Call For Proposal

Deadlines: From 21/09/2024 to 08/10/2024 23:59 UTC

State of the Map Asia (SotM-Asia) is a regional SotM conference for the continent of Asia. State of the Map Bangladesh is a local SotM conference for the Bangladesh Community. OSM’ers organize annual State of the Map meet-ups as a way to build community, share tools and research, and network with each other toward the shared goal of improving the map. They come in all sizes and are organized locally, regionally and globally, but the goal is always the same: to get together to talk about mapmaking research, tools, initiatives, and other community topics.

We would love to see your submission for one or more of these tracks:

  • OSM Basics
  • Community and Foundation
  • Mapping
  • Cartography
  • Software Development
  • Data Analysis & Data Model
  • User Experiences

Tracks

Don’t worry too much about the track categories. They are mainly there to give you an idea on what kind of talks we are looking for and to help us organize the conference. If you find it difficult to select the right track for your talk, choose the one that fits best.

OSM Basics

OSM has grown a lot. Many newcomers or “newbies” have a great thirst for knowledge in areas that may seem uninteresting and basic to existing contributors. We want you, the expert, to pass on your knowledge to the next generation of community members. Considering we have a variety of participants from across the globe, these talks should focus on being easy to follow and understand. Please note in the submission what approximate level of previous knowledge is required for the participants.

Examples for this kind of talk are: Explaining the OSM data model. Introduction to OSM Editors or cartography tools. Working with OSM data using the Overpass API. How to render a map? How to print a map?

Community and Foundation

Want to recount your experiences while building a community? Then this is the right track for you. Reflections on community diversity and questions on etiquette are also suitable. Other possible topics include why to become an OSM community member, working group experiences, and everything related to OSM communities.

Mapping

This track is all about mapping, surveying, data collection, tagging; tips and reflections on OSM editors, or new editor features; reflections on automated mapping, organized editing and imports.

Cartography

Possible topics can include cartography and data visualization, rendering raster and vector maps, map styles, CartoCSS, MapLibre, maps with QGIS, printing maps and more. All your ideas on how to create a beautiful, fun, quirky and out-of-this-world map! The track also provides a space to present your artistic and creative projects that use OSM data or themes to create clothing, jewellery, 3D printed objects, engravings, visualizations, computer or mobile games, virtual worlds, augmented reality, flyers, postcards, etc.

Software Development

This track awaits talks by or for developers of applications that make use of OSM data: OSM editors, (vector) tile servers, geocoding, routing, navigation, editor layer indices; tips and tricks with new PostGIS features, or new features of other tools and applications.

Data Analysis and Data Model

This track is dedicated to OSM data itself: analysis of OSM data quality; reflections about enhancing the data model; or discussing the way the OSM data is accessed through the API. Also submissions about the use of AI with OSM data are welcome in this track.

User Experiences

This track is all about the usage of OSM. Examples are how OSM is used in governments, public transport, humanitarian response, and scientific context, among others, as well as OSM as an educational tool in classrooms. You can present citizen projects that are using OSM data to understand and manage their environment.

Submission Types

You may choose whether you attend in person or participate virtually for most submission types. We will try to make all events available for online and offline attendance. Exceptions are noted below. Please keep in mind that the conference will take place in the BDT timezone (UTC+6). We will try to accommodate the timezone of participants when scheduling events but we will be restricted to the usual conference hours between 9 am and 6 pm local time (i.e. BDT).

Talk (15 minutes)

Classic talk of about 20 minutes for the talk itself followed by a question and answer session. This is the preferred submission type. Talks can either be held in-person at the conference or, if you cannot attend, you may submit a pre-recorded talk. The QA part of the talk is always live. Virtual speakers will join via a video call. That means that even with a pre-recorded video, you need to be available.

Extended Talk (30 minutes)

An extended talk has 40 minutes for the talk and 15 minutes for questions. These are for topics you want to explore in more depth. The same rules as for classic talks apply. You should outline why your talk needs more time.

Workshop (60–90 minutes)

Workshops are sessions in which the participants are actively involved, for example by following some steps on their own devices. We welcome workshops that cover basic beginner’s topics as well as innovative technologies.

Please communicate the technical equipment that participants need to bring in order to attend your workshop. Please ensure that your participants shouldn’t be told to create an account at a commercial platform or a platform with user tracking. Or if so, communicate that in a clear way in your submission and provide guest accounts for your participants.

