Some of the SAS (this is a fast computer interface similar to SATA) disks we received together with the servers that we run osm.ch and related services on, have failed due to old age, and while we originally had an ample supply of spares now we’ve now run out.

Unfortunately, these disks are rather expensive to purchase new, if not to say uneconomic. Luckily Metanet has now helped us out by donating eight 2nd hand disks from their stock. This will allow us to defer a complete replacement for at least 1 to 2 years and make an unhurried decision on what to buy.

A big thank you to Metanet for supporting the Swiss OpenStreetMap Association.

Like Simon has already noted in a previous blog entry, we may use the Building Addresses of the Canton of Bern (GEBADR) for OSM.

In the last months the data was prepared to be suitable for OSM and a tasking manager was set up. Further information can be found in the documentation on the OSM wiki about this project.

Some are already mapping the addresses and are drawing the missing building outlines. But the task is rather large with a total of 400’000 addresses and it will take a long time. Further mappers supporting this project would therefore be really welcome. So please spread the word!

A special thank to Michael Spreng for his support and setting up the tasking manager. The tasking manager was set up on the servers of SOSM and is now available for other projects as well.

Das ist doch eher selten: Im Moment hängt in Wangen an der Aare ein Plakat, das für OpenStreetMap wirbt. Dies haben wir Roman Härdi und Markus Bubendorf zu verdanken, welche mit Erlaubnis der Chäsi Wangen das Banner am Baugerüst angebracht haben für die Dauer des Umbaus.

Das Banner hatte Roman Härdi drucken lassen nach diesem Design. Es war zuvor auch schon mal am GEOSummit zu sehen.

When we founded SOSM in June 2012 one of the topics was if we should aspire to becoming a formal local chapter of the OSMF. At the time it wasn’t urgent since the OSMF hadn’t actually finalised a template agreement or actually accepted a local chapter, it took nearly another 3 years for the first chapter to be admitted (Iceland early in 2015).

In 2012 and every time we had discussed the matter at an AGM the SOSM board had made clear that we would hold a members vote when the time was ripe and that took place at our AGM in April of this year. Still even with the approval of our members it has taken us another 5 months to actually get the agreement signed at the global State of the Map conference last week.

We don’t expect any drastic change with this step, however given that so much of our work deals with government offices, political and other advocacy groups, having “official” status cannot hurt. The other part of the equation is that the agreement gives us a formal licence to use OpenStreetMap and other related trademarks in Switzerland.

Looking forward we expect to see more collaboration with other local chapters going forward and expect them to grow in importance as stakeholders in the project.

Since almost two years we offer encrypted access to our services. Back then we bought a certificate for two years, which will soon run out. But fortunately, since this year, there is Let’s Encrypt which provides certificates for free. I’m happy to announce that we have successfully switched and are now able to provide encrypted, secure access without additional costs to the association (except the few days of time spent setting it up).