My very first SOTM+FOSS4G Experience in Florence, Italy

When I reflect back, I am filled with so many new experiences and learnings that will be hard to cover in this diary but I will try to summarize in highlights so that it’s not boring for you :).

First day at Florence

Landing in a new country for the first time far away from home, was an overwhelming journey. I want to express my gratitude to Poorni Badrinath and Hector for helping to make my first day in Florence easier. Before I could check in, they showed me about the city, and after waiting in line for at least five minutes, I got to enjoy the best sandwich in a popular place called All’Antico Vinaio. Oh, the first day went much better than I had anticipated. And, the next day, SOTM started. The idea of badges for talking accessibility really amazed me. Kudos to the creativity!

SOTM 2022

After registration, the 3 days of the conference started with the intriguing question: “Can a single mapper still make a difference”. Please answer in the comments :)

There were many amazing sessions in 3 days of SOTM. I would like to mention a few that was outstanding for me:

• None: a story of data that isn’t there by Gala and Simona Ciocoiu

The feminist side of me jumped with joy as it was the first presentation I had attended by female speakers and it was a quirky duo :-p. I not only enjoyed their talk but was left with the question that hits me even today “ Is the missing tag saying something, is it just unknown?”.

• Usability testing with three people — how to discover why mappers are confused by your software by Mateusz Konieczny

Being in the tech industry and developing software, I could relate to how important it makes your users not to be confused with the features, and to make use of features that it’s targeted to.

• What you map is not always what you get by Sarah Hoffmann and Richard Fairhurst

It revolved around showing some good and bad examples of tagging and how important it is to tag in a good way so that it’s not harder for people to use OSM in creative, productive, or unexpected ways

• OSM Sidewalkreator — A QGIS plugin for automated sidewalk drawing for OSM

Analyzing changes in OSM over time — full history access to OSM data through the ohsome framework.

Amidst incredible sessions, what I truly need to applaud is the thoughtfulness of the organizer who gave us this voucher card worth 40 euros on the second day. We could choose a variety of food and drinks offered in Mercato centrale. I enjoyed Gelato rice and chicken and pizza with some beer as you can see in the picture.

Overall, SOTM ended so well with a little tired body though :)

FOSS4G 2022

And here comes FOSS4G 2022 with a bang. More new faces, new venue, and new sessions. When Dr. Patricia Solis from YouthMappers said “Be a good ancestor” in her talk, I suddenly felt a sense of responsibility in me.

Sessions I really enjoyed at FOSS4G:

• How to join OSGeo (for projects) by Tom Kralidis and Jody Garnett

The topic says it all but please check out their website if you are an open source developer or have open-source projects. Can be a beneficial place for you.

• Speeding up the RapiD map editor with WebGL and PixiJS by Bryan Housel and Benjamin Clark

It was very helpful insight in terms of knowing about the tech stacks for improving the performance in RapiD 2.0. I am excited to check out the RapiD 2.0 in Tasking Manager soon.

• Introduction to Spatial Data Outputs Platform — OpenStreetMap Galaxy by Ramya Ragupathy

It was great to know about the OSM Galaxy as it provides OSM data that is ready to use for all kinds of users.

• Geo Collector Bot: A Telegram-based open toolkit to support field data collection by Daniele Oxoli

I liked the concept of using existing platforms and avoiding the development and/or the installation of a specific mobile app on contributors’ devices. Looking forward to updates in the future though.

• Developing with MapStore; creating a custom dashboard to map crime data

(Session which I wanted to be but was already packed. Hoping to see the video)

Representing Kathmandu Living Labs(KLL)

I too had a talk on the last day before the community sprint with my co-speaker Petya from HOT, about our journey of collaborating on the HOT Tasking Manager and building the Open Tech Collective! Had a good interaction afterward too.

Beyond amazing sessions

There was a social event, gala dinner, and concert. The concert was crazy and totally blown away by the talent of an in-house band of FOSS4G). Btw, we were not in the band ;)

Closing

Here comes the closing! Luca, the conference chair stole the show. A round of applause with a standing ovation was provided to the organizer and volunteers. Even it was the same in SOTM which was somewhat new and fascinating to me.

Thank you for making it happen

Huge thanks to FOSS4G for providing me with a travel grant without which it could have been hard for me to join the conferences and HOT unSummit for covering my remaining expenses. Will be forever grateful for this opportunity.

Hostel Archi Rossi

Also, a shoutout to the organizer for choosing the best hostel, Hostel Archi Rossi. It was filled with beautiful sculptures, art, and a garden. Also, it was always so clean and the people in the reception were so kind, and would always greet Ciao with a happy faces :) I loved the big fat breakfast and how it was near to the FOSS4G venue and train station, making transportation in the new city easier!!!

Big Thank You

Lastly, thank you, organizers, sponsors, speakers, presenters, volunteers, fellow participants, and everyone I had a chance to meet, for making my first SOTM and FOSS4G a memorable experience for a lifetime. Definitely would love to be there in the upcoming ones too. Namaste until the next SOTM and FOSS4G. See you on the other side.

And Florence you were amazing!!!