State of the Map Brazil 2023 — OpenStreetMap Event

From September 30th to October 4th, the Brazilian OpenStreetMap community gathered at the State of the Map Brazil 2023 event at the Federal University of Paraná. Over these four days, the event provided a series of presentations, both technical and general information sessions about the community. Members from the Brazilian community from all over the country were in attendance, including several professors from various universities and many community members.

Contributions from the AddressForAll Institute

Igor Eliezer Borges and Thierry Jean from the AddressForAll Institute participated in the event, giving presentations, workshops, and talks.

Release of Municipal Data

Igor highlighted that the AddressForAll Institute, in collaboration with Esri, has begun releasing data packages provided by hundreds of municipalities in Brazil and other countries. “We already have online maps available for road axes, lots, buildings, neighborhood boundaries, address points, and blocks, which can be loaded into QGIS and JOSM to improve OpenStreetMap. Each data package is cataloged with a README, including attribution, license, links for viewing (ArcGIS Online), and data downloads with descriptions. The data will be made available under CC0 or CC-BY licenses, following OSM’s criteria.”

Elieser’s Workshop

Igor Eliezer conducted a workshop showcasing the main work done so far, including:

– Explaining how to access and download shapefiles from municipalities to verify street names and road axes on the OSM map.

– Demonstrating how to perform preliminary checks on maps using the Esri ArcGIS platform, metadata in the AddressForAll Institute’s repository, and various ways of cross-referencing with the OSM map.

Thierry Jean’s Presentation

The methodology of AFA.CODES, addressing the need for more efficient postal codes (CEPs) in Brazil.

The importance of Public Domain Data Publication: “During the event discussions, we emphasized the importance of convincing Brazilian public authorities to publish data that is already in the public domain, avoiding the use of restrictive licenses such as CC-BY, which requires attribution for published data, or licenses like CC-BY-NC, which restrict commercial use of the data. AddressForAll stresses the importance of publishing public domain data, preferably under the CC0 license.”

Youth Mappers: Local Associations — Map Club

The growth of the Brazilian community has been remarkable with the creation of 17 Youth Mappers chapters since 2019. Originating from the United States, this association encourages the establishment of chapters in universities, similar to traditional theater, travel, or sports clubs commonly found in the university environment. These chapters not only engage in mapping activities but also foster relationships, organize exchanges, and collaborations, and establish connections with local authorities.

In 2018, when Thierry was doing presentations about OpenStreetMap, he widely promoted the concept of Youth Mappers. He was delighted to witness the progress since the creation of the first chapter at the Federal University of Paraná in Curitiba. Today, in 2023, we are proud to have 17 chapters spread across the country.

The mission of the AddressForAll Institute

The AddressForAll Institute remains steadfast in its mission to promote data transparency, with a special focus on making address data in Brazil and Latin America readily available. Through the innovative AFA.CODES technology, the institution aims to establish itself as the primary authority on address information in the continent.

Thanks to significant events like the State of the Map Brazil 2023 and the initiatives of the AddressForAll Institute itself, the OpenStreetMap community in Brazil is more robust than ever, ready to continue the collaborative and effective task of mapping the country.