FOSS4G2008 Press Release

Keep each one to <500 words. This is a 'formal' press release to be sent to news agencies and media partners.

1. for release on Sept 10
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Gavin Fleming

Conference Chair: Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial 2008 (FOSS4G 2008), incorporating GISSA 2008.

tel: +27-11-7094668

gavinf@mintek.co.za http://www.foss4g2008.org

Landmark Geospatial Conference Coming to Cape Town

Cape Town, South Africa, September 8, 2008 – The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) (http://www.osgeo.org) and the Geographic Information Society of South Africa (GISSA) (http://www.gissa.org.za) announce the 2008 Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) Conference incorporating GISSA 2008 (http://www.foss4g2008.org) September 29 - October 3, 2008 at Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town, South Africa.

Around 500 software programmers, Government officials, business people and technology experts will be converging on Cape Town to attend the 2008 international Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial conference. 'Geospatial' describes the combination of spatial (mapping) software and analytical methods that use geographic data. The theme of the conference is "Open Source Geospatial: an option for developing countries", providing a platform for industry members to explore and debate issues around the application of the technology for developing countries. Ed Parsons, Chief of Geospatial Technology at Google, will be the Keynote Speaker.

Most of those attending the conference use geospatial software to perform a wide variety of tasks. They create and share maps, build online mapping sites, analyse satellite imagery data to calculate flood zones, plan housing and infrastructure developments, support planning for the 2010 World Cup, map archaeological finds and coordinate tsunami relief efforts.

This year’s conference is sponsored by local and international organisations such as Autodesk, Google, Geographic Information Management Systems (GIMS) and the South African State Information Technology Agency (SITA) and will be attended by delegates from over 50 countries. Delegates will be coming to Cape Town to share their expertise and to have a debate about the role of open source software in countries where the cost of proprietary software is taking up substantial portions of their budgets.

Open Source software (http://www.opensource.org) is a form of collaborative programming and knowledge sharing that allows a global community of programmers to pool their efforts and build software systems. The resulting software is often available for free, or at a cost far less than proprietary software. This affects many industries, including computer mapping, otherwise known as Geographic Information Systems (GIS). FOSS4G will be an ideal opportunity for the geospatial industry to kickstart planning and implementation of the South African Government Open Source policy, approved by Cabinet in February 2007 (http://www.oss.gov.za), including procurement policies and local skills development.

In addition to presentations and hands-on software classes throughout the week, there will be an OpenStreetMap (http://www.openstreetmap.org) mapping party to map Cape Town's streets on Sunday the 28th. An education outreach programme has been developed to assist teachers to learn about GIS as it is now part of the high school geography curriculum. The conference is open to anyone with an interest in mapping and geospatial technology, and special rates are provided for students at tertiary institutions.

The opportunity to host FOSS4G, the premier international FOSS GIS conference, was won in an international bid and South Africa is honoured to be welcoming local and international visitors for an event that is a landmark for South Africa and the continent.

2. for release on Sept 22
DRAFT, EMBARGOED quote numbers and more immediate info

Cape Town, South Africa, September 22, 2008

For more information on FOSS4G 2008, please visit http://www.foss4g2008.org or contact Gavin Fleming at +27-11-7094668 or email gavinf@mintek.co.za.

Arno Webb from the Free Open Source Software (FOSS) Programme at SITA (State IT Agency of South Africa), says "SITA’s activities in the FOSS arena have increased significantly over the last few months. Not only are we working on general back-end and desktop FOSS implementation, but also on rolling out specialised FOSS-based solutions, such as electronic content management and library systems. We would like to see open source GIS becoming an important part of our future offerings and are therefore delighted to be part of FOSS4G."

“Autodesk is committed to furthering development in the open source community and open data standards within the geospatial community,” said Bob Bray, Geospatial Architect at Autodesk and member of the OSGeo Board of Directors. “FOSS4G is the premiere conference for us to work with open source leaders and increase collaboration for more rapid innovation with the open source community.”