Workshops will be held either in-person or virtually, not with a mixed audience. If you want to offer the workshop for both audiences, you are welcome to hold it twice. For virtual workshops, we will provide video conference rooms. Online workshops will have a limited number of places to ensure a successful session.

Panel Discussion (45-60 minutes)

Panels are for hot, controversial discussions around OSM community, mapping and data. Topics may cover for example diversity, legal questions or the future of the data model. You should outline the format on how you intend to organize the discussion and make sure to invite the key players for the discussion. Panels must be held in person with all participants present at the conference. We welcome panels that include the audience. Just keep in mind that questions come from virtual and in-person participants. A designated moderator is therefore strongly recommended.

Other

Your submission does not fit into any of these submission types? Please get in touch with the program committee via email ([email protected] or stateofthemapasia@gmail ) before the end of the call for participation.

Spontaneously Organized Sessions

We plan to provide space for sessions which cannot be submitted in advance. Details will be announced before the conference.

Lightning Talk

Lightning talks will be short 5 minute talks. There will be some spaces for last-minute in-person talks with an on-site signup on a whiteboard as well as spaces for pre-recorded videos. This will be announced separately.

Birds of a Feather

Birds of a Feather (BoF) sessions are informal, spontaneous discussion rounds centered around a specific topic. It is not possible to submit a BoF session in advance. BoFs will usually be held in person only.

Free Spaces

We will try to provide free spaces to meet or just chitchat for working groups, local chapters, local groups, user groups, etc.

Rating Criteria

In rating submissions, we will apply the following criteria:

  • OSM as the subject: A submission where OSM is the main subject or an important ingredient will be rated higher than one that is more generic (e.g. a general talk about GIS software).
  • Preference of “open”: A submission about open data and open source software will be preferred over one that deals with proprietary data or proprietary software and closed platforms.
  • Preference of innovation: A submission about something new, or something not discussed at previous conferences, will be preferred over one that discusses more widely known issues (exception: OSM Basics).
  • We are hoping for talks from a multitude of speakers and hence we would prefer accepting a talk from a “new” speaker over accepting a second talk from someone who has already an accepted talk.
  • We will also try to avoid accepting too many talks from members of the same organisation.
  • We prefer talks from members of underrepresented groups.
  • We value transparency. We expect submitters to disclose affiliations and sponsors of their work.

Sometimes we will make some changes or have suggestions:

  • We might ask if several speakers can merge their talks.
  • We might also ask if a change of format would be possible (for example, we might suggest the lightning talk format instead of a regular talk when we find there is not enough space in the programme for a complete talk, but it is an interesting subject).

Language

The conference language of the State of the Map Asia and State of the map Bangladesh is English and Bangla. All presentations shall thus be held in English or Bangla. It is an important aspect of the conference that participants can interact with the speakers for questions and discussions. This restriction does not apply to Birds of a Feather sessions. They may be held in other languages, according to the preferences and needs of their participants.

Modality

This year’s event will be hybrid, offering both in-person and virtual participation options for everyone’s convenience.

Benefits of Presenting:

  • Share your expertise with a global audience of Open data, open mapping, and OpenStreetMap enthusiasts.
  • Gain valuable feedback on your work from experienced mappers, developers, industry experts, and academics.
  • Network with other attendees and build connections far & beyond the local community.

We eagerly anticipate receiving your abstracts and making SotM Asia 2024 and SotM Bangladesh 2024 an enriching and informative event!

Scholarships

State of the Map Asia and State of the Map Bangladesh is a non-commercial event driven by the community, where no organizers, participants or speakers are reimbursed for their roles in the event. Though several scholarships are provided to those who face difficulty in attending the event but come up with excellent activities. Our call for the scholarship can be found in the given link in ‘Submit your proposal‘ tab who wish to apply for funding to attend the programs.

Title From To
Open call for Abstract/proposal 21/09/2024 08/10/2024 23:59 UTC
Review 09/10/2024 13/10/2024
Announce accepted Abstract/proposal 15/10/2024
SotM program 30/11/2024 01/12/2024

Submission for abstract is Open now!! Submit your FORM HERE

*You might be required to submit your full presentation or content prior to the event, while asked by the program organizer team.

For any queries mail to: [email protected]; [email protected] 

For more information: