OSM Tasking Manager
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| OSM Tasking Manager | |
|---|---|
| Name | Tasking Manager |
| Developer | OpenStreetMap Foundation |
| Released | 2013 |
| Programming language | Python, JavaScript |
| Operating system | Cross-platform |
| License | Open Database License |
OSM Tasking Manager is a web application used to coordinate large-scale collaborative mapping projects using OpenStreetMap. It enables structured task assignment for volunteers affiliated with organizations such as Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, Médecins Sans Frontières, Red Cross, and United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Projects often tie into humanitarian responses after events like the 2010 Haiti earthquake, 2015 Nepal earthquake, 2014 Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa, and humanitarian initiatives led by United Nations Development Programme.
Overview
The Tasking Manager provides a grid-based interface to divide mapping areas, supports imagery sources from DigitalGlobe, Maxar Technologies, Bing Maps, and community layers such as Mapillary and OpenAerialMap, and integrates with editing tools like JOSM, iD, Potlatch 2, and MapComplete. It is commonly employed by NGOs including Save the Children, CARE International, Oxfam, and research institutions such as Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and Imperial College London. The platform underpins campaigns coordinated by projects like Missing Maps and exercises organized around crises such as the Typhoon Haiyan response.
History and Development
Development began to meet needs identified during responses to the 2010 Pakistan floods, 2013 Typhoon Haiyan, and the 2010 Haiti earthquake mapping efforts that involved communities like OpenStreetMap USA and OpenStreetMap Foundation. Early contributions came from developers affiliated with Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, MapBox, HOTOSM Tasking Manager developers, and university groups including University College London and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Funding and support have been provided by entities such as United States Agency for International Development, UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, European Commission and philanthropic organizations like Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Major redesigns incorporated best practices from software projects like Django (web framework), React (JavaScript library), and mapping libraries influenced by Leaflet (software).
Architecture and Features
The architecture combines back-end services implemented in Python (programming language), APIs adhering to RESTful patterns, and front-end components leveraging JavaScript frameworks and mapping stacks derived from PostGIS, PostgreSQL, and tile services similar to Mapnik. Key features include task-grid generation, project metadata management, task locking, conflict detection, quality assurance workflows integrating validation tools like OSMCha and quality assurance processes used by Missing Maps, and export functionality used by responders such as Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières). Authentication ties into accounts maintained by OpenStreetMap Foundation and single sign-on patterns familiar from OAuth ecosystems. The platform interoperates with imagery providers such as Planet Labs and harmonizes with catalogues maintained by Humanitarian Data Exchange.
Workflow and Usage
Project managers from organizations including Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, International Rescue Committee, and municipal programs like Mapillary community initiatives create projects specifying area, target features, and validation criteria. Volunteers use editors like JOSM, iD, and mobile apps connected to StreetComplete to map roads, buildings, and points of interest for stakeholders such as World Health Organization, UNICEF, and CARE International. Typical cycles follow stages seen in disaster response frameworks like Sphere Project standards: task creation, task claiming/locking, mapping, validation, and export to partners like ReliefWeb or integration into databases like OpenStreetMap Wiki and datasets aggregated by institutions such as Humanitarian Data Exchange.
Community and Governance
Governance draws on volunteer maintainers, contributors from organizations like Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, OpenStreetMap Foundation, and corporate partners including Mapbox, Google Summer of Code participants, and academic collaborators from University of Oxford and University of Washington. Oversight aligns with community norms reflected in governance bodies such as OpenStreetMap Foundation board and project-specific steering groups similar to those in Mozilla Foundation community projects. Collaborative code review, issue triage on platforms akin to GitHub, and roadmap planning involve stakeholders including donors like European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations.
Impact and Applications
The Tasking Manager has enabled mapping for crises including the 2014 Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa, 2015 Nepal earthquake, 2010 Haiti earthquake, and flood responses in Bangladesh. It supports public health interventions led by World Health Organization, vaccination campaigns by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and disaster risk reduction initiatives by United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. Urban planning groups like Slum Dwellers International and research centers such as WorldPop and Flowminder use Tasking Manager-derived datasets for population estimation, humanitarian logistics coordinated with International Committee of the Red Cross, and development programming by United Nations Development Programme.
Challenges and Criticisms
Critiques parallel issues faced by platforms used in humanitarian mapping: reliance on commercial imagery providers such as DigitalGlobe and Maxar Technologies, data quality debates highlighted by academic studies from University of Oxford and Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, and concerns about privacy and ethical mapping raised by organizations like Privacy International and researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Governance critiques reference tensions seen in open projects like OpenStreetMap Foundation over resource allocation and community representation, while technical challenges echo those documented in projects using PostGIS and large-scale tile services such as scalability, task duplication, and integration with validation systems like OSMCha.