Volunteer armies map ‘invisible’ communities hit by coronavirus

Worldwide, the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT), which uses mapping to support humanitarian action, has been getting updated OSM data to government agencies and healthcare personnel trying to reach vulnerable populations during Covid-19. — Reuters

BANGKOK: After the coronavirus outbreak hit Indonesia, charity worker Harry Machmud in May asked volunteers to map handwashing stations across the sprawling archipelago.

Hundreds of volunteers who otherwise mark roads and bridges on OpenStreetMap (OSM), a free and editable map of the world being built by communities using smartphones and drones, added more than 1,100 handwashing stations across the country.