One man decided to take on Google Maps, 20 years later OpenStreetMap is still going strong | TechCrunch

"From internet protocols and operating systems, to databases and cloud services, some technology is so omnipresent most people don’t even know it exists. The same can be said about OpenStreetMap, the community-driven platform that serves companies and software developers with geographic data and maps so they can rely a little less on the proprietary incumbents in the space. Yes, that mostly means Google.

OpenStreetMap is the handiwork of Steve Coast (pictured above), a University College London “dropout” (Coast’s own words) who has since gone on to work in various map- and location-related roles at Microsoft, TomTom, Telenav, and — as of today — Singaporean ride-hailing firm Grab.

Coast isn’t directly involved on a day-to-day basis at OpenStreetMap any more, but in a blog post on Friday marking his creation’s 20th anniversary, he acknowledged two preceding success stories from the open source realm that convinced him that something like OpenStreetMap might have legs...."