OpenStreetMap to map the Isle of Wight

The OpenStreetMap project is going to map the Isle of Wight this weekend, using hundreds of volunteers simply recording a tracklog with their GPS units.

This is fantastic, and it will be interesting to see how successful such an effort is. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from Geograph, it’s that if you can attract even a small dedicated band of contributors, there’s no end to what can be achieved.

I hope the event is a success, it would be great to see local events springing up. On the geograph site we have the concept of “geograph points” awarded to the first person who contributes a suitable image for a grid square. This has worked tremendously well in encouraging coverage, as well as friendly rivalry between contributors. Something similar might work in OpenStreetMap’s favour, maybe tracking people by distance covered in their tracklogs, or points for completing a particular motorway or A road…