Press Release 2006-10-19

Contact: Michael Gerlek Email: mpg@osgeo.org

Open Source Geospatial Foundation Selects Tyler Mitchell, Open Source Advocate, as Executive Director

Mitchell to Assist OSGeo in the Collaborative Development of Open Source Geospatial Technologies and Data

Seattle, Washington, Oct. 19, 2006- The Open Source Geospatial Foundation, or OSGeo, today announced that Tyler Mitchell has been hired as its new executive director. Mitchell-who has a decade of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) experience as an Analyst, Manager, open source advocate and author-will be responsible for the Foundation's day-to-day operations, supporting development and promotion.

An independent not-for-profit legal entity established to support the needs of the open source geospatial community, OSGeo serves as an outreach and advocacy organization. Since its inception in February 2006, OSGeo has met with encouraging success with local chapters forming around the world.

"We are extremely pleased to welcome Tyler Mitchell as our new Executive Director," said the Foundation's President Frank Warmerdam. "His early vision was instrumental in the formation of the Foundation, and with his extensive background in open source and GIS he is highly qualified to help this organization achieve its mission."

"It is a distinct honor to be asked to help the Open Source Geospatial Foundation," Mitchell said. "This is an exciting time for the OSGeo. I look forward with great enthusiasm to working more closely with OSGeo's dedicated members, the Board, and its partners as we strive to meet the goals of the Foundation."

GIS Professional, Author and Open Source Advocate

Mitchell began his GIS career in British Columbia forestry in 1996, where he performed GIS analysis and research for natural resource management. He has been using open source software for nearly a decade, with a particular focus on the Linux operating system and geospatial tools including MapServer, PostGIS, and other applications and libraries. In 2005, Mitchell wrote Web Mapping Illustrated: Using Open Source GIS Toolkits which was published by O'Reilly Media. Tyler is a well known international speaker and open source advocate-in 2004 he began proposing an independent foundation for open source geospatial technologies and has been a dedicated volunteer ever since.

About OSGeo

The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (http://www.osgeo.org/) is a not-for- profit organization whose mission is to support and promote the collaborative development of open geospatial technologies and data. The Foundation provides financial, organizational and legal support to the broader open source geospatial community. It also serves as an independent legal entity to which community members can contribute code, funding and other resources, secure in the knowledge that their contributions will be maintained for public benefit. OSGeo also serves as an outreach and advocacy organization for the open source geospatial community, and provides a common forum and shared infrastructure for improving cross-project collaboration. The foundation's projects are all freely available and usable under OSI-certified open source licenses.

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© 2006 The Open Source Geospatial Foundation. All rights reserved.