?
● Roads:
○ All roads that are accessible by car and bus-stops
○ GPS traces of narrower roads and their names when possible
● Buildings and landmarks:
○ Hospitals, clinics, blood banks, pharmacies
○ Schools, Government offices, Ward offices
○ Banks, large businesses, ATMs, tourist landmarks
○ Bridges, temples, chowks, bahal
○ Public toilets, garbage containers, major public open spaces,
named intersections, roundabouts
20. OpenStreetMap is Volunteered Geographic Information:
the harnessing of tools to create, assemble, and disseminate
geographic data provided voluntarily by individuals.
Goodchild, M.F. (2007). "Citizens as sensors: the world of volunteered geography". GeoJournal 69 (4): 211–221
21. Open Data
The one GIS data platform to rule them all (?)
UN
SURVEY Dept.
ICIMOD
सडक बभाग
VDC
Who else?
खानेपानी सं था
37. Useful links:
http://openstreetmap.org – OSM site
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org – OSM wiki
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Beginners%27_Guide –
Beginner's Guide
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Map_Features - Map
Features Tagging Guide
http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-np - OSM Nepal
mailing list
http://opengeodata.org – Blagh.
(Search slideshare for openstreetmap – tons of
presentations and new ideas!)
