Our history

It was back in 2011, OSM was introduced in Bangladesh. A working group was formed led by a group of students from Bangladesh University of Engineering Technology (BUET) to kick-start the platform. Some of them later became inactive, gradually. But a small active group of volunteers was working to make it a success in Bangladesh, and the participation was growing slowly. Later in the year of 2013, The World Bank, Bangladesh (GFDRR, WSP), revived the initiative. The World Bank GIS and Data Management Consultant, Mr. Ahasanul Hoque pioneered it. This was likely to mean a change in the pace of progress for the OSM Platform in Bangladesh. Some formal training sessions were introduced and the community did some good bit of works by mapping the old part of Dhaka city.

However, it was from 2015 the community found the spark it was thriving for!

In January 2015, the OSMBD community started to collaborate with HOT & MissingMaps project of mapping Kamrangircha & Hazaribagh, two of the dense populated urban slum area of Dhaka city. That was the moment from when the community started making the vibe. More and more people were introduced to the platform. Formal training sessions at educational institutes, different development organization, Government organizations along with informal mapping parties were organized. The trainings were facilitated by OSMBD community led by Mr. Ahasanul Hoque.

In last two eventful years, the community collaborated with the organizations like Asia Foundation, Stanford Geo spatial Center, Save the Children in Bangladesh, American Red Cross, Y Care, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Dhaka WASA, FAO and Asian Development Bank (ADB) in their projects relating OSM Platform.

With the aim of bringing all the awesome works done in various sectors under the same wing, different enthusiastic and expert individuals from a variety of backgrounds joined together to build this organization.