LATAM Regional Anticipatory Macro-Mapathon 2026
Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Panamá, Paraguay and Perú
Latin America faces increasing vulnerability to natural disasters and climate change, exacerbated by a "cartographic gap" that leaves informal settlements, critical infrastructure, and water basins invisible on official maps. Building on four years of successful macro national mapathons, this initiative has already mobilized numerous ministries and fostered a growing commitment to using open data for public policy and disaster anticipation.
The 2026 Regional Macro-Mapathon scales this proven model to a continental level, acting as a massive citizen science initiative to coordinate thousands of volunteers, academics, and decision-makers. By integrating Earth Observations and OpenStreetMap methodologies, the project not only generates high-quality basemap data but also catapults regional action, creating a robust network for immediate response and evidence-based territorial planning.
CONTEXT
Historically, the lack of updated geospatial data in Latin America has hindered emergency response and development planning. In countries like Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Mexico, vast rural areas and marginalized urban settlements are absent from detailed an updated cartography. This prevents early warnings from reaching people in time and stalls the precise distribution of humanitarian aid.
This data scarcity directly impacts lives by delaying relief and perpetuating exclusion from basic services. The problem is twofold: a lack of maps and limited local technical capacity to handle remote sensing tools. Crucially, these maps must be generated as solid anticipation in high-risk areas rather than during an active emergency, when waiting days or weeks for data costs lives and local economy. To be effective, this data must be granular at the spatial object level, capturing every building and every local tertiary road to ensure a precise, evidence-based response.
APPROACH
The project uses a hybrid model of intensive remote mapping and technical innovation challenges. Through the HOT Tasking Manager, MapRoulette and other apps, high-resolution satellite and radar imagery is broken down into micro-tasks for volunteers across the region to digitize buildings, roads, and water networks.
- Methodologies: Remote data collection via OpenStreetMap editing; technical training workshops on GIS, and data interoperability.
- Tools: Tasking Manager for mass digitization; MapRoulette for data cleaning and attribute validation; ChatMap for field-to-map workflows where applicable.
- Datasets: Focus on OSM base layers (buildings, roads, infrastructure) integrated with environmental datasets (flood analysis, land use, vegetation cover).
- Collaborations: HOT leads community mobilization, while AmeriGEO coordinates regional institutional networks and policy alignment. Universities act as hubs, integrating mapping into social service or technical internship programs.
HOT provides the proven infrastructure and community expertise to scale national successes into a regional movement, ensuring data quality and open-source accessibility.
