Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT)

10/14/2026

Haiti is where HOT's blueprint for modern disaster response was forged. After the 2010 earthquake, our crowdsourced map provided thousands of building footprints that helped rescuers pull survivors from the rubble. Ten months later, when cholera struck with 800,000 cases, responders reused that same open data to map water sources, trace patient origins, and stop the outbreak.

Today, HOT continues to build lasting local capacity in Haiti. Haiti taught the world how to map a disaster—now, Haiti is teaching the world how to build resilience.

Support HOT and learn more about our work!

Explore more at: www.hotosm.org

10/14/2026

Happy International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction! 🌏✊

To celebrate, let’s take a short rewind to 𝗘𝗻𝗱-𝘁𝗼-𝗘𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗶 (2025) – a collaboration between Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, HOT's Open Mapping Hub - Asia-Pacific, Bpbd Kab Karangasem, and BPBD Provinsi Bali on mapping for evacuation routes and volcanic preparedness in Mount Agung, Bali. 🗺️🌋

📍 Learn more about the project: https://bit.ly/e2ebali

▶️ Watch the video: https://bit.ly/e2ebali-video

More posts and stories from the project are coming this month – stay tuned! 🙌

UNDRR

End-to-End Mapping Solution Bali focuses on strengthening local cap...

10/06/2026

To everyone who mapped, validated, reported, and supported these responses: thank you. ❤️

Over the past few months, volunteers have come together across five disaster responses to map, validate data, and support communities when it mattered most.

Swipe through to see what your contributions helped make possible.

10/01/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴!

🏆 Discover the 2026 award winners and celebrate the individuals and communities helping shape a more inclusive and impactful open mapping ecosystem.

• 29 October 2026
• 12:00 PM UTC
• Virtual event

👉 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱: https://bit.ly/47sv6Zf

09/22/2026

This Saturday! 📢

OpenStreetMap relations are an important part of humanitarian mapping. Join the HOT Training Working Group for a webinar exploring how relations work and why they matter when creating and editing OpenStreetMap data.

The session will cover examples including public transport relations, highway turn restrictions, and administrative boundaries, as well as how features such as boundaries and waterways can be shared between adjacent areas.

Designed for humanitarian mappers, this session will help you recognise the importance of relations and avoid accidentally damaging existing relations while mapping.

📅 This Saturday, September 26, 2026
🕙 10:00 UTC
🔗 Register here: https://bit.ly/HOTTrainingWG

09/21/2026

We’re looking for a HOT volunteer or community member in or near Milwaukee who can represent HOT and accept the GPN GIS Hall of Fame award on our behalf.

If you can help or know someone who can, please get in touch with us ASAP.

09/14/2026

OpenStreetMap relations are an important part of humanitarian mapping. Join the HOT Training Working Group for a webinar exploring how relations work and why they matter when creating and editing OpenStreetMap data.

The session will look at examples including public transport relations, highway turn restrictions, and administrative boundaries, as well as how features such as boundaries and waterways can be shared between adjacent areas.

This session is designed to help humanitarian mappers recognise the importance of relations and avoid accidentally damaging existing relations while mapping.

📅 Date: Saturday, September 26, 2026
🕙 Time: 10:00 UTC
🔗 Register here: https://bit.ly/HOTTrainingWG

09/11/2026

In humanitarian mapping, having high-resolution imagery is only part of the challenge. It also needs to be accessible quickly, legally, and at scale.

Open licensing can turn imagery into shared infrastructure, enabling faster response, wider access, easier collaboration, and reuse across mapping workflows.

Our latest blog explains why open imagery licensing matters, with examples from HOT’s work in Jamaica and Gaza.

Read the full story: https://bit.ly/4A9HtXm

09/10/2026

Ready to map from wherever you are? Join us for an interactive mapathon at Geobusiness Virtual

📅 30 September 2026
🕛 12:00 PM BST
💻 Free to join

Download MapSwipe and take part in the mapping session.

• Register here: https://bit.ly/4h1JZGs
• Learn more about the event: https://bit.ly/3UzOccX

09/09/2026

During the Venezuela earthquake response, CoMaps provided an offline navigation option powered by OpenStreetMap data and GPS. Meanwhile, HOT volunteers were mapping thousands of buildings through the Tasking Manager, with that mapping becoming available to responders through CoMaps.

This story shows what can happen when 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲.

Today, CoMaps can prioritize emergency updates and have new maps ready to download in the field in about 35 hours, with a vision for region-specific updates every 12 hours.

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆: https://bit.ly/4ifcrqx