Open Data Day 2019 - Help Map a Humanitarian Crisis

Humanitarian crises happen all too often, and are frequently happening in places far from the borders of Vermont. Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and typhoons, violent regime changes, war... and while most of these events do not directly impact Vermonters on a daily basis, many of us wish we could help out. Of course hopping on a plane and flying to an ebola outbreak region, or a tsunami-wrecked island, isn't an action most folks can afford or find time in their schedule for. So how can we help? One way is to provide up-to-date map information for the affected regions. This may sound complicated, but it is actually so easy that anyone with a laptop can do it. Anyone. No prior experience needed. Kids and Seniors, too.

How? Why? In the simplest terms, the map information for the U.S. is pretty great. The map information for people escaping a violent militia near Lake Chad is pretty poor - because nobody has needed to map it or been paid to. But as humanitarian relief boots on the ground arrive to help, they need maps. Even the basics of what roads are where. If we put a satellite photo of the area in front of you, the odds are good you'll be able to trace roads off the image using a few clicks of your mouse. Or draw a box around the buildings in a town such as the hospital or schools. This sort of data added to an open and shared map can save lives even within an hour or less of the update. In short, if you can trace roads and buildings off of a aerial photo of a place, you can save lives.

Code for BTV's mapping nerd Kendall Fortney will teach anyone and everyone how to help out with a humanitarian crisis anywhere in the world using the web-browser based Open Street Map tools.

We will run 3 sessions over the course of the 3 hour event, at 11:15, 12:15, and 1:15. At each session we will spend ~20 minutes teaching you how to use the web-browser based tools, and then spend the rest of the time pitching in to help with an actual crisis somewhere in the world.

If you can, bring your own laptop. We will have ~some~ laptops available at the training sessions, for those who cannot bring their own. Of course you can also use a desktop at home once you learn what to do.