Map Maker Data Download for Africa now available!

[Jessica Pfund]

Hello fellow Map Makers,

We're committed to making the result of everyone's work to map the
world as available and accessible as possible. The entire dataset of
Africa is now fully available for download by non-profits, government
agencies and individuals to create and enhance their own
non-commercial map-related projects.

You can download the data here:
http://mapmaker.google.com/datadownload

We're greatly excited to see all the wonderful things the community
will do with the data and hope you will share your experiences with
us.

Jessica Pfund, GIS Specialist, on behalf of the entire Map Maker team

[Firefishy]

The license terms restrict people from actually using the data for
anything useful.

- May not use the data for routing.
- Businesses may not use the data. (Africa needs trade not charity)
- Any services using the data may not duplicate any current (or
potentially future) Google service.

The use case example: "disaster-relief assessment studies"... So if
the non-profit charity charged for access to the study to recoup
costs; it would be restricted by the terms.

[Realty4Real]

Thanks.

[Jessica Pfund]

Dear Firefishy,

Thank you for posting about your concerns.

We are indeed focused on not-for-profit organizations with this data
download program. Meanwhile, for-profit companies can access maps
data via Google APIs:
http://maps.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=155714

We are dedicated to making Map Maker data increasingly accessible
and useful. To that end, we will consider making changes to the data
download program based on our partner organizations' needs.

Jessica

[Juln]

Hi,

I work for the United Nations and will be based in Burkina Faso for
the next year. I wonder if it is possible to upload the Google Maps
data on a GPS device like the Garmin Dakota. According to the
following post, the new generation of Garmin models seem to be able to
display KML files.

http://www.gpsfix.net/custom-raster-maps-garmin-oregon-dakota-colorado/

Does anyone have any practical experience with this? If it works, I am
sure that many people would be interested in using a Google Maps
powered Garmin as a navigation tool. It could be used by thousands of
humanitarian and development workers in Africa.

Juln

On Aug 28, 7:59 pm, Jessica Pfund <jtpf...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear Firefishy,
>
> Thank you for posting about your concerns.
>

> We are indeed focused on not-for-profit organizations with this datadownloadprogram. Meanwhile, for-profit companies can access maps

> data via Google APIs:http://maps.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=155714
>
> We are dedicated to making Map Maker data increasingly accessible

> and useful. To that end, we will consider making changes to the datadownloadprogram based on our partner organizations' needs.

>
> Jessica
>
> On Aug 26, 8:37 am, Firefishy <firefi...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > The license terms restrict people from actually using the data for
> > anything useful.
>
> > - May not use the data for routing.

> > - Businesses may not use the data. (Africaneeds trade not charity)

[Map Maker Guide]

Hi Juln,
It is possible to use Map Maker data on your GPS device. Following
the link posted by Jessica, after submitting the form, you will be
taken to a page that will allow you to download the kml files of
Africa. Alternately, you can specifically download only the data of
the country that you are interested in.

After you have downloaded the kml's you can transfer them to your
device or save them on a memory card as described in step 5 of the
following tutorial: http://garmin.blogs.com/softwareupdates/2009/10/index.html

Once you get the files in place, you will be able to see them as a
part of the map on your device.

Regards,
Map Maker Guide.