In November 2022, our esteemed Executive President, Ponciano da Costa de Jesus, actively participated in the Pista ng Mapa and State of the Map conference hosted at Bicol University in Legazpi.

Pista ng Mapa, also recognized as the Festival of Maps, stands as a global open conference created by and for individuals with a passion for open mapping, open data, and open source technologies. This international event serves as a catalyst to generate public interest, advocate for the advancement of open geospatial data, promote free and open-source software for geospatial (FOSS4G), and provide support to local open mapping communities across the world.

Our Executive President received a scholarship from the Open Mapping Hub Asia-Pacific, representing Timor-Leste, allowing them to actively engage in this conference for a period of half two weeks, from November 20 to 28, in the vibrant city of Legazpi, Albay, hosted by Bicol University.

The conference featured a diverse array of activities, including presentations from distinguished Open Source experts from the Asia-Pacific region, engaging mapping sessions, and enlightening field trips. Noteworthy is the fact that this event is orchestrated entirely by volunteers and advocates from local OpenStreetMap, OSGeo/FOSS4G, and other map-py communities.

This pivotal moment marked the genesis of the development of Open Source Software for Geospatial in Timor-Leste, particularly in the context of OpenStreetMap.