OSGeo - User contributions [en]

Gavin Fleming

2024-11-20T10:27:35Z

Gfleming: updated City

{{OSGeo Member
|Name=Gavin Fleming
|JobTitle=Joint MD
|Company=Kartoza
|Country=South Africa
|City=Overstrand
|Coordinate=-34.41256, 19.15109
|LocalChapter=Africa Local Chapter
|Email=gavin AT kartoza DOT com
|Phone=+27878092702
|Website=https://kartoza.com
|Photo=Gavin.jpeg
|Languages=English; Spanish; Afrikaans;
|Info=Gavin is passionate about Open Source Software, Open Data and other Open philosophies that lead to interoperability, empowerment of people and helping maximise returns on government spending. He started his GIS career in 1996 after completing an MSc in genetics. His GIS experience includes thirteen years with the full suite of ESRI software but he started the FOSS GIS habit around 2002. He is a registered GISc Professional Practitioner. He worked at GIMS (now ESRI South Africa), CSIR, Mintek and SAEON before starting Afrispatial in 2010 and then Kartoza in 2014, the latter a merger between Afrispatial and Linfiniti (Tim Sutton).
}}
{{OSGeo Experience
|User=Yes
|Committee=Yes
|Board=No
|Coder=No
|Translate=No
|PSC=No
|ExBoard=No
|Charter=Yes
|Chair=Yes
|SolKatz=No
|Committer=No
}}

Gavin Fleming

2022-06-23T10:52:53Z

Gfleming: updated details incl location

{{OSGeo Member
|Name=Gavin Fleming
|JobTitle=Joint MD
|Company=Kartoza
|Country=South Africa
|City=Johannesburg
|Coordinate=-34.41256, 19.15109
|LocalChapter=Africa Local Chapter
|Email=gavin AT kartoza DOT com
|Phone=+27878092702
|Website=https://kartoza.com
|Photo=Gavin.jpeg
|Languages=English; Spanish; Afrikaans;
|Info=Gavin is passionate about Open Source Software, Open Data and other Open philosophies that lead to interoperability, empowerment of people and helping maximise returns on government spending. He started his GIS career in 1996 after completing an MSc in genetics. His GIS experience includes thirteen years with the full suite of ESRI software but he started the FOSS GIS habit around 2002. He is a registered GISc Professional Practitioner. He worked at GIMS (now ESRI South Africa), CSIR, Mintek and SAEON before starting Afrispatial in 2010 and then Kartoza in 2014, the latter a merger between Afrispatial and Linfiniti (Tim Sutton).
}}
{{OSGeo Experience
|User=Yes
|Committee=Yes
|Board=No
|Coder=No
|Translate=No
|PSC=No
|ExBoard=No
|Charter=Yes
|Chair=Yes
|SolKatz=No
|Committer=No
}}

South african government procurement

2019-10-24T14:04:50Z

Gfleming: many additions

=The problems with GIS-related procurement in South African Government=

* The market is dominated by expensive, proprietary, foreign-based vendors (like ESRI, Hexagon and Oracle), resulting in stifled competition and lack of opportunity for local economic development. Section 217 of the Constitution: "When an organ of state in the national, provincial or local sphere of government, or any other institution identified in national legislation, contracts for goods or services, it must do so in accordance with a system which is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective."
* Various Government policies and regulations are being flouted and have been for many years
* Procurement is generally very poorly executed, whether through incompetence, laziness, influence or poor advice
* The Governemt and hence the taxpayer is being extorted when far cheaper alternatives exist
* Service providers are often forced to purchase proprietary software to service by their government clients' bizarre, irregular, non standards compliant requirements

The situation has really become untenable (for everyone except the vendors) especially in this new environment of trying to clean up governance and reduce expenditure.

SAGI, CSI, SITA, GISSA, Practitioners, Competition commission? Why are we allowing this anticompetitive and unaffordable practice to continue, especially in light of the current economic and political climate in SA?

==Our imperatives==

* To force any Government entity whose proprietary ELA (enterprise licence agreement) is expiring to go out on tender for GIS and related software and services
* To force any biased or non-competitive tender for new or continued GIS or related service or software provision to be withdrawn, rewritten and re-issued

==South African IT procurement, amongst many other factors and regulations, is governed by these principles==

* Functionality
* Cost containment
* Open Source (FOSS)

==An OPEN tender or quotation process must be followed in these circumstances==

* when new requirements arise
* at the end of an ELA or SLA

==These are the basic steps that ANY government entity is supposed to follow==

* conduct a process to determine functional and non-functional requirements and write these up as formal ToR (Terms of Reference)
** you may not mention a product or brand OR structure the ToR so they are biased towards a brand or vendor
** a 'licence' is not a functional requirement and therefore has no place in a ToR
* put these ToR to OPEN tender or quotation (depending on size) via the CSD (Central Supplier Database) so they appear on the [https://etenders.treasury.gov.za/ | eTender portal]
* if a FOSS-based bid is submitted and is considered responsive, it has to be adjudicated fairly along with any other bid. If it comes out with the best score (technical+price+BEE) then naturally it must be selected.

==It needs to be made clear to SCM heads, City Managers and anyone else in the decision chain that:==

* they may not simply renew licences but have to go out to OPEN tender and consider alternatives
* they may not specify software by brand but have to specify a solution to a problem
* they cannot use the argument that ESRI or any other vendor is a '''sole supplier''' as there are many equivalent alternatives, both proprietary and FOSS
* Opportunity has to be given to FOSS solutions if offered since that is Government and SITA policy
* They may not use the ‘framework agreement’ to justify purchasing ESRI or Oracle
** SAGI is pushing SITA, Treasury and the Auditor General for the framework agreement to be scrapped or in the interim for FOSS alternative to be added to it (which will leave any entity invoking the framework agreement with no choice but to use the FOSS option since its aim is cost containment)
* The ‘framework agreement’ in any case only applies to Provincial and National entities administered through SITA and is only a mechanism to secure discount pricing IF the continued use of ESRI or Oracle is justified (which it never actually is for Government)
* that the argument that ‘we’ve already made such a huge investment in ESRI and it will be wasted, or cost us a fortune, if we change’ is known as the '''[https://www.google.com/search?q=sunk+cost+fallacy sunk-cost fallacy]''' and is exactly that, a non-argument. There is NO justification for hanging on to a proprietary system.
* that having invested in systems or processes that lock them in to a vendor such as ESRI is no excuse or reason for not changing. If they had complied with MIOS and other legislation and the Constitution itself, as well as best practice IT design, they would have ensured from the start that any system they invested in would be standards-compliant and interoperable, even if it was built with proprietary software.
* the use of the ’Section 36’ emergency provision is highly suspicious and will expose them to prosecution (deviation from SCM regulations e.g. https://www.iol.co.za/mercury/section-36-only-for-emergency-1219876u
* they are liable in any case for fruitless, wasteful and reckless expenditure in these times of austerity and widespread corruption and maladministration
* that perks like trips to international user conferences that are included in licence agreements and described as ’training’ could be contrued as kickbacks in disguise and that purchasing decisions can be skewed when these muddy the waters. Furthermore, I doubt the GIS users benefit from these as much as the managers who signed off on the purchase or insisted on the requirement.
* you may not procure a particular brand of software just because you or your staff like it or know it. You have to go through a systematic, rational, legislated process of finding the optimal solution for the problem at hand, whatever form it may take.

See some examples of tenders at http://gissa.org.za/special-interest-groups/open-source/gis-tender-examples. Joburg, DRDLR and Umgungundlovu do not meet the above criteria and should hence be rewritten and re-issued. eMalahleni is an example of a much better-constructed tender that on the face of it provides a level playing field.

Or these two atrocious examples:

* "COR 8/1/1/09: Molemole Municipality is hereby inviting quotations from service providers to render a service of supply, delivery, installation and configuration of ArcGIS licenses. Specifications: 1. Level 2 Term License; 5 user Pack; 2. Level 1 Term License; 10 User Pack; 3. Service Credits; 1 Block (1000 Credits); 4. Map (1); Drone 2 Map for ArcGIS Term License. Please note that this quotation was published late.”
* Mandeni: "13/19/20: Quotations are hereby invited from suitably service providers to supply and deliver of Software Licenses as per the following specification: • ... • ESRI Software maintenance renewal End User No: 307570"

'''[[Gis_generic_requirements | Here]]''' is an attempt at a completely open, functionality-based tender specification that you can pick and choose from as a template (this is a wiki, feel free to contribute!)

==Competition==

"The [http://www.compcom.co.za/ Competition Commission] is a statutory body constituted in terms of the Competition Act, No 89 of 1998 by the Government of South Africa empowered to investigate, control and evaluate restrictive business practices, abuse of dominant positions ..."

There is a case to be made at the Competition Commission to investigate certain vendors' monopolistic practices, which not only flout Government policy but deny opportunity to other businesses, not only to FOSS providers but also other proprietary vendors.

==What is Government expenditure on GIS software?==

Let's get an idea how big the problem is and how much could be saved by migrating to FOSS

We should request full records of expenditure on ESRI, Hexagon, Oracle and other proprietary vendors by Government for, say the last ten years, with a full breakdown of entities involved and if they don’t comply, to make a PAIA request. Who would we ask? SITA? Treasury? OpenUp? amaBhungane?

==Human Resources==

SAGC

Universities are partly to blame for the expectation their graduates have of using specific software in the workplace. Most universities acquiesce to vendors' 'education discounts' which are really just entry drugs. Or they use (the vendors') fake arguments that 'we train in this software because that's what the market uses'. University is a place to learn and apply theory and should be equipping all graduates with FOSS tools (as the University of Pretoria does so well). This empowers them completely. If they happen to be employed by a company that uses proprietary tools, it's a simple matter of learning a different interface.

==Training==

test the market
create demand

==Support and maintenance==

test the market
create demand

https://www.qgis.org/en/site/forusers/commercial_support.html

https://www.osgeo.org/service-providers

==Are there functional or suitable FOSS alternatives to proprietary software?==

list each product and FOSS alternatives

OSGeo

For a comparison of GIS, Servers read http://www.digital-geography.com/arcgis-server-vs-open-source-gis-solutions

For a comparison of GIS Desktop solutions https://gisgeography.com/qgis-arcgis-differences.

==Benefits / Pros of FOSS GIS==

- starting company
- no user or seat limit

1. Immediate creation of many jobs and upskilling people who are involved with transferring and improving data from proprietary software to opensource.
2. Immediate savings in foreign exchange and the competitiveness of our industry.
3. Creation of local skills and products using opensource that can form part of expanding the world-wide opensource offerings as well as offering professional services locally and offshore.
4. Much better information availability from all levels of Government to the citizens that generates optimism on future competence related to the so-called 4th industrial revolution which has seen a lot of talk but very little action.
5. Making much more information available on the web using FOSS and Integration of town and country GIS data with Google Maps etc to have much better information available for Tourists.
[Arthur Taute]

Working for Water MIS:

==Cons / Disadvantages of FOSS GIS==

- can't think of any

=Actions to Take=

* if you are in government, try to educate managers and SCM practitioners
** with information in this document
** with [[Gis_generic_requirements | this]] sample tender specification
* all, share dubious tenders and RfQs on the OSGeo Africa list as soon as you come across them
* submit objections to the issuing entity
* submit compliants to SITA, Treasury and the Auditor General
* submit complaints to the CSI
* get QGIS into your child's school or a school nearby
* get FOSS GIS into your university
* Write to the National Treasury (Chief Procurement Office) and CFO of the Department bringing this to their attention and seeking clarity whether this is inline with Section 217 of the Constitution
* work with an investigateive journalist like Scorpio or amaBhungane, or and NGO like OpenUp, to investigate and expose
* [http://www.compcom.co.za/lodge-a-complaint/ lodge a complaint] with the Competition Commission

A suggestion from a list member:
This is strictly about getting Open Source to have a fair look-in, and not about the specifics of any tender or purchase. My support is for leveling the playing field, and for exposing/wiping out badly constructed Bid specifications.
* Perhaps you could do some initial research, maybe applicable laws or policy guidance documents.
* Perhaps listers working in government can point to some relevant documents on this matter.
* Then find some legal-minded person to cost out a strategy, and of course make a 'feasibility of success' statement.
* After that, we could have a worthwhile direction.
* With a feasible direction we could try some crowd funding - or maybe even just have to make some representation (through SAGI??) to some government body with the power to change things.
* providing we have a direction and a crowd funding platform, I will pledge R1000 to further this cause.

=References=

Inputs from the community, particularly from the [https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/africa/ OSGeo Africa mailing list]. Threads like [https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/africa/2019-October/003939.html this one] or [https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/africa/2019-September/003899.html this one].

==FOSS policy in South Africa==

* http://gissa.org.za/special-interest-groups/open-source
* http://gissa.org.za/special-interest-groups/open-source/foss-documents
* http://www.dpsa.gov.za/dpsa2g/egov_documents.asp

==Some International FOSS policy and case studies==

* [[Case_Studies#Open_Source_Policies]]

Gis generic requirements

2019-10-24T14:00:30Z

Gfleming:

=Generic Terms of Reference for GIS in government=

Four [http://gissa.org.za/special-interest-groups/open-source/gis-tender-examples Recent (late 2019) GIS tender examples] from South Africa show three examples of how NOT to write a tender and one that is at least acceptable and actually competitive.

I’m aware of several instances where this has been occurring - Ekurhuleni, Joburg Metro, Drakenstein, DRDLR and most likely across the board.

the early stages of a FOSS contract should include a managed migration process, of systems and users, from whatever systems existed before. If the previous systems were designed properly (service-based, interoperable, etc.) this should not be a problem.

ask for the cost of the solution, done't ask for licences

A GIS vendor is just interested in selling licences, not solutions. In most cases, the software itself is not the solution, but a tool with which the solution is built.

