OpenStreetMap for the disaster management in Bangladesh

Abstract

OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a world-wide campaign for developing open source maps. The prospect of such open source maps is very bright in commercial, educational and political points of views. With the burgeoning growth of mobile phones, the necessity of location based services is increasing day by day. Starting from the 3G mobile applications to cheap SMS-based services, we need maps everywhere. Various applications of digital maps are also seen in different national and international issues. Hence, OSM has been growing at a rapid pace in different parts of the world. However, it is a bit challenging task to develop this sort of voluntary efforts in the developing third world countries, like Bangladesh. In this paper, we discuss the possible fields of disaster responses in Bangladesh where OSM can play a vital role. We also discuss about the problems we face while developing OSM for this region. Finally, we talk about a number of ways which can be instrumental while trying to make free open source maps avoiding all the difficulties.