Press Release Board 2008

Contact: Tyler Mitchell, Executive Director, OSGeo Email: tmitchell@osgeo.org

New OSGeo President and Board Election Results

Williams Lake, BC, Canada, September 10, 2008 - The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) recently added two new directors to its board and updated its officer positions, including a new President.

New President
The OSGeo Board of Directors selected Arnulf Christl as its new President. Mr. Christl brings years of experience in the geospatial industry, including a strong perspective on the use of free and open source software within a business context through his company WhereGroup in Bonn, Germany. He has served on OSGeo's Board from its inception and been involved in several aspects from Marketing to Web management as well as in leading the Mapbender web mapping project. He is committed to seeing OSGeo continue its global advocacy efforts to help organizations continue to adopt free and open source solutions across all domains.

Arnulf Christl explains, "I'm pleased to be able to help in my new role as OSGeo President. I have three main goals on my personal agenda, these include further supporting the emergence of local chapters and supporting them in organizing meetings and conferences that complement our global FOSS4G effort. The second area is to improve our support for businesses using and supporting Open Source Geospatial software. Our organization is now so strong and healthy that we need to tell the world about it in the lobby (pressure group work, etc. - please add some correct terminology). The third area is the most challenging one. It includes conciliating between the extremes of proprietary businesses that dominate the OGC and the other extreme of thorough volunteerism(?) that rules OpenStreetMap - the exponentially growing Wiki style map creator project. If at all then OSGeo is the organization capable of bridging this gap/gorge/chasm/."

New Treasurer
After two years in the position, Frank Warmerdam stepped down as President to focus on others aspects of the organization and to make space for new ideas and vision in the leadership role. He was chosen as the new Treasurer of OSGeo, taking over from Dave McIlhagga who held the position previously.

Mr. Warmerdam describes the change, "I really enjoyed being President and am thrilled with the progress we've made. Arnulf's enthusiasm and experience make him a ideal President.  I have been interested in helping more on the financial management side of the organisation, so it's great to be able to do so in the official role as Treasurer."

As a leader of the GDAL/OGR Project, Mr. Warmerdam has been closely tied to the finances of OSGeo, collecting over $30,000 (USD) in sponsorships for that project. He will help to streamline financial processes and oversee financial reporting, while working alongside the current Finance Committee.

The New Board
In July, 2008, elections for 4 (out of 9) Board of Director positions were completed. The results saw two new directors join and two others re-elected to previously expired positions. The new board consists of:
 * Robert (Bob) Bray (USA)
 * Howard Butler (USA) - New director
 * Arnulf Christl (Germany) - Re-elected
 * Ari Jolma (Finland) - New director
 * Markus Neteler (Italy)
 * Paul Ramsey (Canada)
 * Jeroen Ticheler (The Netherlands)
 * Jo Walsh (Spain)
 * Frank Warmerdam (Canada) - Re-elected

About the Open Source Geospatial Foundation
The Open Source Geospatial Foundation, or OSGeo, 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 useable under an OSI-certified open source license.

© Copyright 2008 Open Source Geospatial Foundation, under the Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives (by-nd) License.