A proper GIS service provider who supplies proprietary licences (e.g. an ESRI business partner) will charge for their services PLUS the licence fees. One who supplies FOSS software will charge just for their services. Which one will be cheaper?

With FOSS, there is no need to procure off-the-shelf software! There are no software costs or privative licences! Instead, you can procure the development and implementation of a solution or a service and maintenance agreement, that meet specific functional requirements. Part of that might be software development, but you are buying a service, not the software. Any custom software that is developed into a solution must be done as FOSS itself, so anyone else can use it or contribute to it.

Change your procurement mindset! You do not need to buy software at all!

Gis generic requirements

2019-10-23T20:33:49Z

Gfleming: /* Generic Terms of Reference for GIS in government= */

South african government procurement

2019-10-23T20:33:31Z

Gfleming:

==Our imperatives==
* To force any Government entity whose proprietary ELA is expiring to go out on tender for GIS and related software and services
* To force any biased or non-competitive tender for new or continued GIS or related service or software provision to be withdrawn, rewritten and re-issued

It needs to be made clear to SCM heads, City Managers and anyone else in the decision chain that:

* they may not simply renew licences but have to go out to OPEN tender and consider alternatives
* they may not specify software by brand but have to specify a solution to a problem
* they cannot use the argument that ESRI or any other vendor is a '''sole supplier''' as there are many equivalent alternatives, both proprietary and FOSS
* Opportunity has to be given to FOSS solutions if offered since that is Government and SITA policy
* They may not use the ‘framework agreement’ to justify purchasing ESRI or Oracle
* SAGI is pushing SITA, Treasury and the Auditor General for the framework agreement to be scrapped or in the interim for FOSS alternative to be added to it (which will leave any entity invoking the framework agreement with no choice but to use the FOSS option since its aim is cost containment)
* The ‘framework agreement’ in any case only applies to Provincial and National entities administered through SITA and is only a mechanism to secure discount pricing IF the continued use of ESRI or Oracle is justified (which it never actually is for Government)
* that the argument that ‘we’ve already made such an investment in ESRI and it will be wasted if we change’ is known as the ’[https://www.google.com/search?q=sunk+cost+fallacy sunk-cost fallacy]’ and is exactly that, a non-argument.
* that having invested in systems that lock them in to a vendor such as ESRI is no excuse or reason for not changing. If they had complied with MIOS and other legislation and the Constitution itself as well as best practice IT design, they would have ensured from the start that any system they invested in would be standards compliant and interoperable, even if it was built with proprietary software.
* the use of the ’Section 36’ emergency provision is highly suspicious and will expose them to prosecution (deviating from SCM regulations e.g. https://www.iol.co.za/mercury/section-36-only-for-emergency-1219876u
* they are liable in any case for fruitless and reckless expenditure in these times of austerity and widespread corruption and maladministration
* that perks like trips to the international user conferences that are included in licence agreements and described as ’training’ could be contrued as kickbacks in disguise and that purchasing decisions can be skewed when these muddy the waters. Furthermore, I doubt the GIS users benefit from these as much as the managers who signed off on the purchase or insisted on the requirement.

==Competition==

"The [http://www.compcom.co.za/ Competition Commission] is a statutory body constituted in terms of the Competition Act, No 89 of 1998 by the Government of South Africa empowered to investigate, control and evaluate restrictive business practices, abuse of dominant positions ..."

There is a case to be made at the Competition Commission to investigate certain vendors' monopolistic practices, which not only flout Government policy but deny opportunity to other businesses, not only to FOSS providers but also other proprietary vendors.

==What is Government expenditure on GIS software?==

Let's get an idea how big the problem is and how much could be saved by migrating to FOSS

We should request full records of expenditure on ESRI, Hexagon, Oracle and other proprietary vendors by Government for, say the last ten years, with a full breakdown of entities involved and if they don’t comply, to make a PAIA request. Who would we ask? SITA? Treasury?

I’ve loaded some tenders to http://gissa.org.za/special-interest-groups/open-source/gis-tender-examples that I would like SAGI to object to and request to be cancelled and reissued post haste, before they are awarded. Descriptions and basic reasons are on that page. Ones to cancel are Joburg, DRDLR and Umgungundlovu. Not eMalahleni - that is there as a good example.

The situation has really become untenable especially in this new environment of trying to clean up governance and reduce expenditure.

==South African IT procurement, amongst many other factors and regulations, is governed by these principles==
* Functionality
* Cost containment
* Open Source (FOSS)

==An OPEN tender or quotation process must be followed in these circumstances==
* new requirements
* the end of an ELA or SLA

==These are the basic steps that ANY government entity is supposed to follow==
* conduct a process to determine functional and non-functional requirements and write these up as formal ToR (Terms of Reference)
* you may not mention a product or brand OR structure the ToR so they are biased towards a brand or vendor
* a 'licence' is not a functional requirement and therefore has no place in a ToR
* put these ToR to OPEN tender or quotation (depending on size) via the CSD (Central Supplier Database) so they appear on the [https://etenders.treasury.gov.za/ | eTender portal]
* if a FOSS-based bid is submitted and is considered responsive, it has to be adjudicated fairly along with any other bid. If it comes out with the best score (technical+price+BEE) then naturally it must be selected.

* there is NO justification for hanging on to a proprietary system
* 'sunk-cost fallacy'
* the early stages of a FOSS contract should include a managed migration process, of systems and users, from whatever systems existed before. If the previous systems were designed properly (service-based, interoperable, etc.) this should not be a problem.

With FOSS, there is no need to procure off-the-shelf software! There are no software costs or privative licences! Instead, you can procure the development and implementation of a solution or a service and maintenance agreement, that meet specific functional requirements. Part of that might be software development, but you are buying a service, not the software. Any custom software that is developed into a solution must be done as FOSS itself, so anyone else can use it or contribute to it.

Benefits / Pros

Working for Water MIS:

Cons

=References=

==FOSS policy in South Africa==

* http://gissa.org.za/special-interest-groups/open-source
* http://gissa.org.za/special-interest-groups/open-source/foss-documents
* http://www.dpsa.gov.za/dpsa2g/egov_documents.asp

==Some International FOSS policy and case studies==

* [Case_Studies#Open_Source_Policies]

Africa Local Chapter

2019-10-23T13:43:33Z

Gfleming: fixed some links

The OSGeo Africa Local Chapter, which started out as a mailing list in 2005 after AfricaGIS2005, starter a formal establishment process as per [[Local_Chapter_Guidelines]] after the successful FOSS4G 2008 in Cape Town. Subsequently we ran a successful FOSS4G Africa in 2017 in Johannesburg. In April 2012 the mailing list had 510 members. By 2019 it had >1000 members. The majority of these are from South Africa but there are substantial numbers from across Africa and several from around the world.

You'll find lively discussion from members across Africa covering technical issues, organising meetings, advocacy, training, work opportunities and more.

Please join the [http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/africa Africa] mailing list, and review the [http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/africa/ archive].

== Mission ==

The OSGeo Africa Chapter acts as a representative body and a forum for any issue relating to Free and Open Source GIS. By calling ourselves the Africa Chapter we mean to be inclusive to anyone who identifies with Africa. As countries or linguistic groups within Africa generate enough momentum to form their own local chapters, these will emerge and will coexist alongside or under the umbrella of the Africa Chapter. Since most African countries have arbitrary colonial boundaries in any case, why perpetuate them in the borderless world of OSGeo? Perhaps the sub-groupings that make most sense are predominant linguistic groups such as Swahili, Arabic, English, French and Portuguese. As these do emerge, the current 'Africa' Local Chapter could morph into the 'Africa English Chapter' or the 'Southern Africa Chapter'.

== Objectives ==

Our objectives are to:
* Organise
* Develop skills
* Advocate FOSS GIS
* Build community

They are spelt out in our Roadmap below.

== A RoadMap for OSGeo Africa ==

=== What is needed ===

Some common refrains from amongst the people Tim spoke to at FOSS4G2008:

* we don't know what FOSS GIS products exist
* how do we choose between two or more competing FOSS GIS products that do the same thing
* how can we get training in FOSS GIS
* how do we migrate our existing set up to FOSS GIS
* how can we get (PAID and otherwise) support for FOSS GIS
* where can we get free data

There are many heartwarming success stories of people who have already adopted FOSS in their businesses and municiplities etc.

=== Getting organised ===

We already have a 'home' with [http://www.gissa.org.za/gissa/sig/opensource/ GISSA] so we do not need to form a new association. At the moment that consists of turning the extant GISSA FOSS SIG (Special Interest Group) into the OSGeo Africa Local Chapter, with a seat on the GISSA National Council and access to the GISSA website, meetings and other resources. If the Chapter decides to set up an independent non-profit organisation, such as a Section 21 Company in South Africa, we are quite open to doing that in due course.

'''Advocacy:'''

People don't know they have FOSS alternatives - we need to make them aware - including by making press releases, press materials, attending industry events, making contact with academic, municipal and state bodies and letting them know we exist and want to collaborate.

[[ gis_generic_requirements | Generic GIS Terms of Reference ]]

[[ South_african_government_procurement | South African Government Procurement Requirements ]]

'''Education:'''

We need to get FOSS GIS into schools, and provide open (e.g. creative commons) curricula. In the case of South Africa the National Curriculum Statement on Geography provides some (albeit vague) guidelines on how GIS should be included in the school curriculum (there is a link to this document on the GISSA website: [http://www.gissa.org.za/sig/education/school-gis School GIS]).

'''Education and Training:'''

* We need to train people to use FOSS GIS.
* First we need to train create a tier of experts / power users, second they need to train people in their local areas.
* We need to start this ""soon"".
* We need to do this on a free / cost recovery basis.
* We need to establish suitable venues in each regional center that can be used for training.
* We need to build up sets of Free (unencumbered) data that can be used by anyone
* We need to build up training materials that can be used to ease the process of training people.

'''Professional Support'''

If you or your organisation provide any type of professional service already, get your details onto the OSGeo [https://www.osgeo.org/service-providers Service Provider Directory].

'''Community'''

We need to build a community - this means building up a responsive, friendly mailing list. We also need to curate our area on the OSGeo wiki and build up other online resources that will allow new and established members in the OSGeo AFRICA community to find up to date relevant and helpful information to address their needs.

=== Skills development strategy ===

I'm thinking that since we are starting pretty much from ground zero we need to structure things in a 'knowledge ladder':

4 - Becoming a FOSSGIS developer
3 - Becoming a FOSSGIS Expert
2 - Becoming a FOSSGIS User
1 - FOSSGIS Familiarisation

== Our logo ==

[[Image:OSGeoAfrica logo75dpi.png]] Low res version

[[Image:OSGeoAfrica logo300dpi.png‎|500px|thumb]] 300dpi version

== Role Players ==

Everyone can be a role player - this list is just a way to keep track of the various people involved - feel free to add yourself!

{| border=1
|-
!Who
!Email
!Where
!Organisation
!Website
|-
|Tim Sutton
|tim at kartoza.com
|Portugal
|Kartoza ( http://kartoza.com )
|-
| Gavin Fleming
| gavinjfleming at gmail.com
| Johannesburg
| [https://kartoza.com Kartoza]
|-
| Jean-Francis AHANDA
| jeanfrancisahanda at opensolutions-cameroun.com
| Yaounde,Cameroon
| Open Solutions Cameroun
| [http://www.opensolutions-cameroun.com]
|-
| Alex Siyengo
| alex dot siyengo at gmail dot com
| Lusaka,Zambia
| GIS Researcher,volunteer at Southern Africa Telecentre Network
| [http://www.satnetwork.org]
|-
| Jude Mwenda
| judemwenda at gmail dot com
| Nairobi,Kenya
| GIS Developer,Freelance
| [http://www.africangeogeek.com]
|-
| Tobi Sowole
| tobi dot sowole at gmail dot com
| Nigeria,Lagos
| Geospatial Services, Consulting, Training
| [http://www.spatialmatrix.com]
|-
| Enock Seth Nyamador
| enock dot seth at gmail dot com
| Accra, Ghana
| FOSS advocate & OpenStreetMap trainer, Ghana
|
|}

[[Category:Local Chapters]]
[[Category:Africa]]
[[Category:FOSS4G2008]]

Gis generic requirements

2019-10-23T13:41:09Z

Gfleming: created

=Generic Terms of Reference for GIS in government==

South african government procurement

2019-10-23T13:35:33Z

Gfleming: created, initial content

South African IT procurement, amongst many other factors and regulations, is governed by these principles
* Functionality
* Cost containment
* Open Source (FOSS)

An OPEN tender or quotation process must be followed in these circumstances
* new requirements
* the end of an ELA or SLA

These are the basic steps that ANY government entity is supposed to follow
* conduct a process to determine functional and non-functional requirements and write these up as formal ToR (Terms of Reference)
* you may not mention a product or brand OR structure the ToR so they fit a brand or vendor
* a 'licence' is not a functional requirement and therefore has no place in a ToR
* put these out to OPEN tender or quotation (depending on size) via the CSD (Central Supplier Database) so they appear on the [https://etenders.treasury.gov.za/ | eTender portal]
* if a FOSS-based bid is submitted and is considered responsive, it has to be adjudicated fairly along with any other bid. If it comes out with the best score (technical+price+BEE) then naturally it must be selected.

* there is NO justification for hanging on to a proprietary system
*
* the early stages of a FOSS contract should include a managed migration process, of systems and users.

