Election 2015 Candidate Manifestos

A space for the candidates for election to the Board to share some information about themselves, their aspirations for OSGeo, what they would like to change, improve or introduce and what role they would like to play on the board.

Dirk Frigne
Alias D.

About me
founder and spiritual father of the OSGeo geomajas project Father of 3 daughters founder of technology companies wants to help improving the world, and believes strongly this is possible and realistic when everybody is just changing a small little bit OSGeo advocate. [read more] I am not native English speaking, please feel free to improve my tekst 

My vision
Climate change, migration, IOT, robotica, public privacy, ... The world is changing. The world is changing very fast. It is happening during our lifetime. The current politicians don't have an answer yet on these new challenges. Knowledge is generated and exchanged in such a fast way, even universities have difficulties to transfer this know how to the brains of the new generations. From Entrepreneurs it is expected to build businesses to maximise profits, but I am not motivated in this respect. I do believe that Entrepreneurs take initiative, which can result into a success, or which can fail. Profit should be re-invented into a broader scope. In the changing world of today, with all our challenges, a new balance should be found between protection and proprietary between sharing and openness. Both are important values, but balance points a little to far to the protection/proprietary side. I believe communities are a great mechanism for individuals, to act as self steering organisms which interact with other communities and organisms and as such are able to focus on the real needs to adapt our society to make a better world.

What you have done within the community in the past
I am an OSGeo member since 2007 and became a charter member in 2013. I am a member of the steering committee of geomajas and am a regular speaker on FOSS4G conferences since 2007.Some of them are uploaded [here:] I try to keep contact with the Dutch and German chapters. In 2015 I took the initiative, together with a team of enthusiastic open source adepts to found The Belgium OSGeo local chapter, and I am actively involved in the organisation of the first FOSS4G.be in Belgium. I am evangelising the foundation of the European chapter, which is right now under construction, discussing the goals and principles (http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Europe). Looking for members to become involved.

What your interests are in terms of the board
OSGeo is a community of communities. It is a global organisation which is growing year after year. OSGeo is reflecting on her own organisation, if it should become more professional, or stay a group of friends. I see a lot of opportunities when observing everything which is happening in this community, where I am proud to be a member of. I became a member, not because I registered my name on a website (of course this was the first step), but because I felt me accepted as a person by the other members. People encouraged me to speak up and try to express my thoughts, share them with others in the community. And by doing that I encountered even more great people. And doing that, I was nominated to become a candidate for board member. I am of course very honoured to be nominated, this is important to me, as a person, but not for the community. If the community thinks I could be an added value to the board, I will be more than happy to help.

Any things that you would like to change or introduce
If I would be a member of the board, I would like to work on a more professional OSGeo. Which is a global organisation, working through local chapters that are not only language oriented, but also regional and even cultural. I think the CoC discussions prove that not for all issues there is only one answer or solution. Europe has for certain circumstances other values than the US or the Asian countries. I think a great value we all share is respect. One of the things I want to work on is the branding of OSGeo as an organisation, strengthen the role OSGeo has to play into the world of Geo-ICT. Promoting the diversity of all the work of the different communities, but at the same time bring communities closer together, working together, so we can bring the message of openness and respect to those in the industry who didn't see the light, to the politicians who have dare to take long term decisions, and to the schools where students can experience the great applications we already have. concrete:
 * OSGeo has a mission [1], I want OSGeo to have a vision as well. I will work on that.
 * I want help OSGeo move in a direction it can execute the vision and the mission we care about in a professional and efficient way.
 * if needed I want to support the process to change the bylaws, so the vision and mission can be executed.
 * I want to help bringing the communities more together
 * I want to encourage diversity
 * I want to support strong branding of OSGeo software
 * I want to find ways to reserve more time to work on these goals.

my 2c

[] @mission statement

What role you would wish to fulfil on the board (if any)
If I should have a role, I would want to be the public relations evangilist. I would help the president in bringing the different communities more together, bridge OSGeo to other initiatives such as Geo4All, Locationtech, OGC, INSPIRE, other open initiatives (OSM, Open Knowledge, Open Data, ...) but also other open source communities: Apache, Drupal, Gnu foundation, ....

supplementary questions
1) What do you see as OSGeo’s purpose today?

OSGeo should promote the rights for free software, from a geo perspective. Data and standards from the other points of the triangle. OSGeo should act as one voice in OGC to defend the open standards from an OSGeo perspective.

1a) What is OSGeo doing today that it shouldn’t be doing?

tell me. a lot of initiatives are taking place in the name of OSGeo.

2) What do you see as OSGeo’s purpose in five years?

I think the same purpose, but more grown up. More professional.

2a) What should OSGeo be doing in five years that it *isn’t* doing today?

