OpenStreetMap founded 2004 by Steve Coast — response to UK Ordnance Survey not releasing data freely; OSMF established 2006
Created 2026-06-21
Summary
Claim: OpenStreetMap was founded in 2004 by Steve Coast as a response to the UK Ordnance Survey not releasing map data freely. The OpenStreetMap Foundation (OSMF) was established in 2006. OSM imported US Census TIGER road data 2007–2008.
Source: Wikipedia / OSM wiki.
Confidence: Verified.
Why this matters for Candid: The non-government half of the open-data story — community-built data filling a gap where commercial vendors had charged for access. Cross-link US Census TIGER/Line — geographic data, public domain, released annually for the data OSM imported.
Related entries
Referenced by (3)
- reference Research brief: the falling cost floor of "real" web functionality for SMBs (June 2026) relates-to
- reference Timeline 2004–2014: the decade when each of the three historically-expensive parts independently got cheap depends-on
- reference US Census TIGER/Line — geographic data, public domain, released annually relates-to