=References=

==FOSS policy in South Africa==

* http://gissa.org.za/special-interest-groups/open-source
* http://gissa.org.za/special-interest-groups/open-source/foss-documents
* http://www.dpsa.gov.za/dpsa2g/egov_documents.asp

==Some International FOSS policy and case studies==

* [Case_Studies#Open_Source_Policies]

Africa Local Chapter

2019-10-23T10:04:33Z

Gfleming: refresh and update

The OSGeo Africa Local Chapter, which started out as a mailing list in 2005 after AfricaGIS2005, starter a formal establishment process as per [[Local_Chapter_Guidelines]] after the successful FOSS4G 2008 in Cape Town. Subsequently we ran a successful FOSS4G Africa in 2017 in Johannesburg. In April 2012 the mailing list had 510 members. By 2019 it had >1000 members. The majority of these are from South Africa but there are substantial numbers from across Africa and several from around the world.

You'll find lively discussion from members across Africa covering technical issues, organising meetings, advocacy, training, work opportunities and more.

Please join the [http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/africa Africa] mailing list, and review the [http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/africa/ archive].

== Mission ==

The OSGeo Africa Chapter acts as a representative body and a forum for any issue relating to Free and Open Source GIS. By calling ourselves the Africa Chapter we mean to be inclusive to anyone who identifies with Africa. As countries or linguistic groups within Africa generate enough momentum to form their own local chapters, these will emerge and will coexist alongside or under the umbrella of the Africa Chapter. Since most African countries have arbitrary colonial boundaries in any case, why perpetuate them in the borderless world of OSGeo? Perhaps the sub-groupings that make most sense are predominant linguistic groups such as Swahili, Arabic, English, French and Portuguese. As these do emerge, the current 'Africa' Local Chapter could morph into the 'Africa English Chapter' or the 'Southern Africa Chapter'.

== Objectives ==

Our objectives are to:
* Organise
* Develop skills
* Advocate FOSS GIS
* Build community

They are spelt out in our Roadmap below.

== A RoadMap for OSGeo Africa ==

=== What is needed ===

Some common refrains from amongst the people Tim spoke to at FOSS4G2008:

* we don't know what FOSS GIS products exist
* how do we choose between two or more competing FOSS GIS products that do the same thing
* how can we get training in FOSS GIS
* how do we migrate our existing set up to FOSS GIS
* how can we get (PAID and otherwise) support for FOSS GIS
* where can we get free data

There are many heartwarming success stories of people who have already adopted FOSS in their businesses and municiplities etc.

=== Getting organised ===

We already have a 'home' with [http://www.gissa.org.za/gissa/sig/opensource/ GISSA] so we do not need to form a new association. At the moment that consists of turning the extant GISSA FOSS SIG (Special Interest Group) into the OSGeo Africa Local Chapter, with a seat on the GISSA National Council and access to the GISSA website, meetings and other resources. If the Chapter decides to set up an independent non-profit organisation, such as a Section 21 Company in South Africa, we are quite open to doing that in due course.

'''Advocacy:'''

People don't know they have FOSS alternatives - we need to make them aware - including by making press releases, press materials, attending industry events, making contact with academic, municipal and state bodies and letting them know we exist and want to collaborate.

[[ gis_generic_requirements | generic GIS Terms of Reference ]]

[[ south_african_government_procurement | South African Government Procurement Requirements ]]

'''Education:'''

We need to get FOSS GIS into schools, and provide open (e.g. creative commons) curricula. In the case of South Africa the National Curriculum Statement on Geography provides some (albeit vague) guidelines on how GIS should be included in the school curriculum (there is a link to this document on the GISSA website: [http://www.gissa.org.za/sig/education/school-gis School GIS]).

'''Education and Training:'''

* We need to train people to use FOSS GIS.
* First we need to train create a tier of experts / power users, second they need to train people in their local areas.
* We need to start this ""soon"".
* We need to do this on a free / cost recovery basis.
* We need to establish suitable venues in each regional center that can be used for training.
* We need to build up sets of Free (unencumbered) data that can be used by anyone
* We need to build up training materials that can be used to ease the process of training people.

'''Professional Support'''

If you or your organisation provide any type of professional service already, get your details onto the OSGeo [https://www.osgeo.org/service-providers Service Provider Directory].

'''Community'''

We need to build a community - this means building up a responsive, friendly mailing list. We also need to curate our area on the OSGeo wiki and build up other online resources that will allow new and established members in the OSGeo AFRICA community to find up to date relevant and helpful information to address their needs.

=== Skills development strategy ===

I'm thinking that since we are starting pretty much from ground zero we need to structure things in a 'knowledge ladder':

4 - Becoming a FOSSGIS developer
3 - Becoming a FOSSGIS Expert
2 - Becoming a FOSSGIS User
1 - FOSSGIS Familiarisation

== Our logo ==

[[Image:OSGeoAfrica logo75dpi.png]] Low res version

[[Image:OSGeoAfrica logo300dpi.png‎|500px|thumb]] 300dpi version

== Role Players ==

Everyone can be a role player - this list is just a way to keep track of the various people involved - feel free to add yourself!

{| border=1
|-
!Who
!Email
!Where
!Organisation
!Website
|-
|Tim Sutton
|tim at kartoza.com
|Portugal
|Kartoza ( http://kartoza.com )
|-
| Gavin Fleming
| gavinjfleming at gmail.com
| Johannesburg
| [https://kartoza.com Kartoza]
|-
| Jean-Francis AHANDA
| jeanfrancisahanda at opensolutions-cameroun.com
| Yaounde,Cameroon
| Open Solutions Cameroun
| [http://www.opensolutions-cameroun.com]
|-
| Alex Siyengo
| alex dot siyengo at gmail dot com
| Lusaka,Zambia
| GIS Researcher,volunteer at Southern Africa Telecentre Network
| [http://www.satnetwork.org]
|-
| Jude Mwenda
| judemwenda at gmail dot com
| Nairobi,Kenya
| GIS Developer,Freelance
| [http://www.africangeogeek.com]
|-
| Tobi Sowole
| tobi dot sowole at gmail dot com
| Nigeria,Lagos
| Geospatial Services, Consulting, Training
| [http://www.spatialmatrix.com]
|-
| Enock Seth Nyamador
| enock dot seth at gmail dot com
| Accra, Ghana
| FOSS advocate & OpenStreetMap trainer, Ghana
|
|}

[[Category:Local Chapters]]
[[Category:Africa]]
[[Category:FOSS4G2008]]

Annual General Meeting 2018

2018-08-30T05:23:44Z

Gfleming:

== Venue / Timing ==

* WHEN: Thursday 30 August from 8am-9am (60min)
* WHERE: Selous main hall, of the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre
* 60 mins - early in the morning. Please show up on time.

== Description ==

The Annual General Meeting for OSGeo is open to everybody.

The goal is to:

* give an overall status of the organization+
* financial report+
* informing the members of previous and future activities from committees and local chapters
* discuss important issues and take decisions

+ These two are formal reports that make it an AGM

== Format ==

The AGM itself will be a succession of lightning talks (presentations limited to two minutes) given by you in your role as Local Chapter representative, Chair of a committee, representative of a software project, OSGeo director or administrator or whatever else makes up OSGeo. If you feel like you have to say something please add yourself to the correspondent section.

== Add you content to the shared Slides ==

This year we are going to use shared slides to setup the presentation for the meeting.

Please use the shared slide. Two slides/minutes each for a status update. You can provide an extended status report in your project and add the link to this wiki and to the presentation.

The shared slide deck is available here (request edit access if required):
* https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1imiG7x09ry7lGvmS15FCVq2Z7yaICY00fcpXBK27TXY/edit?usp=sharing

How a report could look like
* https://github.com/geotools/geotools/wiki/GeoTools-Annual-Report-2017

== Board members attending in person ==
* [[María Arias de Reyna]] (OSGeo President will chair the AGM)
* [[User:Maria|Maria Brovelli]]
* [[User:Jive | Jody Garnett ]]
* [[Michael Smith | Mike Smith - Treasurer]]
* [[Vasile Craciunescu]]
* [[Jeff McKenna]]
* [[User:Astrid Emde| Astrid Emde Secretary]]

==== OSGeo report (10 mins) ====

Here is what OSGeo has been up to in the last year:

* Introduction to OSGeo - more than just the FOSS4G conference :)
* Here is what we have done in the last year
** Here is all the events we have sponsored for the year
** photos and stats from events
** photos and stories from code sprints
* Here are our volunteers and leaders thank you
** Pictures from committees and initiatives
* Website
* Budget - we are financially stable
* Elections are coming up

Contributing to OSGeo report
* tbd

==== Project Reports (15 mins) ====

Please use the shared slide. Two slides each for a status update. You can provide an extended status report of your project by adding the link to the presentation

* 2 mins: Projects and Incubation, status sent to discss@osgeo.org - Report by [[User:Jive | Jody Garnett ]]
* GeoTools Report - releases, committers, status, challenges. Report by [[User:Jive | Jody Garnett ]]
* Mapbender - releases, committers, status, challenges. Report by [[User:Astrid Emde| Astrid Emde]]
* MapServer - releases, committers, status, challenges. Report by [[Jeff McKenna]]
* ZOO-Project - releases, committers, status, challenges. Report by [[User:Djay| Gérald Fenoy]]
* GRASS GIS - releases, committers, status, challenges. Report by [[User:Lucadelu| Luca Delucchi]]
* Oskari - releases, committers, status, challenges. Report by [[User:Tmiosmauli | Timo Aarnioi]]
* QGIS - releases, committers, status, challenges. Report by [[User:mbernasocchi|Marco Bernasocchi]]
* pycsw - releases, committers, status, challenges. Report by (to be determined)
* OpenLayers - releases, committers, status, challenges. Report by (to be determined)
* GeoNode - releases, committers, status, challenges. Report by [[User:Simod|Simone Dalmasso]]
* ORFEO ToolBox - releases, committers, status, challenges. Report by [[User:Djay| Gérald Fenoy]]
* GeoNetwork - releases, committers, status, challenges. Report by [[User:Delawen|María Arias de Reyna]]
* istSOS - releases, committers, status, challenges. Report by [[User:Mantonovic|Milan P. Antonovic]]

==== Community Project Reports (TBD mins) ====

* pgRouting - releases, committers, status, challenges. Report by [[User:Iamrohith94|Rohith Reddy]]

==== Local Chapter Reports (15 mins) ====

Please use the shared slide. Two slides each for a status update. You can provide an extended status report of your local chapter by adding the link to the presentation

you need to sign up to be presented

* 2 mins: Local chapter report by [[User:Astrid Emde| Astrid Emde]]
* 2 mins: OSGeo Website for Local Chapters - [[User:Astrid Emde| Astrid Emde]]
* 2 mins: OSGeo Ottawa Local Chapter - [[User:jerstlouis| Jerome St-Louis]]
* 2 mins: OSGeo Quebec Local Chapter - [[User:jerstlouis| Jerome St-Louis]]
* 2 mins: OSGeo Pacific Islands Chapter - [[User:e_liavaa| Edwin Liava'a]]
* 2 mins: OSGeo Romania Chapter - [[Vasile Craciunescu]]
* 2 mins: OSGeo Italian Chapter - [[User:Lucadelu| Luca Delucchi]]
* 2 mins: OSGeo Australia and New Zealand Chapter - [[User:alexgleith| Alex Leith]],[[User:Adamsteer| Adam Steer]]
* 2 mins: OSGeo Francophone Chapter - (to be determined)
* 2 mins: OSGeo Dutch Chapter - (to be determined)
* 2 mins: OSGeo Korea Chapter - (to be determined)
* 2 mins: Geoinquiet@s Argentina - Report by [[User:Mlibman| Malena Libman]]
* 2 mins: OSGeo Irish Chapter - (to be determined)
* 2 mins: OSGeo Europe Chapter - (to be determined)
* 2 mins: OSGeo Finland Chapter - Report by [[User:posiki| Pekka Sarkola]]
* 2 mins: GeoInquietes Sevilla - Report by [[User:Delawen| María Arias de Reyna]]
* 2 mins: OSGeo Africa - Report by [[User:Gfleming | Gavin Fleming]]

==== Partners (6 mins) ====

OSGeo partners with organizations world wide, this block provides our partners a chance to address:

* 2 mins: slot 1
* 2 mins: slot 2

==== Committee Reports (10 mins) ====

Committees: We expect a status update from each committee, please attend or nominate a delegate (see committees https://www.osgeo.org/about/committees)

Please use the shared slide. Two slides each for a status update. You can provide an extended status report in you project and add the link to this wiki and to the presentation.

