Japan

近年，オープングローバルなコラボレーションを通じ，オープンソースソフトウェアが，より強力なソフトウェアとなるための環境が整備されつつあります．その中で，この度，最も高い品質を持つ地理空間のためのソフトウェアの開発とサポートのためにOpen Source Geospatial Foundation（OSGeo；オープンソース地理空間財団）が設立されました．この財団の最終目的は，コミュニティ主導プロジェクトにおける相互利用と共同開発を支援・促進することです．これに加え，"OSGeo-Japan"の設立は，オープンソース地理空間ソリューションにおける分散イノベーションを促進するという，もう１つの画期的な面をもちます．また，"OSGeo-Japan"が，日本だけでなくアジアの地域におけるユーザーのニーズに対応するための主導的な役割を果たすことも願っています．"OSGeo-Japan"は"OSGeo"に対する窓口であると共に，独自でオープンソース地理空間のイニシアティブを高め，強化するための次の作業をも進めていきたいと思っています．

* 各種ソフトウェアの国際化と地域対応． * 地域の利用者へのオープンソース地理空間の可能性を示すためのプロトタイプアプリケーションの開発． * 地域の必要に応じたソフトウェアパッケージングおよびカスタマイズ． * 地域の言葉でのトレーニング，サポートおよびｅラーニングコンテンツの開発． * 地域における地理空間データに対するオープンスタンダードとオープンアクセスの提供．

これらの活動を通じて，日本やアジア諸国のGISをはじめとする地理空間を利用する産・官・学およびNPOの幅広い層にオープンソースの良さと力強さを理解していただき，活用していただけるようにしていきたいと考えています．

About Japan OSGeo
Since GRASS and MapServer were internationalized by Japan team in March 2004, Open Source Geospatial Software has been adopted widely among users in public sectors and corporate market. Additionally Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and other ministries are strongly supporting and promoting Open Source Software. Thus Open Source Geospatial tools in general have become very popular in doing spatial analysis and creating spatial applications. The establishment of “OSGeo Japan” would be another milestone in promoting distributed innovation in Open Source geospatial solutions. The Japan Chapter of OSGeo is formed by local active communities of Open Source Geospatial Software such as GRASS, MapServer, GDAL/OGR, PostGIS and MapGuide Open Sourece. We sincerely hope that the “OSGeo-Japan” will play a stellar role in catering to user needs not only in Japan but also in the Asian region.

Mission
Japan OSGeo enriches and enhances Open Source geospatial initiatives by offering tasks such as; The above activities would complement and strengthen the efforts of OSGeo in increasing awareness about available Open Source Geospatial solutions and stimulating adoption in education, industry, government and non-profit organizations in Japan and Asian region.
 * Promote OSGeo and Open Source Geospatial Software tools
 * Support activities of Open Source Geospatial Software communities in region
 * Software Internationalization and Localization
 * Development of prototype applications to demonstrate Open Source geospatial capabilities to local and regional audiences
 * Software Packaging and Customization for local and regional needs
 * Training, Support and Development of e-Learning Contents in local languages
 * Support Open standards and Open access to geospatial data in region

Objectives
Quarterly Committee Meetings:


 * Review of Committee tasks
 * Discussion of planning, proposal, and issues

Collaborative Projects:
 * Support of OSGeo projects
 * Localization of Open Source Geospatial tools
 * Development of demo prototype applications
 * Translation of documents of Open Source Geospatial into Japanese
 * Software re-packaging and customization for Japanese environment
 * Free local geospatial datasets

Regional Events:
 * Annual conference
 * Workshops

Communication:
 * Mailing Lists in local language
 * Wiki in local language

Legal Status
OSGeo Japan Chapter is yet small organization. It is a voluntary organization now, has not been registered as a nonprofit organization. It is usual case in similar organizations such as OpenOffice Japan or Mozilla Japan. PostgreSQL Japan has recently been formed as NPO. However we do not necessary have to be NPO especially in early stage. http://ja.openoffice.org/ http://www.mozilla.gr.jp/ http://www.postgresql.jp/

As a voluntary organization, OSGeo Japan consults our certified tax accountant frequently to be compliant with the Japanese tax law.

Initial Membership

 * Japan Chapter Representative – Toru Mori, OSGeo voting member, President of Orkney, Inc. e-mail moritoru at orkney dot co dot jp
 * Venkatesh Raghavan, OSGeo board of directors, Prof. Osaka City University
 * Shinji Masumoto, Prof. Osaka City University
 * Nobuyuki Yanagibori, Director of ISD, Autodesk Japan
 * Kzunori Noda, ex. Autodesk Japan

Site Layout

 * Japan OSGeo Portal - Information of interest to the chapter concerning meetings, events, charter,etc.
 * Local Chapter Directory - Listing of companies, people, universities and government departments involved with or using OSGeo projects
 * OSGEO Media Coverage - Links or snippets of media featuring activities of Japan OSGeo from various Sources
 * Useful links - Links of local active users' blogs, local supporting organizations etc.

Links

 * GRASS-Japan - http://www.grass-japan.org/FOSS4G/
 * FOSS4G @ Osaka City University - http://wgrass.media.osaka-cu.ac.jp/foss4g/Home?set_language=en
 * Autodesk Japan - http://www.autodesk.co.jp/