Now that I’ve taken a day off after the 14-hour bus trip from Nairobi to Dar es Salaam, I can finally sit and share my thoughts on State of the Map – the first time the global conference was held in Africa!!

Before starting my academic career last year, most of my 8+ years of work experience has been in the OSM and open mapping ecosystem. Check out my diary on OSM’s 19th birthday, where I shared more about my journey in this amazing community. To quote myself from that diary (I’m becoming a real academic now, haha): “OSM is a project that needs communicators, developers, managers, strategists, etc., working together to unlock its true value within the community.”

I was thrilled to see this in action in Nairobi! I met so many people working on diverse projects ranging from environment, health, climate, disaster, urban planning, etc. Most importantly, meeting people like myself (non-tech folks) focused on community organizing, communications, project management, etc, all under the OSM umbrella. This is why gatherings like these are crucial – they remind us that OSM is not just a map.

The conference experience was mixed for me because I was part of the organizing committee this time, so I got to see both sides (organizing and attending). If I had to choose, I’d probably prefer attending. But hey, if we all choose that, there would be nothing to attend, right!?

There were so many great talks! My favourite was probably On the Ground. The duo presentation was both fun and thought-provoking, making me think about how I’ve been mapping and what I could improve. Another highlight was the lightning talks - seeing young students and recent graduates so excited to share their OSM work and dreams was inspiring. It shows how OSM is shaping the next generation—boosting their confidence, networks, and more!

Oh, and the social event was a blast! For the first time, I played golf, and it was so much fun! I owe golf lovers an apology because, yeah, I used to judge you all, haha. It was great making new friends and building meaningful connections, now that I’m in academia and leaning towards public health, it was exciting to connect with some academics in the OSM space, and I’m looking forward to potential collaborations.

Shoutout to OSM Kenya and the SotM Working Group for organizing such a fantastic conference. And a big thank you to the Open Summit Scholarship for funding my trip to Nairobi.

See y’all in Manila!!

Photo dump!

Here is everyone!

I can count seven hands up, I don’t know which presentation this was but looks like it was interesting! I mean, who doesn’t want a selfie with Geoffrey :)

Perhaps the best view of my bus ride Matatu/’Nganya’ ride with coolest ladies - low-res pic with high-res people, hehe Some members of OSM TZ That’s just me :)

More photos here