* Google Summer of Code, and Google Code-in report (Victoria & Jeff)
* Marketing (Jody, Astrid)
* [[SAC 2018 Annual Report|System Administration]] ([[User:wildintellect|Alex M]], [[User:Jmckenna|Jeff M]])

[[Category: Annual General Meeting]]
[[Category: FOSS4G2018]]

Gavin Fleming

2018-05-08T06:31:14Z

Gfleming:

Gavin Fleming

2018-05-08T06:30:21Z

Gfleming:

File:Gavin.jpeg

2018-05-08T06:28:46Z

Gfleming: Gavin Fleming profile pic

Gavin Fleming profile pic

FOSS4G 2018

2018-05-08T06:11:55Z

Gfleming: added my profile link

__TOC__

== Local Organizing Committee ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+ style="text-align:left;"|LOC_Members
! style="text-align:left;"|Name
! style="text-align:left;"|Organization
! style="text-align:left;"|Sector
! style="text-align:left;"|Title
! style="text-align:left;"|Location
! style="text-align:left;"|Role
|-
|[https://twitter.com/msilikale05 Msilikale Msilanga]
|World Bank
|Geo
|Geospatial expert; Geospatial Fellow at D-Lab, Dar es Salaam
|Dar es Salaam
|Co-Chair of FOSS4G Dar es Salaam 2018
|-
|[https://www.linkedin.com/in/giuseppesollazzo Giuseppe Sollazzo]
|St George's, University of London
|Academia
|Open Data expert and activist HPC lead / Senior Systems Analyst
|London
|
|-
|Ketty Adoch
|GIZ/Map Uganda
|Energy
|GIS/Survey Consultant
|Kampala
|Member Communication and Outreach Committee
|-
|[https://twitter.com/markiliffe Mark Iliffe]
|N-LAB
|Geo
|FOSS4G Chair
|London
|Co-Chair of FOSS4G Dar es Salaam 2018
|-
|Maria A. Brovelli
|Politecnico di Milano
|Geo
|GIS Professor OSGeo Board ISPRS Chair of WG IV/4 UN-GGIM Academic Network Task Team
|Milan
|Co-Chair of FOSS4G AT Dar es Salaam 2018
|-
|[https://twitter.com/kateregga1 Geoffrey Kateregga]
|Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, Map Uganda
|Community
|Community Mapping expert GIS Specialist
|Kampala
|
|-
|Daniel K. Nanghaka
|Geo4Africa / ILICIT Africa
|Community
|GIS trainer /Executive Director
|Kampala
|
|-
|Yves Barthélemy
|OBSCOM
|Geo
|Geospatial expert UNEP PCDMB Consultant SUZA GEO Advisor
|Zanzibar
|
|-
|[https://www.linkedin.com/in/ragnvald Ragnvald Larsen]
|Mindland consulting
|Government
|Geospatial expert Works with Norwegian Environment Agency.
|Norway
|Program committee chair
|-
|Tim Sutton
|Kartoza / OSGeo
|various Geo / ICT
|Joint MD of Kartoza
|Swellendam, South Africa
|ex FOSS4G 2008 LOC
|-
|[[Gavin Fleming]]
|Kartoza / OSGeo
|various Geo / ICT
|Joint MD of Kartoza Professional GISc Practitioner
|Johannesburg
|ex FOSS4G 2008 Chair
|-
|[https://twitter.com/enock4seth Enock Seth Nyamador]
|OpenStreetMap Ghana / HOT
|Geo / ICT
|Community manager GIS Trainer
|Tarkwa
|Member Outreach & Communications Committee
|-
|[https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelterner/ Michael Terner] [https://twitter.com/TernerGeo Twitter]
|TernerGeo
|Private
|Former Chair, FOSS4G Boston 2017, [https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Michael_Terner OSGeo Charter Member]
|Boston, MA USA
|Sponsorship sub-group
|-
|[https://www.linkedin.com/in/rvannice/ Rachel VanNice]
|Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team
|Humanitarian
|Operations Manager
|Washington, DC USA
|HOT Summit Organizer, FOSS4G Liaison
|-
|}

== Community Committee ==

=== Past Activities ===
[[FOSS4G 2018/Logo Contest|Logo Contest]]

[[FOSS4G 2018/Logo Entries|Logo Entries]]

== Program Committee ==

==Communication and Outreach Committee==

Gavin Fleming

2018-05-08T06:06:09Z

Gfleming:

Gavin Fleming

2018-05-08T06:01:40Z

Gfleming:

FOSS4G 2018

2018-05-07T19:52:42Z

Gfleming:

__TOC__

== Local Organizing Committee ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+ style="text-align:left;"|LOC_Members
! style="text-align:left;"|Name
! style="text-align:left;"|Organization
! style="text-align:left;"|Sector
! style="text-align:left;"|Title
! style="text-align:left;"|Location
! style="text-align:left;"|Role
|-
|[https://twitter.com/msilikale05 Msilikale Msilanga]
|World Bank
|Geo
|Geospatial expert; Geospatial Fellow at D-Lab, Dar es Salaam
|Dar es Salaam
|Co-Chair of FOSS4G Dar es Salaam 2018
|-
|[https://www.linkedin.com/in/giuseppesollazzo Giuseppe Sollazzo]
|St George's, University of London
|Academia
|Open Data expert and activist HPC lead / Senior Systems Analyst
|London
|
|-
|Ketty Adoch
|GIZ/Map Uganda
|Energy
|GIS/Survey Consultant
|Kampala
|Member Communication and Outreach Committee
|-
|[https://twitter.com/markiliffe Mark Iliffe]
|N-LAB
|Geo
|FOSS4G Chair
|London
|Co-Chair of FOSS4G Dar es Salaam 2018
|-
|Maria A. Brovelli
|Politecnico di Milano
|Geo
|GIS Professor OSGeo Board ISPRS Chair of WG IV/4 UN-GGIM Academic Network Task Team
|Milan
|Co-Chair of FOSS4G AT Dar es Salaam 2018
|-
|[https://twitter.com/kateregga1 Geoffrey Kateregga]
|Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, Map Uganda
|Community
|Community Mapping expert GIS Specialist
|Kampala
|
|-
|Daniel K. Nanghaka
|Geo4Africa / ILICIT Africa
|Community
|GIS trainer /Executive Director
|Kampala
|
|-
|Yves Barthélemy
|OBSCOM
|Geo
|Geospatial expert UNEP PCDMB Consultant SUZA GEO Advisor
|Zanzibar
|
|-
|[https://www.linkedin.com/in/ragnvald Ragnvald Larsen]
|Mindland consulting
|Government
|Geospatial expert Works with Norwegian Environment Agency.
|Norway
|Program committee chair
|-
|Tim Sutton
|Kartoza / OSGeo
|various Geo / ICT
|Joint MD of Kartoza
|Swellendam, South Africa
|ex FOSS4G 2008 LOC
|-
|Gavin Fleming
|Kartoza / OSGeo
|various Geo / ICT
|Joint MD of Kartoza Professional GISc Practitioner
|Johannesburg
|ex FOSS4G 2008 Chair
|-
|[https://twitter.com/enock4seth Enock Seth Nyamador]
|OpenStreetMap Ghana / HOT
|Geo / ICT
|Community manager GIS Trainer
|Tarkwa
|Member Outreach & Communications Committee
|-
|[https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelterner/ Michael Terner]
|TernerGeo
|Private
|Former Chair, FOSS4G Boston 2017
|Boston, MA USA
|Sponsorship sub-group
|-
|Rachel VanNice
|Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team
|Humanitarian
|Operations Manager
|Washington, DC USA
|HOT Summit Organizer, FOSS4G Liaison
|-
|}

== Community Committee ==

=== Past Activities ===
[[FOSS4G 2018/Logo Contest|Logo Contest]]

[[FOSS4G 2018/Logo Entries|Logo Entries]]

== Program Committee ==

==Communication and Outreach Committee==

Africa service providers

2016-10-27T15:08:42Z

Gfleming:

= Service Providers =

OSGeo hosts a list of Service Providers offering support services around FOSS GIS software. For you convenience, here are quick links to African providers.

{|border=1
|-
|'''Country'''
|-
|[South Africa http://www.osgeo.org/search_profile?SET=1&MUL_COUNTRY%5B%5D=00067]
|-
|[Cameroon http://www.opensolutions-cameroun.com]
|-
|[Nigeria http://www.spatialmatrix.com]
|}

Ideally, add yourself or your company to the OSGeo [service provider database http://www.osgeo.org/search_profile] (just login with your free OSGeo id, the same one you use to edit this wiki page). If you struggle or if you'd rather just put it here, then add a neat, structured description of your company and its services below.

Africa service providers

2016-10-27T15:06:56Z

Gfleming: created

= Service Providers =

OSGeo hosts a list of Service Providers offering support services around FOSS GIS software. For you convenience, here are quick links to African providers.

{|border=1
|-
|'''Country'''
|-
|[SouthAfrica http://www.osgeo.org/search_profile?SET=1&MUL_COUNTRY%5B%5D=00067]
|-
|[Cameroon http://www.opensolutions-cameroun.com]
|-
|[Nigeria http://www.spatialmatrix.com]

Ideally, add yourself or your company to the OSGeo [service provider database http://www.osgeo.org/search_profile] (just login with your free OSGeo id, the same one you use to edit this wiki page). If you struggle or if you'd rather just put it here, then add a neat, structured description of your company and its services below.

Africa Local Chapter

2016-10-27T15:00:42Z

Gfleming: modified service providers

The OSGeo Africa Local Chapter, which started out as a mailing list in 2005 after AfricaGIS2005, is now in the formal establishment process as per [[Local_Chapter_Guidelines]] after a successful FOSS4G 2008 in Cape Town. In April 2012 this mailing list had 510 members. The majority of these are from South Africa but there are substantial numbers from across Africa and several from around the world.

You'll find lively discussion from members across Africa covering technical issues, organising meetings, advocacy, training, work opportunities and more.

Please join the [http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/africa Africa] mailing list, and review the [http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/africa/ archive].

== Mission ==

The OSGeo Africa Chapter acts as a representative body and a forum for any issue relating to Free and Open Source GIS. By calling ourselves the Africa Chapter we mean to be inclusive to anyone who identifies with Africa. As countries or linguistic groups within Africa generate enough momentum to form their own local chapters, these will emerge and will coexist alongside or under the umbrella of the Africa Chapter. Since most African countries have arbitrary colonial boundaries in any case why perpetuate them in the borderless world of OSGeo? Perhaps the sub-groupings that make most sense are predominant linguistic groups such as Swahili, Arabic, English, French and Portuguese. As these do emerge, the current 'Africa' Local Chapter could morph into the 'Africa English Chapter' or the 'Southern Africa Chapter'.

== Objectives ==

Our objectives are to:
* Organise
* Develop skills
* Advocate FOSS GIS
* Build community

They are spelt out in our Roadmap below.

== A RoadMap for OSGeo Africa ==

=== What is needed ===

Some common refrains from amongst the people Tim spoke to at FOSS4G2008:

* we don't know what FOSS GIS products exist
* how do we choose between two or more competing FOSS GIS products that do the same thing
* how can we get training in FOSS GIS
* how do we migrate our existing set up to FOSS GIS
* how can we get (PAID and otherwise) support for FOSS GIS
* where can we get free data

There were also some heartwarming success stories of people who have already adopted FOSS in their businesses and municiplities etc. For me when I review the above laundry list of concerns and questions it becomes very obvious that we need to become organised.

=== Getting organised ===

We already have a 'home' with [http://www.gissa.org.za/gissa/sig/opensource/ GISSA] so we do not need to form a new association. At the moment that consists of turning the extant GISSA FOSS SIG (Special Interest Group) into the OSGeo Africa Local Chapter, with a seat on the GISSA National Council and access to the GISSA website, meetings and other resources. If the Chapter decides to set up an independent non-profit organisation, such as a Section 21 Company in South Africa, we are quite open to doing that in due course. But the link with GISSA enables us to move fast as we plan AFOSSGISS 2010.

I would like to take the initiative to propose that we form a 5 person working group to start to put things in place. Since I am proposing this, I obviously volunteer to be one of the members and I call on others on this list or beyond to answer this call to arms. The idea of the 5 person working group will be to bootstrap ourselves into an effective organisation which can make its presence felt both locally and beyond the shores of Africa. I also realise that this proposal may not be perfect so consider it a start that we can build on rather than a plan that has to be cast in stone. The main idea will be that each working group member will try to form a small team, typically of 5 members including the team member. One of these members would also double as official OSGeo liaison officer. Here follows a proposal for a team that will enable us to get organised and effective.

'''Advocacy Leader:'''

People don't know they have FOSS alternatives - we need to make them aware - including by making press releases, press materials, attending industry events, making contact with academic, municipal and state bodies and letting them know we exist and want to collaborate.

Volunteer: Tim Sutton <tim at linfiniti.com>

'''Education Leader:'''

We need to get FOSS GIS into schools, and provide open (e.g. creative commons) curricula. In the case of South Africa the National Curriculum Statement on Geography provides some (albeit vague) guidelines on how GIS should be included in the school curriculum (there is a link to this document on the GISSA website: [http://www.gissa.org.za/sig/education/school-gis School GIS]).

Volunteer: ?

'''Training Leader:'''

* We need to train people to use FOSS GIS.
* First we need to train create a tier of experts / power users, second they need to train people in their local areas.
* We need to start this ""soon"".
* We need to do this on a free / cost recovery basis.
* We need to establish suitable venues in each regional center that can be used for training.
* We need to build up sets of Free (unencumbered) data that can be used by anyone
* We need to build up training materials that can be used to ease the process of training people.

Volunteer: ?

'''Professional Support Leader:'''

We need to create a body of professionals who can provide on the ground support - there is a huge business opportunity here - we need to take advantage. We will call this the OSGeo Africa Professional Association (or something along those lines). The group will among other things provide a directory of FOSS support and solution providers (along with their location). The group will act as an advisory body to organisations wishing to deploy FOSS GIS. We are floating the idea of forming a Cooperative to organise ourselves professionally See under 'Cooperatives development' in the left panel of http://www.dti.gov.za/.

If you or your organisation provide any type of professional service already, get your details onto the OSGeo [[SPD|Service Provider Directory]] as a start.

Volunteer: Brendon Wolff-Piggott <brendon AT integratedgeodata.co.za>

'''Community Leader:'''

We need to build a community - this means building up a responsive, friendly mailing list. We also need to curate our area on the OSGeo wiki and build up other online resources that will allow new and established members in the OSGeo AFRICA community to find up to date relevant and helpful information to address their needs.

Volunteer: Gavin Fleming (also proposed as official OSGeo liaison representative)

=== Skills development strategy ===

I'm thinking that since we are starting pretty much from ground zero we need to structure things in a 'knowledge ladder':

4 - Becoming a FOSSGIS developer
3 - Becoming a FOSSGIS Expert
2 - Becoming a FOSSGIS User
1 - FOSSGIS Familiarisation

My suggestion is that we do a first round of workshops which basically introduce a FOSSGIS software stack to users so the can understand what can be achieved with FOSSGIS. Following that we can continue with a next round where we start building skills in particular products e.g. a day training on postgis, followed by a day on QGIS etc etc. Of course we need not expect everyone to reach level 4. although it is my hope that we can build a caucus of FOSSGIS developers in Africa so that we can play a role in shaping the future of FOSSGIS and also building up our own local skills.

