Corporate membership

01.07.2022 - OpenStreetMap Belgium

For years, OpenStreetMap Belgium has worked with close to no budget at all. We also didn’t have much costs, so it wasn’t a real issue. Being part of OpenKnowledge Belgium meant we still had access to a professional organisation whenever needed.

But as OpenStreetMap in Belgium grows, this is no longer a good way of working. At the same time, we noticed that more and more companies build their businesses around OpenStreetMap data. They have an interest in being part of the community. We decided to solve both problems by introducing a Corporate Membership program. For our Corporate Members, we offer the following benefits:

• OpenStreetMap Belgium will promote specific mapping activities that are beneficial to you
• Limited free consultancy: we will help you analyse business cases that could work with OpenStreetMap (max 8 hours)
• We will help you engage with the community when you do projects in Belgium
• We will put your logo on our front page and show it during events
• You can mention a link to OpenStreetMap Belgium in your own communications
• And of course you will get instant karma

For large organizations, this costs 2500 euro per year, for SME’s 1000 euro. We have managed to attract several companies this way:

• Geo-6: a geodata consultancy company
• Anyways.eu: an open source routing company
• ChampsLibres: a cooperative specialised in open source geo tools
• Visit Flanders (Toerisme Vlaanderen): a Flemish government department that contributes to OSM data with their Pin je Punt project
• RouteYou: mapping company focused on recreational navigation
• TomTom: location services provider
• Mapbox: global basemap and map services provider

While it is great we can have a closer relation to these data users (and corporate contributors!), this also means we have a budget now. The first thing we did, is start the Open StreetLevel Imagery project. We’re looking into more ways to better support the community with this income. Most of this discussion is happening within the official membership and the Board.

Do you want to be part of that discussion?

Just send a short e-mail to board@osm.be and tell us a sentence or two about yourself. We do ask for active involvement from our members.