One of the problems with giving aid is only about a tenth of the money given is used in the way one would hope.
Probably the most pressing problem in Africa at the moment is corruption and in many ways aid doesn't help this particular problem. Mapping in OSM is way to assist without fear that the funds will be diverted. Money given by government agencies stands a little more chance that the aid will get through although there is always the temptation to say it must be shipped on ships from the donor country or must be spent on goods from the donor country. Given that HOT Inc exists in the US and given the USA culture, who else could elect Donald, I think we can expect them to present themselves in this manner. Whilst I would hope that requirements and benefits can be presented I'm not sure that this is in the US tradition. Given the attention span of the target audience again is it worth the effort to HOT Inc? Should the message have been restricted to those with a US address? If I'm cynical then the task manager has been very effective. The training group has identified problem areas and come up with solutions. However HOT is not just HOT Inc there are many people involved in creating maps and the tools used. Germany is home to many of them. The OSM wiki contains much wisdom, the page I'm thinking of was put together by a Canadian, well a Québécois which is practically the same. I'd like to see two slots on the most urgent slots in tasks reserved for projects that are run by OSM groups in affected areas to give some sort of recognition to the work they are doing. If nothing else they're learning project management skills that they can apply elsewhere. In sum HOT Inc probably deserves some support but on transparency I think it could do better. Note to Severin I trimmed the posted message down to fit under the 40k character limit for osmf and talk osm then reposted. The original was posted on the HOT mailing list. Cheerio John
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