The workshops can be repeated as demand dictates. Currently there is interest in Jhb, Cape Town, and now with your email Durbs. I thing the folks in East London may be interested too. It would be great if we can establish regional user groups that can eventually do the local organisation for workshops and then presenters can visit different regions and not have to manage all the arrangements solo. But to start lets aim to do 3 or 4 introductory workshops and work on from there. Workshops would be carried out at no charge for as long as we can sustain it - and we could look at ways to raise funds in order to make it sustainable - possible the likes of SITA etc could help out since what we doing would very much further the goals of skills development within FOSSGIS in South Africa. We should also look at how we can extend these activites further afield since other African countries can equally benifit.

== Our logo ==

[[Image:OSGeoAfrica logo75dpi.png]] Low res version

[[Image:OSGeoAfrica logo300dpi.png‎|500px|thumb]] 300dpi version

== Role Players ==

Everyone can be a role player - this list is just a way to keep track of the various people involved - feel free to add yourself!

{| border=1
|-
!Who
!Email
!Where
!Organisation
!Website
|-
|Tim Sutton
|tim at linfiniti.com
|Jhb, will travel
|linfiniti consulting ( http://linfiniti.com )
|-
| Stefaan Dondeyne
| stefaan_dondeyne at yahoo.co.uk
| Mozambique?
| Teaching QGIS in Mozambique
|-
| Brendon Wolff-Piggott
| brendon at integratedgeodata.co.za
| Pretoria, will travel
| [http://www.integratedgeodata.co.za integrated geodata solutions]
|-
| Gavin Fleming
| gavinjfleming at gmail.com
| Paarl, Western Cape
| [http://www.saeon.ac.za SAEON]
|-
| Jean-Francis AHANDA
| jeanfrancisahanda at opensolutions-cameroun.com
| Yaounde,Cameroon
| Open Solutions Cameroun
| [http://www.opensolutions-cameroun.com]
|-
| Graeme McFerren
| graeme dot mcferren at gmail dot com
| Jhb/Pretoria
| GIS Researcher, [http://www.meraka.org.za Meraka]
| [http://grimmeister.wordpress.com Southern Tip blog]
|-
| Alex Siyengo
| alex dot siyengo at gmail dot com
| Lusaka,Zambia
| GIS Researcher,volunteer at Southern Africa Telecentre Network
| [http://www.satnetwork.org]
|-
| Jude Mwenda
| judemwenda at gmail dot com
| Nairobi,Kenya
| GIS Developer,Freelance
| [http://www.africangeogeek.com]
|-
| Tobi Sowole
| tobi dot sowole at gmail dot com
| Nigeria,Lagos
| Geospatial Services, Consulting, Training
| [http://www.spatialmatrix.com]
|}

== Events ==

{|border=1
|-
| '''When'''
| '''Where'''
| '''Topic'''
| '''Programme'''
| '''Notes'''
|-
| 30 June 2014
| NGI, Mowbray
| FOSS GIS Unconference
| [[AfricaGEO_2014]]
|
|-
| 29 November 2008
| Johannesburg
| Demo & Workshop covering PostGIS, GeoServer, uDig, QGIS
| [[AfricaEvents29November2008| Programme Here]]
| Our first local community event!
|-
| 27 June 2009
| Johannesburg
| Introduction to QGIS
| [[AfricaEvents27June2009| Programme Here]]
| Our second local community event!
|-
| 13-17 July 2009
| Cape Town
| IGARSS 2009
| [[IGARSS_2009]]
| We put up the OsGeo banner and handed out brochures
|-
| 14 August 2010
| Bridge House School, Franschhoek
| QGIS day
| [[QGISDay14Aug2010 | details here]]
| Our first OSGeo event in the Western Cape since FOSS4G 2008!
|-
| Postponed
| Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa
| AFOSSGIS 2010
| http://afossgis.org/
| Our first large-scale Local Chapter meeting
|}

= Service Providers =

View and maintain a list of African FOSS GIS [[ africa_service_providers | service providers ]].

= Gallery of Projects and Case Studies =

Click here to see the [[ Africa Gallery | gallery]].

[[Category:Local Chapters]]
[[Category:Africa]]
[[Category:FOSS4G2008]]

Gavin Fleming

2016-08-09T14:05:26Z

Gfleming: moved from Paarl to Joburg

{{OSGeo Member
|Name=Gavin Fleming
|JobTitle=Joint MD
|Company=Kartoza
|Country=South Africa
|City=Johannesburg
|Coordinate=-26.074706, 27.993045
|LocalChapter=Africa Local Chapter
|Email=gavin AT kartoza DOT com
|Phone=+27+878092702
|Website=http://kartoza.com
|Languages=English; Spanish; Afrikaans;
|Info=Gavin is passionate about Open Source Software, Open Data and other Open philosophies that lead to interoperability, empowerment of people and helping maximise returns on government spending. He started his GIS career in 1996 after completing an MSc in genetics. His GIS experience includes thirteen years with the full suite of ESRI software but he started the FOSS GIS habit around 2002. He is a registered GISc Technologist and the GISSA FOSS SIG chair. He worked at GIMS (now ESRI South Africa), CSIR, Mintek and SAEON before starting Afrispatial in 2010 and then Kartoza in 2014, the latter a merger between Afrispatial and Linfiniti (Tim Sutton).
}}
{{OSGeo Experience
|User=Yes
|Committee=Yes
|Board=No
|Coder=No
|Translate=No
|PSC=No
|ExBoard=No
|Charter=Yes
|Chair=Yes
|SolKatz=No
|Committer=No
}}
{{OSGeo Member FormEdit}}
[[File:OSGeo_compass300.png|thumb|right|100px|Gavin Fleming]]

Joint MD, [http://www.kartoza.com Kartoza]

Location: Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa 

Gavin is passionate about Open Source Software, Open Data and other Open philosophies that lead to interoperability, empowerment of people and helping maximise returns on government spending. He started his GIS career in 1996 after completing an MSc in genetics. His GIS experience includes thirteen years with the full suite of ESRI software but he started the FOSS GIS habit around 2002. He is a registered GISc Technologist and the [http://www.gissa.org.za/special-interest-groups/open-source GISSA FOSS SIG] chair. He worked at GIMS (now ESRI South Africa), CSIR, Mintek and SAEON before starting Afrispatial in 2010 and then Kartoza in 2014, the latter a merger between Afrispatial and Linfiniti (Tim Sutton).

;OSGeo Experience [[File:OSGeo_chair.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#Voted_position_in_an_OSGeo_community]] [[File:OSGeo_charter.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Charter_Members]] [[File:OSGeo_committee.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#Developers_and_Committee_Members]] [[File:OSGeo_user.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Community_Members]]

:* OSGeo Charter Member
:* [http://www.foss4g2008.org FOSS4G 2008] conference chair,
:* OSGeo [[ Africa_Local_Chapter | Africa Chapter]] chair
:* OSGeo Conference Committee

;Contact:
: Email: gavin AT kartoza DOT com

;Spoken Language(s): English, Spanish, Afrikaans

;Profile last updated: 4 Feb 2015

[[Category:OSGeo Member]]
[[Category:OSGeo Advocate]]

Live GIS History

2015-07-27T13:30:28Z

Gfleming: added Geomatics Indaba 2015

Where has OSGeo-Live been used? Please tell us. A history of wide use provides justification for future developers to include, and improve their application on OSGeo-Live.

See also [[Live GIS Testimonials]].

== Template Questions ==
* date of the event or training course, or program
* City, Country
* link to webside
* OSGeo-Live handed out to attendees? How many?
* USBs, DVDs, or VMs used? How many?
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presented? To how many people? Was it a plenary event? If not, what percentage of the attendees attended this talk? Did you get any feedback? What did you hear?
* OSGeo-Live used for workshops or training programs? What did the workshop/training cover. Was the USB/DVD or VM used? Were attendees computers used? If so, what operating systems were they running? How long did it take to set up? Were there any issues?
* Any suggestions on what we can do to improve OSGeo-Live for future?
* Contact: person (usually coordinator) who can be contacted to ask further questions

== 2015 ==

=== October 5th-9th 2015 Digital Earth 2015 ===
* Halifax, Nova Scotia · Canada
* OSGeo-Live workshop?
* Contact: Dirk Werle (conference chair), Brian Hamlin and Jeff McKenna (OSGeo-Live presenters)

=== 14-19 September 2015: FOSS4G 2015 ===
* Seoul, South Korea
* Contact: Sanghee Shin
* OSGeo-Live USBs handed out, OSGeo-Live used in a number of the workshops

=== 15-17 September 2015, INTERGEO 2015 ===
* Stuttgart, Germany
* http://intergeo.de
* OSGeo-Live Postcards
* presentation about OSGeo-Live in the Open Source Park
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== 11-13 August 2015, Geomatics Indaba 2015===
* Ekurhuleni, South Africa
* http://geomatics.org.za/
* distribution of 800 OSGeo-Live 8.5 DVDs in delegate bags
* Contact: [[User:Gfleming|Gavin Fleming]]

=== 13-18 July 14, 2015: FOSS4G Europe ===
* Como, Italy
* Workshops, Conference, Codesprint
* Contact: Maria Antonia Brovelli

=== 8.-10. July 2015 AGIT Salzburg (Austria) ===
* 8.-10.July 2015
* Salzburg, Austria
* http://agit.at/
* OSGeo Park USB thumbs with OSGeo-Live were sold, information about OSGeo projects
* OSGeo-Live postcards: 500 PostCards
* OSGeo-Live presentation by Astrid Emde (german) [https://github.com/OSGeo/OSGeoLive-doc/blob/master/en/presentation/index.html presentation]
* Workshops about PostGIS (> 30 attendees) and Mapbender3 (>30 attendees): people worked with OSGeo-Live 8.5 USB thumb [https://trac.osgeo.org/osgeo/wiki/Live_GIS_Workshop_Install workshop page]
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== 8-10. June 2015 FOSS4G India 2015, IIRS Dehradun, India ===
OSGeo-India tweaked the Live DVD to also contain the Digital Proceedings of the Conference (full papers and abstracts) and it was made available to all the Participants. My humble self mentioned in my inaugural presentation that the essence of all OSGeo and OS-GIS software are tucked into the live DVD. It was also emphasised that the Live-DVD is a way of seeing all the software run on one's computer / Laptop without soiling it by booting with it. Use of Virtual Machine on certain operating systems, which are not boot-friendly to the Live-DVD was also mentioned. As usual the conference acknowledges the untiring effort by live.osgeo.org (http://live.osgeo.org/en/index.html) who keep the DVD afresh with all latest OS-GIS. https://plus.google.com/114935751871526846208/posts/iXhdxwaePux
* http://foss4gindia.in

=== 11. - 13. May 2015 Symposium Königslutter - Angewandte Kartographie - Geovisualisierung ===
* Königslutter (Germany)
* Workshop on OSGeo-Live:
** Workshop with OSGeo-live from USB
** 10 attendees
* PostCards postcards to all delegates - about 50 postcards
* used presentation: http://svn.osgeo.org/osgeo/livedvd/gisvm/trunk/doc/de/presentation/index.html
* http://angewandte-kartographie.de/
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== 1-3 June 2015: CalGIS ===
* Sacramento, California, United States
* http://www.calgis.org
* Contact: Alex Mandel / Christina Boggs

=== 11. - 13. March 2015 FOSSGIS ===
* 11. - 13. March 2015
* Münster, Germany
* http://www.fossgis.de/konferenz/2015/
* Videos on youtube: http://youtube.com/fossgis
** see also http://www.fossgis.de/konferenz/2015/programm/events/904.de.html
* Hand out OSGeo-Live 500 postcards to all delegates
* > 21 Workshops will take place, most of them will use OSGeo-Live
** 239 persons in the workshops
* What format of OSGeo-Live was used?
** USB Sticks
** USB Sticks were given to the participants
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== 9-11 March 2015 FOSS4G-NA ===
* Burlingame, California, USA
* Contact Andrew Ross

=== 31 January 2015 FOSDEM ===
* Location: Brussels, Belgium
* 31 January & 1 February 2015
* Presentation: From Debian-GIS to OSGeo live and back
* Description: Debian GIS is a project with the goal of making Debian the best distribution for Geographical Information System applications.
OSGeo live (live.osgeo.org) is a self-contained bootable dvd, usb thumb drive or virtual machine based on Lubuntu, that allows you to try a wide variety of open source geospatial software without installing anything. It also contains a set of uniform documentation (description and quickstarts) to guide people around the different projects.
Even though OSGeo live is based on the packages in Debian, both projects diverted and where OSGeo live managed to get a large (100+) community of contributors, progress in Debian GIS was stalling. Recently however, a new wind is blowing in Debian GIS (among others with the Debian pure blends initiative) and many changes from OSGeo live are being incorporated back into Debian.
Apart from presenting both projects I will highlight some problems people encounter when they would like to add their package to Debian GIS, and how Debian pure blends try to solve this.
* Speaker: Johan Van de Wauw
* https://fosdem.org/2015/schedule/event/from_debian_gis_to_osgeo_live_and_back/

== 2014 ==
=== 2-5 December 2014, FOSS4G Asia ===
* Bankok, Thailand
* OSGeo-Live lightning talk presented.
* planning to use OSGeo-Live at the workshop.
* Planning to distribute OSGeo-Live DVDs in the conference kit.
* Contact: Venkatesh Raghavan, Heegu Park

=== 28 November 2014, Illinois State GIS Association Annual Conference ===
* Chicago, Illinois, US
* OSGeo-Live presentation given, which was well attended, with a number of people coming and asking questions afterwards.
* Handed out 23 OSGeo-Live USBs
* Contact: Bob Basques

=== 6 November 2014, beOpenGISfr ===
* Brussels, Belgium
* http://be-opengis.ulb.ac.be/
* OsGeo-Live VM was used during workshops. Approx 90 USB sticks with OSGeo-live were distributed
* Contact: [[User:mlennert|Moritz Lennert]]
* Photos: http://be-opengis.ulb.ac.be/photos.html

=== 7-9 October 2014, INTERGEO 2014 ===
* Berlin, Germany
* http://intergeo.de
* OSGeo-live Postcards
* presentation about OSGeo-Live in the Open Source Park http://www.intergeo.de/intergeo/besucher/messe/opensource-park.php
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== 8-13 September 2014, International FOSS4G===
* Portland, Oregon, USA
* https://2014.foss4g.org/
* Contact: ?
* 300 8Gig OSGeo-Live USBs handed out from the OSGeo Booth.
* OSGeo-Live VM used for many of the workshops.

