Corporate mapping in OpenStreetMap – shifting trends in global evolution and small-scale effects

Since 2016, corporations are increasingly getting involved in OpenStreetMap (OSM). Large corporations such as Apple, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon have hired large teams to edit in OSM and contribute map data on a global scale. At the same time, some observers and the OSM mapping communities have expressed concerns about corporate involvement. Previous studies have been able to identify global patterns, but their small-scale effects on other non-corporate or volunteer mappers have been difficult to quantify. The presented analysis attempts to contribute to this debate by analyzing mapping trends for corporate and non-corporate contributors at two scales. First, we investigated the impact of corporate mapping on the global scale between 2016 and 2024. Corporate editors filled in the gaps left by other volunteer mapping efforts mainly in high- and medium-income countries. 36 countries accounted for 88% of all corporate mapping activity. Furthermore, our results reveal an unexpected declining number of overall corporate edits since 2021, despite an apparent increase in the number of active companies. Second, we study the impact of corporate mapping on country- and small-scale mapping. For this analysis, we considered data from the United Arab Emirates, Colombia, Vietnam, and Mexico. Despite concerns in the OSM communities, our results suggest that there seems to be no general tendency for corporate contributions to discourage non-corporate contributions. Still, given the fact that overall corporate edits have been declining, this raises the question if there is a change in the companies’ approach toward OSM. We conclude that future research needs to shed light on this shift by investigating the accompanying effects on spatial data quality and OSM community sustainability.自2016年以来，企业对开放街道地图（OpenStreetMap，OSM）的参与度持续攀升。诸如苹果（Apple）、微软（Microsoft）、Meta（Meta）及亚马逊（Amazon）等大型企业，均已组建大规模团队参与OSM编辑工作，并在全球范围内贡献地图数据。与此同时，部分观察者及OSM地图社区成员对企业的参与行为表达了担忧。既往研究虽已能够识别全球层面的分布模式，但企业参与对非企业或志愿制图者造成的小规模影响，却难以被量化。本研究的分析尝试为本场争论贡献新的见解，通过双尺度分析企业与非企业制图贡献者的制图趋势。其一，我们分析了2016年至2024年间企业制图在全球层面产生的影响。企业制图者主要填补了高收入及中等收入国家中其他志愿制图工作遗留的数据空白。仅36个国家便贡献了全部企业制图活动的88%。此外，尽管活跃企业的数量明显增加，但我们的研究结果却揭示了一个出人意料的现象：自2021年起，企业整体编辑量呈下降趋势。其二，我们研究了企业制图对国家及小尺度制图活动的影响。本次分析选取了阿联酋（United Arab Emirates）、哥伦比亚（Colombia）、越南（Vietnam）及墨西哥（Mexico）四国的数据。尽管OSM社区存在诸多担忧，但我们的研究结果显示，企业贡献并未普遍抑制非企业贡献。但考虑到企业整体编辑量持续下降的现状，这一结果也引出了新的疑问：企业对OSM的参与方式是否已发生转变？我们认为，未来的研究需通过探究这一转变对空间数据质量及OSM社区可持续性带来的连带影响，来厘清其本质。