I agree with Sanghee Shin: -> Need to develop more formal and stable relationship with outer organisations or players.

3) How do we get from (1) to (2)?


 * set up and support local chapters per region, sector.
 * support initiatives to the industry, education, ...
 * looking for funding to get better professional support

3a) How can you help that?


 * I can play a role to start with a European and Belgium local chapter.
 * I will also try to work with sponsors and the OSGeo industry.

About me
I studied geographic information sciences and am now working with the Mobility department at the Austrian Institute of Technology, Vienna. I am a member of the QGIS PSC, OSGeo Charter member and member of the Young Scholars Committee of the Laboratory for Geocomputation at Ryerson University, Toronto.

My vision
Openness, data literacy, creativity

It's increasingly important for all of us to understand both the data we produce ourselves as well as the data available around us. I think GIS has a very important role to play here on both private and professional level. In my opinion, open source GIS and a strong community are an essential part of the puzzle since it provides tools and skills for the data revolution.

What you have done within the community in the past
I was elected OSGeo charter member in 2012 and started serving on the QGIS PSC in 2013. The focus of my work within the community is supporting users and spreading the word about open source GIS. I'm also community moderator on gis.stackexchange.com, a Q&A platform for all things GIS where the open source and proprietary world meet. I'm also writing books and teaching current and future GIS professionals.

What your interests are in terms of the board
What I can bring to the board, I think, is a very user-centered perspective (based on years of user support) as well as experience from the PSC of a big community-driven project (QGIS). If the community decides that these skill would be valuable on the board, I'd be happy to serve.

Any things that you would like to change or introduce
One potential issue that would be worth addressing is the communication and collaboration between OSGeo and the projects. I think there is still considerable untapped potential to improve the relationship between the communities. Especially bigger projects can be so busy with their own community that they can lose sight of what's going on in the other communities.

What role you would wish to fulfil on the board (if any)
If I had a specific role to pick, I'd suggest that I would like to provide a connection between QGIS and OSGeo.

About me
I am a Professor at the Center for Geospatial Analytics and Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA, and lead the OSGeo Research and Education Lab at NCSU

What you have done within the community in the past
I have been involved with open source geospatial community for many years, starting in the GRASS GIS development team in 1991 co-writing the code for spatial interpolation and I am still involved in the GRASS community as a member of the GRASS GIS steering committee. I have co-authored the first book on GRASS GIS and I have been teaching courses with FOSS4G since 2008. I am charter member of OSGeo since its founding in 2006 and I am in OSGeo conference committee and education committee. Our OSGeo RE lab at NCSU is one of the founding members of the global OSGeo research and education labs network and I am one of the coordinators for the geo4all initiative, one of the regional chairs for North America You can find more here http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeo_Advocate#Helena_Mitasova

What your interests are in terms of the board
I am interested in improving the coordination with geo4all initiative and renewing and establishing MOUs with academic and professional organizations. I would also like to make sure OSGeo provides continuing support for the activities initiated by the projects such as community sprints. I would also work to ensure continuing growth and visibility of FOSS4G conferences

Any things that you would like to change or introduce
I believe that OSGeo has done a great job building open source geospatial community and I would like to streghten the connections between the projects and academia through geo4all. Especially encourage educational institutions not only to use FOSS4G but also increase the contributions back on several levels - from educational material to the code. And I would like to make the FOSS4G conferences more open to presentations by everybody who wishes to present their work

What role you would wish to fulfil on the board (if any)
Coordination with geo4all initiative

About me
I am a Professor in Geoinformatics at Osaka City University (OCU), Japan, and lead the OSGeo Research and Education Lab at OCU

What you have done within the community in the past
I have been involved with open source geospatial community for many years, starting in the GRASS GIS development team in 1994. I was one of the organizers of the first FOSS4G (http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G) conference in Bangkok in 2004 (http://gisws.media.osaka-cu.ac.jp/grass04/).

I have been with OSGeo Foundation since its inception and was on the board in 2006 and have been engaged in building OSGeo Local chapters in Asia. Recently, I was also the conference chair for FOSS4G-Asia 2014 (http://www.foss4g-asia.org/) and Academic Track Chair at FOSS4G-2015(http://2015.foss4g.org/) I am charter member of OSGeo since its founding in 2006 and I am in OSGeo conference committee and education committee. I am one of the coordinators for the geo4all initiative, one of the regional chairs for Asia. You can find more here http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Venkatesh_Raghavan

What your interests are in terms of the board
Interested fostering the Open Geospatial Ecosystem in Education and Research and Business

My recent lightning talk at FOSS4G-2015 should provide some more info. http://www.slideshare.net/VenkateshRaghavan1/g4-a-newver2

Any things that you would like to change or introduce
I would like to bring in the Asian perspective to the board and provide inputs based on my multi-cultural background.