=== 2-3 September 2014, OSGIS 2014===
* University of Nottingham, UK
* http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/osgis/home.aspx
* Contact: Suchith Anand

=== 27-28 August 2014 FOSS4G Korea ===
* COEX, Seoul, Korea
* Handed out OSGeo-Live DVDs
* Contact: Sanghee Shin

=== 21-25 July, 2014. Urban Informatics Postgraduate Elective===
* University of Melbourne, Australia
* USB stick with OSGeo-Live 7.9 was handed out to 25 enrolled students
* Students had a choice of USB or VM
* Contact: A/Prof Chris Pettit, Dr Jack Barton

=== 15.-17. July 2014 FOSS4G-Euope===
* Jacobs University Bremen, Germany
* http://foss4g-e.org/
* about 160 attendents
* OSGeo table together with FOSSGIS e.V.
* USB stick with OSGeo-Live 7.9 was handed out to every participant
* Presentation on OSGeo-Live http://kalxas.github.io/OSGeoLive-presentation/#/
* Code Sprint for version 8.0 at friday 18th july 2014
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== 7-11 July 2014, Fifth Open Source Opportunities in GIS Summer School ===
* Girona, Spain
* http://www.sigte.udg.edu/summerschool2014/
* The Summer School is focused on the development and creation of Open Web Services and Web Applications, especially on the publication of data on the web. With this goal, the programme will cover topics related to the acquisition and importation of OpenStreetMap data into a spatial database, creation of geospatial web services and development of internet viewers for publishing geospatial data.
The course has been designed and will be conducted on a GNU/Linux operating system based on the use of the OSGeo-Live DVD
* http://live.osgeo.org/en/index.html
* Contact: Lluis Vicens

=== 1-3 July 2014, AfricaGeo ===
* Cape Town, South Africa
* http://www.africageo.org/
* presentation and paper based on OSGeo-Live (and distribution of ~550 OSGeo-Live DVDs in delegate bags)
* Contact: [[User:Gfleming|Gavin Fleming]], Tim Sutton

=== ANLiegen Natur (journal: article - print and online) ===
* journal focused on applied nature conservation (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
* June 2015
* journal: [http://www.anl.bayern.de/publikationen/anliegen/anliegen36_1.htm ANLiegen Natur 36(1)]
* ''Open Data und freie und offene Geographische Informationssysteme (FOSSGIS) – ein Werkzeug für den (ehrenamtlichen) Naturschutz?''
* ''Open Data and free and open source software for geographic information systems (FOSSGIS) – a tool for (voluntary) nature conservation?''
* [http://www.anl.bayern.de/publikationen/anliegen/doc/an36113kudrnovsky_2014_open_data.pdf article]
* Contact: [[User:hellik|Helmut Kudrnovsky]]

=== 17-20 June 2014, USFWS National GIS Workshop ===
* West Virginia, USA
* http://training.fws.gov/nctcweb/catalog/CourseDetail.aspx?CourseCodeLong=FWS-CSP7304
* Contact: Doug Newcomb
* Presented OSGeo-Live presentation, handed out OSGeo-Live DVDs

=== 10-13 June 2014, OGRS 2014 ===
* Helsinki, Finland
* http://2014.ogrs-community.org/
* Contact: [[User:Ajolma|Ari Jolma]]

=== 2-4 July 2014, AGIT26 ===
* Salzburg, Austria
* http://www.agit.at
* OSGeo Day http://www.agit.at/index.php/programmagit/themen-schwerpunkte/osgeo-day-osgeo-park-2014
* OSGeo Booth, OSGeo-Live Postcards, OSGeo flyer, OSGeo Day and workshops
* Contact: Astrid Emde

=== 20-22 May 2014 FOSS4G-FR ===
* Paris, France
* Contact: Vicent Picavet

=== 21 May 2014 QLD Open Source Spatial Workshop ===
* Brisbane, Australia
* http://www.sssi.org.au/Events/QLD-Open-Source-Spatial-Workshop/eid/988.html
* OSGeo-Live DVD handed out to all participants and used in hands on workshops
* Contact: Shaun Kolomeitz

=== 27 April – 2 May, 2014 European Geosciences Union General Assembly===
* Vienna, Austria
* http://www.egu2014.eu/
* 100 OSGeo-Live DVDs handed out to participants
* Contact Peter Löwe
* Detailed report and lessons learned: http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/EGU_Townhall_2014#OSGeo-Live_DVDs

=== 26-28 March 2014, 8as Jornadas de SIG Libre (Spanish FOSS4G) ===
* 26 - 28 March 2014 in Girona
* http://www.sigte.udg.edu/jornadassiglibre
* 6 Workshops will take place, using OSGeo-Live
** Introduction to QGIS
** Integration of Free Geospatial Technologies
** Introduction to python for geospatial applications
** Introduction to MapProxy
** Developing mobile applications with Glob3 mobile SDK
** Creating Web Applications with AngularJS AND LeafletJS
* What format of OSGeo-Live was used?
** VirtualMachine
* Contact: [[User:Lluís|Lluís Vicens]]

=== 19. - 21. March 2014 FOSSGIS ===
* 19. - 21. March 2014
* Berlin, Germany
* http://www.fossgis.de/konferenz/2014/
* Videos on youtube: http://youtube.com/fossgis
* Hand out OSGeo-Live 7.9 postcards to all delegates - about 550 postcards
* Presenatation about OSGeo-Live '''OSGeo-Live rocks!''' '''maybe'''
* > 10 Workshops will take place, most of them will use OSGeo-Live
** 204 persons in the workshops
* What format of OSGeo-Live was used?
** VirtualMachine
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== 23 February 2014 FOSS4G Sri Lanka ===
* Malabe, Sri Lanka
* OSGeo-Live Presentation including demo of OSGeo-Live
* Handed out OSGeo Live 7.0 DVDs
* Contact: Nimalika Fernando

=== 1-2 February 2014 FOSDEM ===
* Brussels, Belgium
* http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSDEM2014
* Presentation of OSGeo Live Overview on a screen, event was attended by ~5000 people, OSGeo stand got visit of at least 500 (all marketing material was given away)
* Contact: Anne Ghisla

=== 23-25 January 2014 Societal GIS training workshop ===
* Rajahmundry, India
* OSGeo India had a 3 day Societal GIS training workshop.
* Used OSGeo Live-7, both DVD and USB driven. Wish to use Virtual Box as Windows-8 has serious booting issues and OSGeo-Live works fine with Virtual Box (Sun Microsystems).
* http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/User_talk:Ravivundavalli#OSGeo_India_and_Adi_Kavi_Nannaya_University_Training_workshop_23_-_25_January_2014

== 2013 ==
=== 4-6 December 2013, National Seminar on 'Remote Sensing and GIS for Environment', India ===
* Visakhapatnam, India
* OSGeo booth attracted a bee line of students who were eager to experiment with OSGeo software. Copies of OSGeo Live-DVD were distributed to all those who have answered a questionnaire quizzing about OSGeo and FOSS GIS.
* http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/User_talk:Ravivundavalli#OSGeo_India_Booth_at_Visakhapatnam.2C_India

=== 14-15 November 2013, FOSS4G Korea 2013 ===
* Seoul, Korea
* http://www.osgeo.kr/135/
* OSGeo Live DVD will be distributed at the FOSS4G Korea venue and through KAOS-G booth at Smart GeoExpo Korea 2013.
* Contact: [[User:sanghee|Sanghee Shin]]

=== 4-8 November 2013, AfricaGIS 2013 / GSDI 14 ===
* Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
* http://www.gsdi.org/gsdiconf/gsdi14/
* Lightning overview presented (reveal JS version)
* Contact: [[User:Gfleming|Gavin Fleming]]

=== 8-10 October 2013, INTERGEO 2013 ===
* Essen, Germany
* http://intergeo.de
* it is planned to hand out 500 OSGeo 7.0 DVDs
* slides about OSGeo-Live in FOSSGIS e.V. presentation
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== 24 - 26 Sept 2013, Asian Geospatial Forum 2013 ===
* Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
* http://www.asiageospatialforum.org
* OSGEO-Live and ICA-OSGEO lab network [http://prezi.com/hv18xf8_wolq/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy presentation]
* Contact: [[TuongThuy Vu|Thuy Vu]]

=== 19 - 21 Sept 2013, INCA-33 International Congress India ===
* Jodhpur, India
* http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/User_talk:Ravivundavalli#OSGeo_India_.40_INCA-33_International_congress.2C_Jodhpur.2C_Rajasthan.2C_India
* Through OSGeo India booth 100 Live-DVDs are distributed
* Contact: ravivundavalli@yahoo.com

=== 17-21 September 2013, FOSS4G ===
* Nottingham, United Kingdom
* http://2013.foss4g.org
* Contact: Steven Feldman

=== 25-30 August 2013, International Cartographic Conference ===
* Dresden, Germany
* http://www.dgfk.net/index.php?id=164&do=akt
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== 8-12 July 2013, Open Source Opportunities in GIS Summer School ===
* Girona, Catalonia, Spain
* About 25 students running OSGeo-Live in a Virtual Machine (Virtual Box).
* http://www.sigte.udg.edu/summerschool2013/
* Contact: [[User:Lluís|Lluís Vicens]]

=== 3-5 July 2013, AGIT25 ===
* Salzburg, Austria
* http://www.agit.at
* OSGeo Day http://www.agit.at/index.php/programm-2013/themen/osgeo
* Hand out OSGeo-Live 6.5 DVDs at FOSSGIS/OSGeo Booth - about 200 DVDs
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== 10 June 2013, FROG (FRancophone Opensource Geomatique)===
* Paris, France
* http://osgeo.asso.fr
* Distribution to participants ?
* Contact : Vincent Picavet

=== 12.-14. June 2013 FOSSGIS ===
* 12.-14. June 2013
* Rapperswil, Switzerland
* http://www.fossgis.de/konferenz/2013/
* Hand out OSGeo-Live 6.5 DVDs to all delegates - about 350 DVDs
* Presenatation about OSGeo-Live '''OSGeo-Live rocks!''' by [[User:Astrid Emde | Astrid Emde]] http://www.fossgis.de/konferenz/2013/programm/events/576.de.html
* > 10 Workshops will take place, most of them will use OSGeo-Live 6.5
** 5 - 20 persons in the workshops
* What format of OSGeo-Live was used?
** VirtualMachine
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== 17-19 June 2013, FOSS4G-CEE 2013 ===
* Bucharest, Romania
* OSGeo-Live 6.5 (or higher) DVDs will be handed out to all participants (conference target: 300)
* Some workshops are expected to make use of OSGeo-Live (call for workshops opens June 13th)
* A OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation is welcome (call for presentations opens June 13th)
* http://2013.foss4g-cee.org
* Contact: [http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/User:Vasile Vasile Crăciunescu]

=== 21 May 2013, Location Intelligence Conference ===
* Washington DC, United States
* OSGeo-Live presentation by [[User:Amyonthemap|Amy Gao]]

=== 29-30 April, 2013 GIS In Action ===
* April 29 to May 1, 2013,
* Portland, Oregon
* http://www.orurisa.org/GIS_In_Action (website is reused every year, [https://web.archive.org/web/20130510063948/http://www.orurisa.org/GIS_In_Action Archive.org site])
* The DVD was used to run demos at the booth. A limited number of copies were available to hand out to people who seemed very interested.
* The PDX-OSGeo chapter also helps organize an Open Source Track at GIS In Action which was very popular. This year, there was not a specific talk about the LiveDVD although it is often mentioned as a great way to try out software that people ask about.
* On May 2, there was an unconference where the LiveDVD was frequently referenced.
* Contact: [[User:EliL | EliL]]

=== 24 April, 2013 FOSS4G Buenos Aires 2013 ===
* 24 to 26 of April 2013, Buenos Aires, Argentina
* http://www.foss4g.org.ar/
* Unfortunately there was a problem with the DVD distributor and the participants didn't receive a copy.
* [http://jsanz.github.io/slides-201304-foss4gba/osgeo-live/#/title OSGeo Live presentation] by [[Jorge Sanz]]
* OSGeo Live was used on the MapProxy workshop by the lecturer and some attendants that were able to run it on Virtual Box
* Contact: [[Mauricio Miranda]]

=== 10 April, 2013 EGU 2013 ===
* Vienna, Austria
* http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2013/session/13223
* DVD-distribution to journalists
* splinter meeting with short presentation and screenshots of OSGeo-Live
* Contact: Peter Löwe

=== 6-8 March 2013, Jornadas de SIG Libre (Spanish FOSS4G2013) ===
* Girona, Spain
* http://www.sigte.udg.edu/jornadassiglibre
* Contact: [[User:Lluís|Lluis Vicens]]

=== 17-18 January 2013, WhereCampEU ===
* Rome, Italy
* http://wherecamp.eu/
* OSGeo-Live presentation by [[User:Lucadelu|Luca Delucchi]]

