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Wired reports that more than 4,000 OpenStreetMap volunteers mapped out 13,199 new miles of road and 110,681 buildings in Nepal following the earthquake. They quadrupled the road mileage covered and adding 30 percent more buildings within 48 hours to provide critical information about road networks, hiking trails, relief camps, footpaths, and river crossings to governments and aid organizations.
Almost all work is done remotely from satellite and GPS data, often by volunteers with little or no experience with mapping. OSM has organized similar efforts in other crises and their system is simple enough that a quick online tutorial can get the beginners started. Their efforts are then reviewed by more experienced users.
http://www.wired.com/2015/05/the-open-source-maps-that-made-rescues-in-nepal-possible/
(Score: 4, Informative) by Kromagv0 on Tuesday May 12 2015, @01:17PM
The near countless hours I have spent helping out with that project and OSM in general. I may be only an amateur when it comes to mapping but I at least have had some formal training and a love of doing it. For those wondering how difficult it is to contribute it isn't all that difficult to do the basics like tracing of buildings roads and water, but does require attention to detail. Also before you say an area is ready for review go over systematically to make sure you have everything mapped out. If you do review things please put in details about what you found missing or incorrect and where it was so that people can learn from their mistakes.
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