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The Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) is partnering with the Mona School of Business and Management (MSBM) through the Caribbean School of Data (CSOD), to launch an Open Mapping Technical Training program in the Caribbean region. Students, community members, and interested persons will be recruited and trained on open and participatory mapping and will also have the opportunity to receive a microgrant for a community-based project informed by open mapping data. 

The Open Mapping Technical Training will capitalize on CSOD’s digital education program and online platform. Furthering HOT’s objective to develop an open mapping hub in the Latin America and Caribbean region, the project will be piloted in Jamaica and Guyana in the first phase and then expanded to other countries/territories within the region. Geoffrey Kateregga, Community Project Lead at HOT expressed “The Open Mapping Technical Training Program in the Caribbean will help HOT achieve its objective to grow and sustain the open mapping movement in the region. This can be the launchpad to enable locally led initiatives around open mapping that are centred on people's needs and can lead to a tangible impact that can deliver transformative change in people's lives.”

The CSOD seeks to develop a comprehensive and sustainable “digital/data literacy” programme aimed at underserved populations within the Caribbean, with the goal of building a stronger data culture across the region. Dr. Maurice McNaughton, Project Lead for the CSOD expressed “MSBM, through the Caribbean School of Data is delighted to collaborate with HOT on this strategic initiative to develop mapping capabilities and a vibrant mapping community in the Caribbean. Digital interactive maps provide incredible application opportunities in community development, commercial applications, and entrepreneurial ventures for our young people in particular. We look forward to expanding the CSOD’s portfolio of training and capacity-building to support this partnership.”

      The project began in November 2022 with the first phase expected to be completed in

August 2023.

Get involved and become a member of the Open Street Map community in Jamaica and Guyana. Open mapping data, as in the case of Haiti which utilized high-resolution, post-event satellite imagery to map the area impacted by the massive earthquake in 2010  for crisis mapping. The 2010 Haiti earthquake provides meaningful inputs to address a number of the issues we face in the Caribbean today.

To join our first cohort or to get more information, contact us at mapping@coi-csod.org.