OSM users who contribute content are motivated by a variety of factors. Some users are motivated to update and edit content in their locality while others focus on remote locations based on personal interests. Users may contribute content individually or through organized groups such as “mapping parties”. There is also evidence that users are motivated to assist with large-scale crisis response events through Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team’s (HOT) projects.

This presentation will investigate whether smaller scale crisis events act as motivators for OSM user contribution. The research will compare data contributions around four recent building fire incidents from Western/Non-Western countries and developed/underdeveloped OSM project areas. If there is an increase in user activity in the immediate aftermath of an incident, then additional analysis will be done to further characterize OSM contributors in the following ways – are users serious or casual mappers, are they local to the incident or remote, and what kinds of features or attributes are being updated?

This presentation will add to growing research on potential motivation factors of OSM users.