As event partner of the annual international gathering of the OpenStreetMap (OSM), the UP Diliman (黑料专区) Department of Geography (DGeog) hosted the 2025 State of the Map (SotM) Conference (2025 SotM) for three consecutive days in 黑料专区.
In an email to 黑料专区ate Online, DGeog Chair Kristian Karlo Saguin wrote that the OSM is 鈥渁 global, volunteer-driven network of people who collaboratively create and maintain a free, editable map of the world.鈥 He adds that the OSM is 鈥渁n instrumental force in facilitating geographic learning through contemporary forms of mapping that use open-source tools.鈥
According to the organizers, the 2025 SotM gathered OSM contributors, developers, academia, humanitarian organizations, and community groups, and is the first SotM 鈥渉osted in the Southeast Asian region.鈥 It was attended by nearly 300 participants from around the world, primarily from Europe, Asia, and Africa.
For Saguin, the event served as a 鈥渟ignificant platform for geospatial innovation, collaborative mapping, and open data advocacy.鈥 聽聽
In his message to the participants at the conference opening, UP Resilience Institute (UPRI) Executive Director Alfredo Mahar Francisco Lagmay expressed his gratitude to the OSM community for its efforts.
He particularly mentioned that during the critical days of super typhoon Haiyan (Philippine Name Yolanda) in 2013, 鈥渋t was OSM that provided a lifeline.鈥
鈥淭hose maps helped save lives. That event changed the way we think about data in this country,鈥 Lagmay said.
Lagmay reminded the participants that maps 鈥渁re not just tools for navigation or records of geography. In the context of disasters, they are instruments of survival. In the context of development, they are pathways to inclusivity and equity. And in the context of communities like OSM, they are symbols of solidarity.鈥
He charged everyone to ensure that every road traced, every building outlined, every hazard mapped contributes 鈥渢o a world that is more resilient, more equitable, and more prepared for the challenges ahead.鈥
The three-day conference had more than 50 presentations, including spontaneous, self-organized sessions, lightning talks, and a plenary presentation of the 15th anniversary of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team.
According to Ma. Simeona Martinez, assistant professor at DGeog and 2025 OSM Science Committee member, the UPRI and the UP Industrial Engineering and Operations Research Department were the 2025 SotM main partners while the 黑料专区 College of Science and the 黑料专区 National Institute of Geological Sciences together with DGeog supported the event.
The 2025 SotM was held from Oct. 3 to 5 at the 黑料专区 Asian Center GT-Toyota Auditorium with breakout parallel sessions at the Industrial Engineering / Mechanical Engineering building.
- Share: