Open Source Collaborative Mapping
Screenshot of MaSmap showing small area of Kuantan
Have you heard about MaSmap.org? Well, as the title said it is an open source collaborative mapping. Unlike OpenStreetMap which use wiki-like interface (as one of their mapping methods) and aim to map the world, MaSmap instead aim to map Malaysia & Singapore, solely relying on subversion to keep the map sources in order.
People can submit their tracks (or POIs) to the mappers but that beats the purpose of having MaSmap.org, which is to empower everyone to map their own tracks. One must have a proper training though in order to be a mapper, but that is only to ensure the map quality and reliability.
About MaSmap
MaSmap is dedicated to being a technology enabler for geospatial advancement in Malaysia and Singapore as much as Apache is to web serving and OpenOffice is to office productivity suites.
You can make use of the maps available here for any purpose you want. The philosophy for making opensource maps is to provide the opportunity for the community to shape his own society, relevant to his domain. If other domains can add value to these maps and is able to utilize geospatial intelligence to move forward with their cause be it for political, social, urban planning, logistics or health, then we have achieved our goal.
MaSmap is maintained and developed as the topic of a research project investigating the formative evaluation of GIS in healthcare. MaSmap has no commercial funding and does not accept advertising.
The map sources is publicly available in Polish format (.mp) for you to grab at MaSmap.org subversion repository. You’ll need an svn client for that. Compiled version is compatible with a Garmin device.
If you like this post, please buy me a coffee.