While significant portions of the world have already been mapped in OpenStreetMap (OSM), many areas remain unmapped or only partially mapped. The completeness of OSM features also varies in space and time: coverage of remote and rural areas is often lower than that of highly populated urban areas, and coverage of developing countries tends to be lower than that of developed countries. These under-covered areas are often precisely where the most vulnerable, disaster-exposed populations live — and where sustainable development and infrastructure investments require accurate, up-to-date information on the locations of homes, hospitals, roads, and more.
The only sustainable way to build comprehensive, publicly available, large-scale datasets of these areas is to rely on the crowd to collect data, which makes it important to mobilize and support volunteers. New Light Technologies (NLT), funded by the World Bank, developed an open-source tool to predict the coverage of OSM building footprints, with the goal of identifying areas around the world that still lack comprehensive OSM mapping. The method, first documented in Remote Sensing journal, uses publicly available data as inputs into machine learning models that predict the number of buildings that "should" be in an area and compare it to actual OSM coverage. Proven initially on small Caribbean island states, the method was then demonstrated at the larger scale of all of Nepal.
This webinar discusses the latest developments in predicting OSM data completeness, and how this data and the project's results can translate into actual decision- and policy-making in the context of Nepal and elsewhere. Speakers include NLT's Chief Scientist and NLT Global Team, along with a Geospatial Technology Specialist and a Geographer from the World Bank.
About New Light Technologies
New Light Technologies (NLT) is a Washington, DC-based firm with 25+ years of experience delivering:
- Geospatial systems and enterprise GIS
- Cloud-native data platforms
- AI/ML and advanced analytics
- DevSecOps and cybersecurity solutions
NLT supports federal, state, and international organizations in operationalizing data for mission impact.