OpenDroneMap, the org

[smathermather]

For a while now, OpenDroneMap has been an idea, then a project, then a suite of projects and community and as it has grown, it has done so both purposefully and organically. It has been anchored formally by a couple of organizations along the way, a few stout licenses, and a community that is engaged, energetic, and caring.

Much as we will be seeing soon with other projects in the Free and Open Source for Geospatial / OSGeo orbit, OpenDroneMap the organization will be working through a fiscal sponsor in the short term with aspirations in the mid-term to be an independent org with its own board and governance focused on support of the community.

Our purpose is to enable monitoring and observations of the world through free and open source geospatial and non-geospatial technology. OpenDroneMap develops and designs affordable, open, and locally sustainable technological solutions to measure, monitor and understand complex environmental processes and for scientific and educational purposes.

Our purpose is supporting you all through this ecosystem of tools, through these forums, and through all the means we haven’t quite developed together just yet, things that are yet dreams or yet un-dreamed. The org gives us a structure on which to hang these ideas in order to provide resourcing, governance, and growth to what we are and have been and will yet build together.

You can think of this like many of the organizations and non-profits that support specific or suites of software projects that focus specifically on the communities of users and developers.

[smathermather]

Oh, and when the FOSS4G videos come out eventually, I was much more eloquent about this in that video. Or maybe I had just had too much espresso…

[danbjoseph]

I love this and am excited to find ways to be a part of it both in my current role at Red Cross and more generally as a person who is excited by the purpose you’ve articulated.

[coreysnipes]

The ODM org is a very exciting and positive development. It will be a great platform to focus and support the long-term growth of the tools and community. I look forward to helping in whatever capacity you need.

[smathermather]

The first board meeting for OpenDroneMap was yesterday. It was fun to get a selfie with the crew at the end of our call:

The board consists of 5 members (surnames second and in caps):

• Immaculata (Imma) MWANJA – Chair
• DK BENJAMIN – Secretary and Treasurer
• Arun M.
• Naïké NEMBETWA NZALI
• Me (Stephen MATHER) – President

This is a board with some deep experience at the interesection of free and open source software, open knowledge creation and stewardship, and non-profit management, so we are super lucky to have this group.

Introducing the Board

Imma hails from Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) as the Global Projects Associate. Previously she served as Operations Manager for OpenMap Development Tanzania (OMDTZ), so she has really deep experience in an early stage, high-impact organization as well as a global NGO that sit at the intersection of technology and open knowledge creation. Imma has done compelling work in this space for a few years and even likes and prefers doing report making in LaTeX. Serious geek chops.

DK also hails from HOT as their DevOps Manager. Before HOT recruited them as the second full-time tech person, you might have known them here on the forums, as DK started community.opendronemap.org in response to recognizing the need for a community support forum. They were also an early developer on the project, preceding even Piero TOFFANIN and replacing me in the early days of the project.

Arun M. hails from Kerala, India where for more than two decades he has served as an advocate for free and open source software, whether from the non-profit Society For Promotion of Alternative Computing and Employment (SPACE), during his tenure in government as Program Head, Research and Academics at the International Centre for Free and Open Source Software (ICFOSS), or his current roles as Secretary for the Free Software Foundation of India and Senior Vice President – Technology at GPS Renewables.

Naïké completes the team and serves as Senior Operations Program Manager at Wikimedia Foundation, the well known non-profit behind Wikipedia and other global open knowledge efforts, and has also served as Project Manager for BlueSquare, a global health technology non-profit out of Brussels.

I would be remiss if I didn’t introduce myself: for those who don’t know me, I am the founder of OpenDroneMap as ODM (the command-line tool), co-founder with Piero of the OpenDroneMap Ecosystem, for which the genesis was when Piero created NodeODM, WebODM, etc. and extended the usability and then ultimately the quality of all the products. I’ve been in the geospatial tech space for 20+ years and an active user and contributor to FOSS for 15 years or so. I’ve had pull requests rejected from some of the most important OSGeo projects .

What’s next?

Stay tuned for more as this process gains momentum, but it is super fun to work with the above folks and all of you to continue to build, co-design, and extend the ecosystem and sustain this community of users and developers.

[pierotofy]

Fantastic intro! It’s nice to see such a diverse set of backgrounds and skills. I’m excited about this next chapter and for what it will bring.

[coreysnipes]

I’ve only met a couple of you, but I’m very impressed with the caliber of the team and equally impressed that you got a picture with everyone smiling. I see big things in ODM’s future.

[smathermather]

I wanted to continue this thread a bit. More work went into the org through the end of 2022 in order to prepare us for application for 501c3 status. That application went in on 24 December, so we can expect anywhere up to 180 days before the US IRS responds either with more questions about the application or a determination.

A couple more substantial updates: we’ll be posting board meeting minutes here on the forum and likely also on the main opendronemap.org page. We had a really nice visioning session today that we’ll share for feedback shortly. I hope that folks here will weigh in at that beginning of that process.

Also, I cannot remember how to update the template on the main page (Friday brain is Friday brain), but there is now a cursory board page here: Board - OpenDroneMap (which mostly replicates what we have posted on this thread). But expect that to be visible on the main page as soon as Friday brain wears off… .

[smathermather]

Great news! We received a determination letter from the US IRS that the OpenDroneMap entity (organized as a non-profit corporation in the State of Ohio in the United States) is a public charity under IRC Section 501(c)(3).

There’s still much to do, but this is an important milestone.