Our Mapper of the Month for September 2025 is Gilles Noye (OSM username: gnoye). Gilles started his volunteer mapping activities as an online UN Volunteer, continued his effort to contribute to open mapping, and is now part of the HOT Global Validator Team and UN Mappers Topographic Validators. He is our top validator for the UN Mappers x FAO Agricultural Waterways Mapping in Southern Mauritania Projects - he validated 1,395 tasks (or 41% of all the projects) covering more than 8,000 km² of project area.
We asked Gilles about his motivation, experience in open mapping as well as advice to aspiring mappers and validators. Check our interview below:
Tell us a bit about yourself.
My name is Gilles, I was born in Paris France, but I am also an Australian citizen, I have been living in Melbourne for the last 45 years.
I left school fairly early, I’ve always been something of an autodidact, but later on I completed a Master in Management in Information Technology.
I am retired, over the years, my career has taken me through a few different paths — the French Air Force, education, running my own business, and information technology.
My interests are geopolitics and history, focusing on Europe and Eurasia. I am married, we have 2 children and 6 grandchildren. I like to spend time with my family, travels, volunteer work and reading.
How did you know about UN Mappers?
I was looking to do volunteer work and I enrolled as an online UN volunteer.
As a UN Volunteer, I contributed to mapping initiatives for the Tanzanian Development Trust, a role that required dedication and precision rather than prior technical experience. Building on this foundation, I advanced to projects coordinated through the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOTOSM), including assignments carried out in collaboration with UN Mappers.
Why do you enjoy mapping? What are your motivations?
My motivation started early, I have always loved maps and geography. When I was eighteen, I enrolled in the French Air Force hoping to become an aerial topographic photographer, this did not work out unfortunately. Later on in life, I worked as a computer technical support for the School of Mathematical and Geospatial Sciences at Melbourne RMIT University. There I worked closely with academics and postgrad researchers using a plethora of applications like ArcGis, Liscad, Erdas and more.
I enjoyed mapping as it made me discover parts of the world where people live that I did not know existed.
Another rewarding aspect of mapping is its humanitarian impact; I am motivated by knowing that my contributions support communities affected by disasters, food insecurity, as seen in the UN Mappers projects I have participated in, or man-made crises such as conflicts in Palestine.
When do you map?
As a retiree, I am able to dedicate flexible time to mapping projects, with peak activity during winter or on cold and rainy days. For projects involving sensitive issues or urgent needs, I am available to contribute at any time.
In which countries do you map the most?
I have contributed to mapping projects across multiple regions, including Tanzania, Mauritania, Nigeria, Sudan, as well as Palestine and Lebanon.
Why do you enjoy mapping? What are your motivations?
Mapping for UN Mappers x FAO agricultural waterways was remarkably interesting, as the project focused on agriculture, the working of waterways, canals and ditches was something new to me and gave me experience as well as knowledge.
I found that I needed mapping a good number of tasks before working on this project as a validator.
I found the interaction and communication with other mappers regarding mapping issues pro-active; remarks and comments directed to the project manager were addressed quickly, answers were precise and straightforward.
You have been an OSM mapper since 2018 and a validator, would you like to share any tips or tricks, or give advice especially to new and young contributors/validators?
My recommendations for new contributors are as follows:
- Take time to read the project instruction carefully.
- Take your time mapping; mapping accurately a few tasks is better than many but loose ones, it will make you happy and validating a lot easier.
- Do not hesitate to ask questions.
For validators:
- Take your time validating.
- Use validating tools, do not rely entirely on your experience.
- Take the time giving feedback to contributors, especially new ones.
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Would you like to collaborate with us?
We are happy to host mapping activities with the community! Feel free to contact us for collaboration proposals and invitations through social media or by email: un.mappers@un.org