Innocent Maholi started contributing to OpenStreetMap in 2015 during the early days of World Bank’s funded “Ramani Huria”, a community mapping for flood resilience project in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. As part of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) Tanzania team, I have worked to lead the local team and put many vulnerable communities on the map, and create data to help inform and make concrete decisions.

Now heading a local registered NGO named OpenMap Development Tanzania (OMDTZ), our mission is to create a vibrant OpenStreetMap community in Tanzania, which is united, organized, and growing to assist and get involved in national and global development goals. This is mainly done through organizing mapathons, community mapping projects, and voluntary contributions to OSM by trained university students, government staff, local humanitarian NGOs, and private companies.

Innocent is also a member of OSM Africa, a network of local communities across Africa working together to organize the annual State of the Map Africa conference since 2017.