== 2012 ==

=== 4-7 December 2012, Open Source Developers Conference ===
* Sydney, Australia
* http://www.osdc.com.au/
* OSGeo-Live presentation by Cameron Shorter
* Contact: Cameron Shorter

=== 22-24 November 2012, PhilGEOS 2012 ===
* Quezon City, Philippines
* http://philgeos2012.wordpress.com/
* Over 60 participants joined 8 workshops and 3 lightning talks. The OSGeo Live project was also presented in one of the parallel technical sessions in the main conference. Likewise, an exhibit booth was installed during the PhilGEOS conference for OSGeo and OpenStreetMap. Over ~50 OSGeo Live DVDs were handed out to conference participants.
* Contact: Maning Sambale

=== 17-18 November 2012, OpenGIS ===
* Moscow, Russia
* conference on everything related to free and opensource GIS: data, software, methodology, organized by members of Russian GIS-Lab and OpenStreetMap communities.
* Over 200 participants; OSGeo-Live DVD was used in GRASS GIS workshop; ~10 OSGeo Live DVDs were handed out to conference participants.
* http://gisconf.ru/en/
* Contact: Maxim Dubinin, Alexander Mury

=== 14-17 November 2012, GFOSSDAY 2012 - OSMit 2012 ===
* Turin, Italy
* http://www.gfoss.it/drupal/gfossday2012
* OSGeo-Live software directly used from VMs within five workshops
* OSGeo-Live overview in keynote presentation
* Title: OSGeo-Live: il più semplice strumento per provare le applicazioni GFOSS / OSGeo-Live: the simplest way to test FOSS4G software
* Contact: [[User:Lucadelu|Luca Delucchi]]

=== 14-16 November 2012, EGU Leonardo Conference ===
* Turin, Italy
* http://www.eguleonardo2012.polito.it/
* Poster presentation in Session: Population
* Notes: Poster Presentations consist in a quick (1-Slide) oral overview during the sessions and in the attendance by the poster stand between the sessions.
* Title: A complete review of the breadth of quality Geospatial Open Source Software available to Hydrologists, using OSGeo-Live
* Contact: [[User:Madi|Margherita Di Leo]]

=== 12-13 November 2012, SWE-SmartCities Workshop ===
* Barcelona, Spain
* https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5tKYbjsGOrxWkVwWWZsM2NHNlk/edit
* Sensor Web Enablement workshop held by 52°North
* 21 OSGeo-Live handed to the participants and used for the exercises
* The DVD was used for a training workshop on OGC Sensor Web Enablement. Participants worked with the 52°North SOS and the 52°North WPS. The DVD was mostly used, in some cases the VM was used.During the training, the participants used their own laptop computers (a full mix of all operating systems).There was no dedicated time needed for setting up the DVD. No issues occured.
* Contact: [[User:esllolo|Estela Llorente López]], Simon Jirka (52°North)

=== November 2012, Open Source GIS and Webmapping Workshop ===
* Vienna (Austria)
* Waiting on Barend Köbben to provide website url once details are finalised

===25-26 October 2012, FOSS4G-India ===
* Hyderabad, India
* http://lsi.iiit.ac.in/foss4gindia
* OSGeo-Live DVDs to be handed out to all participants
* OSGeo-Live to be used in workshops
* OSGeo-Live Presentation to be given by K S Rajan
* Contact: K S Rajan

=== October 2012, LatinOSGIS ===
* Guayaquil, Ecuador
* OSGeo-Live 6.0 DVDs to be handed out
* lightning presentation by Mauricio Miranda
* http://www.fiec.espol.edu.ec/LatinOSGIS
* Contact: Indira Yadira Nolivos Alvarez

===17,18 October 2012, GeoINT 2012 ===
* Orlando Florida
* OSGeo-Live link handed out
* mentioned in various panels and forums
* geoint2012.com
* Contact: Mark Lucas and John Scott

=== 17-19 October 2012, Geospace Europe Summit 2012 ===
* Brussels Belgium
* OSGeo-Live link handed out
* Presentation pointing to live.ogeo.org efforts
* http://defence.flemingeurope.com/geospatial-intelligence-europe
* Contact: Mark Lucas

=== 17-19 October 2012, Latinoware ===
* Keynote presentation by Jody Garnett including parts of the OSGeo Lightning presentation
* http://2012.latinoware.org/?lang=en , http://2012.latinoware.org/?page_id=228
* Contact: Jody Garnett

=== October 2012, INTERGEO 2012 ===
* Hannover Germany, 9.-11.10.2012
* ~600 OSGeo 6.0 (and some of Version 5.5.) DVDs were distributed
* slide about OSGeo-Live in [http://fossgis.de FOSSGIS e.V.] presentation
* very good feedback to the DVD. Lot of people already know OSGeo-Live
* http://intergeo.de
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== October 2012, Smart Korea 2012 in conjunction with OGC TC/PC Meeting ===
* Seoul, Korea
* Around 50 OSGeo-Live 6.0 DVDs were handed out at OSGeo booth there
* http://www.opengeospatial.org/event/1210tc
* Contact: Sanghee Shin

=== 11-13 October 2012, XXXII INCA International Conference 2012 ===
* Dehradun, India
* http://www.incaindia.org/32INCA/
* Nearly 80 OSGeo-Live 6.0 DVDs handed out at OSGeo/IIRS Booth. Posters with screenshots of some applications with local data were put up.
* Explained delegates about OpenSource GIS. Demonstrated QGIS to anyone with a question. Demoed OpenCPN to some of the folks from National Hydrographic Office.
* Contact: Chaitanya Kumar CH

=== October 12, 2012, FOSS4G Korea 2012 ===
* COEX, Seoul, Korea
* Nearly 70~80 OSGeo-Live 6.0 DVDs were handed out during the event and brief explanation of OSGeo-Live project was given to participants
* FOSS4G Korea will be held in conjunction with Smart Korea 2012
* http://www.osgeo.kr
* Contact: Sanghee Shin

=== October 3-5, 2012, Minnesota GIS/LIS 2012 ===
* Saint Cloud, Minnesota, USA
* OSGeo-Live 6.0 DVDs handed out at OSGeo/FOSS4GNA Booth.
* OSGeo-Live ODP file set to loop on digital display in booth, augmented with local OSGeo project screenshots.
* Annual Conference and Workshops.
* http://www.mngislis.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=718
* Contact: Bob Basques

=== October 2012, GISSA Ukubuzana conference ===
* 1-3 October, Johannesburg, South Africa
* ~450 OSGeo 6.0 DVDs were distributed
* Lightning overview wwas also presented
* It was also used in two workshops ('Intro to PostGIS and QGIS' and 'Enterprise GIS with FOSS')
* http://gissa.org.za/activities/conferences/gissa-ukubuzana-2012
* More were distributed and used in workshops at the launch of the University of Pretoria ICA/OSGeo Lab on 4 Oct
* [[User:Gfleming|Gavin Fleming]]

=== September 2012, Geocamp ===
* September 22nd, Campo Maior, Portugal
* http://geocampers.com
* OSGeo project presentation: how the project is managed, how translations work, how a project is involved
* Contact: [[Jorge Sanz]], Hugo Santos info (at) geocampers (dot) com

=== September 2012, Asia GeoSpatial Forum ===
* Hanoi, Vietnam. 17~19th, September
* Around 50 OSGeo-Live 6.0 DVDs were handed out to the participants.
* A presentation on OSGeo overview and OSGeo-Live was given in oral presentation session
* Open Source GIS Session
* http://www.asiageospatialforum.org/
* Contact: Sanghee Shin

=== 5 September 2012 Open Source GIS Conference (OSGIS) ===
* Nottingham, United Kingdom
* All day session: "Educational use of OSGeo Live" presented by Ari Jolma
* 100 OSGeo-Live DVDs handed out
* OSGeo-Live lightning presentation by Barry Rowlingson
* http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/osgis/
* Contact: Suchith Anand

=== August 2012, 34th International Geological Conference ===
* Brisbane, Australia
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation by Peter Baunmann, conference convener
* http://www.34igc.org/
* Contact: Peter Baunmann

=== 18-19 July 2012, FOSS4G Southeast Asia ===
* Johor Bahru, Malaysia
* OSGEO-live DVD used at the plenary session. Several slides from OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation used plus some demonstration.
* OSGeo-Live handed out to all delegates.
* Contact: Dr. Franz-Josef Behr

=== July 2012, Third Open Source GIS Summer School ===
* Girona, Spain
* School program focused on the development and creation of Open Web Mapping Services and Web applications. Jeremy Morley (Lecturer and a theme leader at the NGI) will be contributing the Nottingham components for the Summer School. The course has been designed and will be conducted on a GNU/Linux operating system based on the use of the OSGeo-Live DVD.
* http://www.sigte.udg.edu/summerschool2012/
* Contact: Lluís Vicens

=== July 2012, International Environmental Modeling and Software Society Conference (IEMSS) ===
* Leipzig, Germany
* ~ 100 OSGeo-Live 5.5 DVDs to be handed out
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation
* http://www.iemss.org/sites/iemss2012/sessions_D.html
* Contact: Daniel P. Ames

=== July 2012, AGIT ===
* Salzburg (Austria) Annual Conference
* http://www.agit.at/
* [[AGIT]], Friday is OSGeo day, free booth together with OSM throughtout the week ([[Arnulf]])
* we want to hand out +- 500 OSGeoLive DVDs

===June 30 - July 1, 2012, FOSS4G Hokkaido 2012 ===
*Sapporo, Hokkaido JAPAN
*50 OSGeo-Live 5.5 DVDs handed out to delegates
*OSGeo.JP and OSGeo-Live overview in keynote presentation
*[https://sites.google.com/site/foss4ghokkaido/ Website (in Japanese)]
*[https://www.facebook.com/FOSS4G.Hokkaido Facebook (in Japanese)]

=== June 2012, useR! The International R User Conference ===
* Vanderbilt U, Nashville USA
* http://biostat.mc.vanderbilt.edu/wiki/Main/UseR-2012
* Workshop Presentation on Geospatial Data in R, 33 attendees
* Five or six OSGeo-Live 5.5 DVDs taken
* Boot and demo at end of workshop.

=== June 28, 2012, OSGeo.nl Day (FOSS4G Regional) within MapWindow Conference - The Netherlands ===
* Velp, The Netherlands
* OSGeo-Live 5.5 DVDs handed out to all delegates (about 120). This included a large contingent of OSGeo-NL people who I heard were very appreciative of the DVD.
* OSGeo-Live + OSGeo overview in keynote presentation
* OSGeo-Live software directly used from VMs within the two workshops
* http://osgeo.nl/osgeonl_dag_2012.html (OSGeo.nl Day Program + Pres. Slides)
* http://www.mapwindow.org/conference/2012 (general MapWindow conf)
* Contact: Daniel P. Ames

=== May 2012, FOSS4G-CEE & Geoinformatics 2012 ===
* Prague, Czech Republic
* OSGeo-Live 5.5 DVDs to be used in workshops
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation
* http://foss4g-cee.org/
* Contact: Jachym Cepicky

=== May 2012, FOSSCOMM 2012 ===
* Serres, Greece
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation
* 1 undergraduate thesis presentation using OSGeo-Live
* http://serres.fosscomm.gr/?page_id=582

=== May 2012, HellasGI 2012 ===
* Athens, Greece
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation
* Local chapter meeting

=== April 2012, COMEM OGO course :: Webmapping with OGC standards ===
* April 16th, a course dedicated on geospatialized e-Content for Media Engineering bachelor students (http://www.comem.ch) at School of Engineering and Business Vaud (http://www.heig-vd.ch), Western Switzerland, Yverdon-les-Bains
* Topic : learning webmapping and OGC standards with OpenLayers, GeoServer, PostGIS (http://ogo.heig-vd.ch)
* A customized OSGeo-Live 5.5 VM has been used through VirtualBox by 15 students to execute several exercices and to build a five days project (http://carto.iict.ch)
* Delivering a complete and ready to use geo-enabled VM is interessant for students to work in a kind of sandbox and to bring something easely back at home for later reuse.

=== April 2012, Geospatial World Forum 2012 ===
* The RAI, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
* 4-hour [http://wiki.osgeo.org/images/b/bf/GeospatialWorldForum_2012_OpenSource_Seminar_Program.pdf "Open Source Seminar"] organized by OSGeo/[http://OSgeo.nl OSGeo Dutch Chapter] with 11 speakers
* OSGeo-Live lightning presentation (15mins)
* http://www.geospatialworldforum.org/2012/open.htm

=== April 2012, FOSS4G North America 2012 ===
* Washington, United States
* Hand out OSGeo-Live 5.5 DVDs to all delegates
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation?
* http://foss4g-na.org/

=== April 2012, GISRUK 2012 ===
* Lancaster University, UK
* (probably) To be used for pre-conference workshop from Lutra Consulting
* Around 200 DVDs to be handed out at the OSGeo-UK desk
* http://www.lancs.ac.uk/gisruk2012/

=== April 2012, AGILE 2012===
* Avignon, France
* http://agile2012.imag.fr/index.php/workshops/hands-on-qopen-source-gis-a-webmappingq
* Open Source GIS & WebCartography workshop
* OSGeo-Live USBs handed to all workshop attendees

=== March 2012, Association for Geographic Information Welsh Group Open Source Seminar ===
* Wrexham, Wales, UK
* DVDs handed out to all delegates (20)
* http://astuntechnology.com/news/agi-open-source-training/ (proper link no longer available)

=== March 2012, AWRA GIS and Water Resources Conference ===
* New Orleans
* ~ 350 DVDs handed to delegates
* http://awra.org/meetings/Spring2012/

=== March 2012, FOSSGIS 2012 ===
* Dessau, Germany
* Hand out OSGeo-Live 5.5 DVDs to all delegates - more than 400 DVDs
* OSGeo-Live was mentioned in the opening speech
* http://www.fossgis.de/konferenz/2012/
* OSGeo-Live was mentioned a lot on the conference. Some presenter mentioned in their presentation, to test the new stuff with OSGeo-Live
* How many people were in the workshop?
** 21 Wokshops took place in total, 15 Workshop used OSGeo-Live 5.5, some of the workshops used a modified OSGeo-Live version
** 5 - 20 persons were in the workshops
* What format of OSGeo-Live was used? DVD? USB? VM?
** Used with VirtualBox
* Did students bring their own computers? What types of computers and operating systems were brought in?
** No own computers. We used the computers with windows and VirtualBox from the GIS pool of the university
* How much time was spent setting up the class with setting up OSGeo-Live?
** This was done before the workshop

=== March 2012, Spanish FOSS4G 2012 ===
* Girona, Spain
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation.
* Possibly also handing out osgeo-live 5.5 DVDs?
* http://www.sigte.udg.edu/jornadassiglibre/

=== 6-7 March 2012, Malaysian Geospatial Forum ===
* Malaka, Malaysia
* http://www.malaysiageospatialforum.org
* The OSGEO-Live lightning overview was presented to around 50 attendees (of approximately 300 attendees of the whole event). Positive feedbacks, the common question was which package should be used to their work.

