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OSMF board elections

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The OpenStreetMap Foundation tomorrow is going to open board elections for this year’s Annual General Meeting for two seats on the OSMF board. If you are a member of the OSMF i would strongly urge you to vote. If not you might want to consider becoming a member (which however will not allow you to participate in these elections – for that you have to be a member a month before the elections).

The reason why this is of particular importance this year is because this year’s candidates for the positions on the board offer in parts fairly contrasting positions on the direction on the OSMF and the OpenStreetMap project in general. You can get an idea of the ideas and views of the candidates in the Q&A on the OSM wiki but you also need to read between the lines because candidates have partly picked up the bad habit from big politics of talking much without saying anything of substance. Sometimes the way how the candidates deal with questions they do not like is more revealing than the actual answers.

Of course replacing two of seven board members will not immediately change the whole OSMF but due to the quite contrasting views and backgrounds of the candidates it will be a significant message in terms of what direction the members support and this way will probably weigh significantly also on the other board members.

Of course even a fundamental change in direction of the OSMF would not necessarily have much influence on the OpenStreetMap project as a whole. One of the most remarkable aspects of OpenStreetMap is how little it depends on central organization and management. But of course if the OSMF and the OSM community start diverging significantly in goals and direction this could create a lot of friction.

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