Francesca Murtas

SardSOS. More Than a Map

An Emergency Call. When Mappers Go United...

Abstract

I would like to share and talk about my experience with the free map SardSOS that I've created while confronting with the devastating floods which damaged my Island, Sardinia in November. I've built an open crowdmap on the Ushahidi platform which it was based on OpenStreetMap, crowd-data and volunteer's collaboration, and mapping. The map has been visited by nearly 14.000 people in the first week.

This project has also triggered the release of open geo-data from the Sardinian Government. It pushed the italian mainstream media to talk about OSM and inspired other Regions/Public Administrations towards open their data and look at OSM with interest, finally seeing its opportunities.

I also have done an independent, online research, after the emergency, to check the use and the perception of people of OpenStreetMap and mapping for emergencies. I would like also to share at the SOTM the results of the open survey done for this research. My experience, is the proof of the power of OSM, even if I'm a mapper since just one year the power of the platform and the community is just incredible.

About the author

Interaction designer. Mapping is a state of mind.