In preparation for Online conferences, I have always preferred to reserve a particular space equipped enough to participate during the conference. I must say due to lectures and other academic calls, I didn’t prepare such an environment to attend this conference. In spite of all, I had quality time to join in at some scheduled talk sessions and networking sessions with participants from other parts of the world.

One of the talk sessions I learned most was a talk on “Community mapping to improve flood preparation in Nigeria” which was facilitated by Shamilah. The talk exposed the different most flooded areas affecting communities and it also presented a solution by using mapped buildings, roads, and water areas edits on Open Street Map. The facilitator also recommended other solutions that could solve the flooding problems.

During the event, I networked with Sabina Abuga, a Mapper from Ghana who just recently earned her first degree. We discussed the SOTM conference, shared our experience in contributing to OSM, and also exchanged contacts. At the Network break session, I also had a call with Becky Chandiru, who was one of the facilitators during the HOTOSM Data quality internship 2020. We made use of the period to connect well enough and shared some ideas with each other.

I really had a great time and insightful learning at the SOTM Conference