What role you would wish to fulfill on the board (if any)
Serve the OSGeo Foundation to the best of my ability and help it grow in regions that are still not well represented in our community

About me
I am an academic attached to Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology, Sri Lanka. I travel a lot, enjoy working with people and acting as a psychological counsellor also apart from my usual job role.

My vision
Empower my community and developing nations via OSGeo initiatives while respecting local value systems.

What you have done within the community in the past
I have moved to open source GIS in 2006 with a project related to 2004 Tsunami, a disaster which deeply affected my community. I had no option than adopting FOSS GIS (which was very new at local level then) and thereafter continue the spreading them among my community. I introduced GIS related modules to local universities with FOSS GIS tools, which lead to merging of new generation of GIS professional s in the local community. I talked at local events about OSGeo and open standards for GIS and provide support to integrate FOSS GIS in activities of local organizations. I initiated the OSGeo lab of SLIIT in 2014 with the guidance of Prof. Yann Chamin and then lead the first Sri Lankan FOSS4G gathering in the same year. I was a member of the organizing committee of FOSS4G Asia 2014 and the Academic Track committee of FOSS4G 2015.

What your interests are in terms of the board
I wish to add the developing nation’s perspective to the board.

Any things that you would like to change or introduce
While supporting the already proven community spirit, I wish to link more communities from Asian and African countries with the OSGeo. We, developing nations, may be with our long lasting political and social struggles, still to embrace the idea of ‘”openness”. The barriers which limit the involvement need to be identified from the local community’s point of view, I guess, and I wish to assist in overcoming them.

What role you would wish to fulfil on the board (if any)
Linking local communities and promote collaboration among different regions via Geo4All, projects and collaborative R & D activities

About me
I'm a businessman running and managing Gaia3D, Inc., a geospatial software company in Korea, which was founded in 2000. Sometimes I'm a activist to promote the spirit of openness in Korea and around Asia. I'm also father of a lovely young daughter.

My vision
I'd like to contribute to hand over better and bright world to the next generation with my experiences and knowledge, that might be mainly from geospatial. I also want to make my business as platform for collaboration or 'Work Together' to tackle the problems that human-beings are facing.

What you have done within the community in the past
I established OSGeo Korean Chapter in 2008 and have served as representative since then. I've organised annual FOSS4G Korea conference from 2011. I've been involved in numerous translation projects including QGIS Manual, QGIS Training Manual, GeoServer Manual and others. Also I co-organised several Open Source GIS Trainings with other Korean Chapter members. I was elected as a Charter Member of OSGeo Foundation in 2011. I also co-founded KAOS-G(Korea Alliance of Open Source GeoSpatial) for the rights & interests of commercial open source GIS company in Korea and have served as chairperson since 2013. I have enjoyed many outreach activities for the promotion of open source GIS & OSGeo. Many of my talks can be found here: http://www.slideshare.net/endofcap/presentations. Finally I organised International FOSS4G Seoul 2015 as chairperson in Seoul, Korea from 14th to 19th September 2015.

What your interests are in terms of the board
I'd like to bring in more regionally diverse perspective to OSGeo. More specifically I'd like to represent Asia's views and thoughts. I've seen many lively communities and activities here in Asia. However because of language & cultural barriers their activities has not been evaluated fairly.

Any things that you would like to change or introduce
As OSGeo expands rapidly, I think OSGeo is no longer developer's exclusive community. Now we need to embrace more diverse players around open source GIS such as NGOs, international organisations, Academia and business enterprises. I'd like to play a role in developing relationship with UN(United Nations) based on my experiences in organising UN Special Session at FOSS4G Seoul.

What role you would wish to fulfil on the board (if any)
1. Mandate the FOSS4G Travel Grants program to invite at least 10 students from Low or Low-Middle income countries.

2. Mandate the Discount Rate for the attendants from Low or Low-Middle income countries.

3. Hire long-term PCO(~5years) to reduce the burden of LOC's FOSS4G organising.

About me
G'Day, I am from the internet!

More seriously I have been working with our open source projects in a professional capacity since 2003 - Refractions Research (Victoria Canada), LISAsoft (Sydney Australia) and Boundless (both).

My vision
I love working with open source mapping and location software. It is great as a developer to work on software that has such a large effect on the world. OSGeo is a multiplier for our projects, helping the projects up for success and extending the good they can do in the world.

I would like to bring the benefits of OSGeo to more projects, and gently remind our OSGeo members to take part in the projects that they benefit from.

What you have done within the community in the past
Let me narrow that down to last week.


