As I was browsing my Feedly reader this morning, I came across an interesting article about crowdsourced maps at the Sochi Olympics. OpenStreetMap (OSM) is an open map of the world that is contributed to and maintained by users. The company emphasizes local knowledge, with users verifying the accuracy of the map with their own devices. OpenStreetMap also draws a diverse group of contributors and is free to use with the proper credit given.
The title of the article caught my eye, as it stated that this crowdsourced map is "trouncing Google Maps" at the Sochi Olympics. While author Greg Miller points out the navigation advantages with Google Maps, he supports the power of OSM with its users. Currently, 1.5 million OSM users have registered to edit maps. With the level of map detail left up to the users, some locations are shown down to the level of the plants that exist.
Maps around the Olympics sites in Sochi have changed drastically in the past few days. Check out this amazing crowdsourced resource here!
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