Journal Volume 2 Spanish Local Chapter

This is a draft. edit this page and add your name to authors list

The Spanish Local Chaper is not yet official but recently started moving its first steps. Actually it is basically identified in its mailing list

Introduction
The Spanish Local Chapter started on March 2007 in Girona within the first Spanish FOSS4G Meeting (I Jornadas SIG Libre). An unplanned meeting was organized by Luis W. Sevilla (gvSIG development Chief) and Lorenzo Becchi (http://www.ominiverdi.org/) and many meeting participants joined the debate.

After this first meeting a mailing list has been created and some activities started as an effort to have a Spanish language community with the main objective to spread the word about FOSS4G and share ideas, technical problems, etc.

The Spanish Chapter is not yet an official organization.

Mailing list
The creation of the list, at the beginning of March 2007, was the first activity of the starting group and will serve as a point of discuss for Spanish spoken FOSS4G users and developers. At this moment the list counts 134 subscribers and we hope, as other activities become better known, the Spanish spoken community will get more involved in the list.

Spanish GIS Book
The biggest effort has been focused to create a Free GIS Book in Spanish language. At this time a PSC has being defined and some important steps have being accomplished. There is a almost stable table of contents for the first version of the book, a little group of people to contribute the book, leaded by Víctor Olaya (SEXTANTE) and some technological facilities provided by OSGeo (a specific mailing list and a SVN repository for the book sources).

The book will be written in LaTeX and the timetable is expected to be followed.

Of course, authors are always welcomed. If you have some Spanish materials that fit some chapter or section of the book, or you think that new contents should be added, please, feel free to join the mailing list.

OSGeo portal translation
Since May 2007, the main web pages of the OSGeo site are translated into Spanish. This effort from the Spanish Local Chapter tries to bring the Foundation to Spanish spoken people. If you want to help with the translation, improving pages, or translating new ones, contact with Jorge Sanz. You can see the progress of the translation at the Portal Translation Status page of the OSGeo wiki.

II Jornadas de SIG Libre
The GIS & Remote Sensing Service (SIGTE) of the University of Girona (in Spain) is working to organize and prepare the II Spanish FOSS4G Meeting that will be held in Girona during March 3th, 4th and 5th 2008. The previous meeting was without doubt an unprecedented success, pointing out the high level of participation and also the high level and quality of the communications presented during the event.

One of the main purposes of this meetings is to present and show new or existing Open Source GIS software (and its capabilities or improvements). We are also really interested in showing real applications and experiences using any Open Source GIS & Remote Sensing software, 3D visualizations tools, ... and their degree of presence in professional world, pointing out advantages and disadvantages.

Moreover, during this II Spanish FOSS4G Meeting, we are trying to emphasize the discussion about free geodata, open standards for open source software, the role that Public Administration could (or should) play in the adoption of GIS Open Source Software solutions, ...

Taking advantage of Tyler Mitchell's attendance during the meeting, an official presentation of the OSGeo will be done. In addition, some discussion group sessions regarding to the Spanish Local Chapter are also planned.

We are exploring some ideas ... and the active participation of the community is the key to keep the wheel moving on ...

Authors

 * Jorge Gaspar Sanz Salinas
 * Lorenzo Becchi
 * Lluís Vicens & Marc Compte
 * Pedro-Juan Ferrer