 * Wrote up a summary of FOSS4G taking care to thank organizers and sponsors and call out members of the community who are inspiring by their example.
 * Met with Dr Jae-Hong of Sejong University, along with several of his students who are now industry. It is inspiring to see how our software is used (often behind the scenes) in the pioneering indoor mapping work taking place in South Korea.
 * Fixed a GeoTools problem due to a conflict between DirectLayers and LabelCache.
 * Stared in horror at the number of emails on discuss@osgeo.org (and am now replying to them).
 * Introduced two new Boundless Victoria staff to open source development
 * Helped define the schedule for LocationTech Summit (to be announced on Monday)
 * Wrote a presentation for GeoGig to be highlighted at FedGeoDay on October 15th
 * Continued my review of gvSig incubation materials (an epic amount of work put together by that team, very professional, concerned we are tripping up over language barrier when discussing open governance).
 * Set up a day of workshops and talks in collaboration with Vivid Solutions, Boundless, CartoDB, University of Victoria, LocationTech, OSGeo and Victoria GeoGeeks.

What your interests are in terms of the board
I have been volunteering with the incubation committee to help onboard new projects. I am also concerned with the long term viability of our existing projects and after careful consideration I believe I can effect the most change as a board member (rather than by starting up another subcommittee).

Any things that you would like to change or introduce
As a volunteer organization our capacity is limited by our ability to inspire (short term passion or long term vision). I would like to work with the board on effective use and promotion of volunteers and participating organizations.

I would like to explore taking a more active hand with either hiring staff, or directly sponsoring code-sprints of feature development. We had some success last year with the board hiring a contractor to aid GeoTools and GeoServer in a time of need.

OSGeo has agreements (with OGC and LocationTech) and I would like to ensure we take advantage of these opportunities.

What role you would wish to fulfil on the board (if any)
With so many board members from industry and academia (who quite rightly see all the benefits open source software provide), if elected, it will be my continual challenge to close the circle and ensure the software teams also benefit.

Darrell's Questions
Great set of open ended questions Darrell, and difficult to answer as there is a gap between what OSGeo is in position to do as a volunteer driven organization and all the opportunities available in our industry. Since OSGeo is a transparent organization we all had a ring side seat for the decline in sponsorship leading to the board scaling back ambitions a few years back.

My strategy is to work with a number of organizations to get the job done. I have worked with OGC in the past on standards. I volunteer with LocationTech currently on industry outreach. And perhaps most importantly with the Boundless team as they work across a range of our OSGeo projects, tribes and timezones.

OSGeo is providing a lot of value and opportunities for everyone involved and I have accepted this nomination to step up and take part.

1) What do you see as OSGeo’s purpose today?
Same as it always has been, to foster a healthy environment for open source spatial software to succeed.

The fun part of this is with such a diverse community there are many different ways to succeed (as pointed out by your other email). Developing the software, and reaching out to new projects, being my passion. Working with groups like the OGC to foster an level playing field of standards for our software to grow. Working with Geo4All to produce course materials for our software to be useful in an education context.

1a) What is OSGeo doing today that it shouldn’t be doing?
Waiting: As a volunteer based organization our response is often measured by drumming up interest in the short term, or painting a long range strategy that inspires. Waiting provides a hesitation that kills the enthusiasm on which we thrive. Please don't wait - dive in.

2) What do you see as OSGeo’s purpose in five years?
In five years OSGeo should be even more of a force to be reckoned with. Our open source software is gradually taking hold, and we will see the first harvest from the seeds Geo4All is planning in our education system. We need to make good on this harvest and responsibly direct the future of our industry.

2a) What should OSGeo be doing in five years that it *isn’t* doing today?
Building reliable lines of communication/collaboration with external organizations. Spearheading RnD collaborations to fill in holes in our open source ecosystem.

We should take the bigger picture and *start* projects based on our vision rather than wait for software to come to us. As an example some five years after WPS servers started popping up we are finally getting decent client support. OSGeo should be in position to collaborate with the OGC and make sure a reference client and server are available for each new specification as they are produced.

We should follow the OGC "Test Bed" model and give projects an opportunity and funding to address interoperability issues.

3) How do we get from (1) to (2)?
Treasuring our volunteers, promoting our sponsors (direct and indirect) and fundraising (rather than complaining about lack of resources).

Staying focused on our mission, and redirecting projects/questions/causes to a more appropriate venue if they are not ours to answer.

3a) How can you help that?
By staying focused on the health and happiness of our projects, measuring success by number of employed developers, growth in the number of pull requests.

By celebrating and caring for our volunteers, pride in each accomplishment, joy in each new member ... and keeping an eye on each other so we do not burn out.

By recognizing that the board members are also volunteers, asking as much from our membership as we do from the board.