=== February 2012, AAG 2012 ===
* New York, New York
* 25 OSGeo-Live 5.0 bootable thumb drives to be handed out
* FOSS4G Workshop for Educators
* http://www.aag.org/cs/annualmeeting

=== February 2012, GIS courses ===
* 6-10 Feb, Enterprise GIS course at University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
* 13-17 Feb , Introduction to QGIS and PostGIS course, Muizenberg, South Africa
* OSGeo 5.0 DVDs handed out to course attendees (~15 each)
* Ran in first session of workshops as LiveDVD to browse through the ecosystem and get a feel for Linux and FOSS GIS.
* [[User:Gfleming|Gavin Fleming]]

=== January 2012, Pleiades Days 2012 ===
* Toulouse, France
* 50 OSGeo-Live 5.0 bootable thumb drives to be handed out
* [http://www.pleiades2012.com/ Website]

== 2011==

=== December 2011, Enterprise GIS course at the Council for Geoscience ===
* 12-14 Dec, Cape Town, South Africa
* OSGeo 5.0 DVDs handed out to course attendees
* We set up the VM on Windows for part of the workshop. Demo'd QGIS server and browsed through the system for an overview of other tools.
* It would be nice to have OpenGeo Suite Community Edition installed. It could provide PostGIS and GeoServer to the rest of the DVD. Also GeoNode.
* [[User:Gfleming|Gavin Fleming]]

=== November 2011, FOSS4G Tokyo/Osaka 2011 ===
*Tokyo and Osaka, JAPAN
*each 50+ OSGeo-Live 5.0 DVDs handed to delegates
*[http://www.osgeo.jp/%E3%82%A4%E3%83%99%E3%83%B3%E3%83%88/foss4g-2011-tokyo/ Website (in Japanese)]
*[http://www.osgeo.jp/%E3%82%A4%E3%83%99%E3%83%B3%E3%83%88/foss4g-2011-osaka/ Website (in Japanese)]

=== October 2011, IAEA/FAO Coordinated Research Program ===
* Burkina Faso
* This conference was the third in a series of semi-annual meetings reviewing research programs regarding two agricultural pests: Tsetse and Old/New World Screw-worm. The meetings focus on merging population genetics and GIS techniques to better understand the spread of these pests.
* A customized version of the OSGeoLive 5.0 was prepared with data specific to Burkina Faso, and each of the 15 participants received a USB flash drive for the practice session. Some basic exercises were conducted demonstrating QGIS, Spatialite, and R.
* Responses were overwhelmingly positive.

=== September 2011, Intergeo 2011 ===
* Nuremberg, Germany
* Intergeo is an anual big fair on geodesy, geoinformation and land management
* [http://fossgis.de FOSSGIS e.V.] (german language local chapter of OSGeo) organizes an the OSGeo Park at Intergeo every year presenting OSGeo software. There also is a [http://www.fossgis.de/wiki/Intergeo_2011/Vortragsprogramm presentation area] where we present OSGeo Software and solutions 3 days long
* Rest of the OSGeo-Live 4.5 handed out (aprox 100 DVDs)
* http://www.intergeo.de/en/englisch/index.php

=== September 2011, FOSS4G 2011 ===
Denver, United States
* OSGeo Live given to every delegate. (Release 5.0)
* 300 USBs printed, 600 DVDs
* OSGeo-Live was used within many of the workshops

=== June/July 2011, Open Source GIS Summer School ===
* University of Gerona, Gerona, Spain
* The school taught Open Source GIS technologies and made use of the OSGeoLive DVD
* http://www.sigte.udg.edu/summerschool2011/target-audience/prerequisites

=== August 2011, [http://irdal.ird.fr/spip.php?page=ecole_ete_spatial_bresil11_sommaire&id_rubrique=1022|Ecole d'été - Observation spatiale de l'environnement] ===
* Macapa, Brazil
* OSGeo-Live 5.0RC1 on a USB was used in a workshop for 12 students learning OTB and Monteverdi.

=== June 2011, FLUXNET & RS Open-Workshop ===
* David Brower Environmental Center, USA
* http://nature.berkeley.edu/biometlab/fluxnet2011/fluxwkshp_post.html
* Provided OSGeo LiveDVD to interested participants

=== June 2011, [[Live_GIS_Disk_FOSS4G_2010| OSGIS 2011]] ===
Centre for Geospatial Science, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
* http://cgs.nottingham.ac.uk/~osgis11/os_home.html
* Provided OSGeo-Live lightning presentation, abstract: [[Live_GIS_Disk_OSGIS_2011]]
* handed out OSGeo-Live DVDs to all delegates

=== May 2011, CGS 2011 ===
* Bishop CA, USA
* ~10 discs

=== April 2011, GITA 2011 ===
* Dallas Tx, USA
* 100 discs sent to OSGeo booth

=== April 2011, AAG 2011 ===
* Seattle, WA USA
* Annual Geography conference 8-10,000 attendants
* ~30-50 discs given away at OSGeo booth
* Remaining ~150 divided between CUGOS and Portland? chapters.

=== April 2011, FOSSGIS 2011 ===
* Heidelberg, Germany
* [http://www.fossgis.de/konferenz/2011/ FOSSGIS] is an annual conference in german language with ~ 400 attendants
* we printed OSGeo-Live 4.5 and handed out about 450 DVDs
* OSGeoLive 4.5 was used sucessfully in ~ 12 workshops
* [http://www.fossgis.de/konferenz/2011/programm/events/248.de.html Astrid Emde presented OSGeo-Live] in a 20 min talk with focus on the background of the project and the possibilities the project offers
** about 40 attendants

== 2010 ==
=== November 2010, GeoData Camp ===
* Athens, Greece
* Presented OSGeo-Live lightning presentation in Greek to more than 300 attendants. This included two 1-hour presentations in technical sessions and a 15 minute presentation in the main event.

=== October 2010, Intergeo 2010 ===
* Cologne, Germany
* Intergeo is an anual big fair on geodesy, geoinformation and land management
* [http://fossgis.de FOSSGIS e.V.] (german language local chapter of OSGeo) organizes an Open Source Park on Intergeo every year where OSGeo Software is presented. There also is a [http://www.fossgis.de/wiki/Intergeo_2010/Vortragsprogramm presentation area] where we present OSGeo Software and solutions 3 days long
* we printed OSGeo-Live 4.0 and handed out about 450 DVDs
* Lars Lingner presented the DVD with Cameron Shorters presentation
* http://www.intergeo.de/en/englisch/index.php
* Feedback
** good feedback: OSGeo-Live offers the possibility to get to know OSGeo Software without an installation

=== September 2010, [[Live_GIS_Disk_FOSS4G_2010|FOSS4G 2010]] ===
Barcelona, Spain
* Provided a 90 minute tutorial of OSGeo Live
* OSGeo Live given to every delegate. (Release 4.0)

=== April 2010, [http://www.fig2010.com/ FIG 2010] - International Surveyors conference===
Sydney, Australia
* Handed out Live DVDs from OSGeo stand. (Release 3.0)
* Provided 15 minute lightning talk about the OSGeo stack, promoting the LiveDVD. [[http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2010/04/report-from-osgeo-stand-at-federation.html Report]], [[http://blip.tv/file/3503561 presentation video]]

== 2009 ==

=== October 2009, [http://2009.foss4g.org FOSS4G 2009] ===
Sydney, Australia
* Handed out 500 Live DVDs in every delegate's show bag. (Release: 2.0.3)

=== June 2009, [http://www.spatial.gov.au/Conferences/spatialgov+2009/default.aspx Spatial@Gov] ===
* Canberra, Australia
* Handed out Live DVDs from an OSGeo stand. (Release 1.0)
* Cameron Shorter provided a 30 minute presentation on the Open Source GeoSpatial Stack.

== 2008 ==

=== November 2008, Australian Cooperative Research Center for Spatial Information Conference ===
* Brisbane, Australia
* Distributed ~ 250 OSGeo-Live DVDs to delegates (Release 1.0)

===September 2008, [http://2008.foss4g.org FOSS4G 2008]===
* Handed out ~ 150 Live DVDs from the OSGeo stand. (Release: foss4g2008)

[[Category: Live-demo]]
[[Category: History]]

Gavin Fleming

2015-03-04T07:34:31Z

Gfleming: updated to Kartoza

[[File:OSGeo_compass300.png|thumb|right|100px|Gavin Fleming]]

Joint MD, [http://www.kartoza.com Kartoza]

Location: Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa 

Gavin is passionate about Open Source Software, Open Data and other Open philosophies that lead to interoperability, empowerment of people and helping maximise returns on government spending. He started his GIS career in 1996 after completing an MSc in genetics. His GIS experience includes thirteen years with the full suite of ESRI software but he started the FOSS GIS habit around 2002. He is a registered GISc Technologist and the [http://www.gissa.org.za/special-interest-groups/open-source GISSA FOSS SIG] chair. He worked at GIMS (now ESRI South Africa), CSIR, Mintek and SAEON before starting Afrispatial in 2010 and then Kartoza in 2014, the latter a merger between Afrispatial and Linfiniti (Tim Sutton).

;OSGeo Experience [[File:OSGeo_chair.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#Voted_position_in_an_OSGeo_community]] [[File:OSGeo_charter.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Charter_Members]] [[File:OSGeo_committee.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#Developers_and_Committee_Members]] [[File:OSGeo_user.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Community_Members]]

:* OSGeo Charter Member
:* [http://www.foss4g2008.org FOSS4G 2008] conference chair,
:* OSGeo [[ Africa_Local_Chapter | Africa Chapter]] chair
:* OSGeo Conference Committee

;Contact:
: Email: gavin AT kartoza DOT com

;Spoken Language(s): English, Spanish, Afrikaans

;Profile last updated: 4 Feb 2015

[[Category:OSGeo Member]]

AfricaGEO 2014

2014-06-26T21:30:02Z

Gfleming:

''AfricaGEO 2014 OSGeo presence organising page''

== Purpose ==

Organise activities around the AfricaGEO 2014 event being held 1-3 July 2014 in Cape Town. See http://www.africageo.org/ for event details.

...such as '''a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconference | free Unconference] covering anything related to FOSS GIS'''.

== Dates and Times ==

'''30 June: FOSS GIS Unconference'''. 09h00 onwards.

Jul 1-3 at the conference: Hang around the 1Map stand or the GISSA stand. There are various FOSS-related talks and sessions too.

== Venue ==

'''FOSS GIS Unconference: NGI Head Office, Mowbray'''

AfricaGeo: The Cape Town International Conference Center.

== more FOSS GIS Unconference details ==

Cost: Free

Bring: your own device

Bring optionally: your own data, GPS, smartphone

Hosts: OSGeo Africa Local Chapter
- Jeff McKenna - OSGeo President and Mapserver guru
- Tim Sutton - OSGeo charter member and Mr QGIS South Africa
- Gavin Fleming - OSGeo charter member and general FOSS GIS advocate and user
- other volunteers

We could do any or all of the below, or whatever you can dream up:

- talks
- mini workshops
- discussion
- mapping
- cartography
- installing and setting up software
- demonstrations

Software: QGIS, PostGIS, MapServer, Geoserver, OpenLayers, STDM, FLOSS SOLA, OSGeo Live and more

Please indicate on this page if you are interested and likely to come, or if you have any ideas for the day.

One great idea suggested already is to talk about / set up / apply the new STDM (Social Tenure Domain Model) that was launched at FIG last week in Malaysia. It is implemented as an Open Source QGIS plugin that uses PostgreSQL 9.2 with PostGIS 2.1.

STDM is a land information tool developed on FOSS that offers a complementary land administration system that is pro-poor, gender-sensitive, affordable and sustainable: http://www.stdm.gltn.net/

== Communication ==

Please join the Africa mailing list: http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/africa

== Participants ==

=== FOSS GIS Unconference ===

update: By 26 June lots of people have replied by email and phone that they are coming. Add your name here and ideas here if you like but it sounds like it's going to be a nice turnout

=== AfricaGeo FOSS champions ===

We don't have our own OSGeo stall at the main conference but will hang an OSGeo banner either at the GISSA or 1Map stand.

{| style="border: solid grey 1px; width:100%" class="sortable"
|+ Participants
|-
| # || Participant || Home || Man Booth || Preparation of materials || Other contributions || contact || Notes
|-
| 1 || [[User:timlinux|Tim Sutton]] || Swellendam, South Africa || yes || yes || Not sure what yet || tim@linfiniti.com || No notes yet
|-
| 2 || [[User:Spatialmatrix|Tobi Sowole]] || Lagos, Nigeria || no || yes || Funding || tobi.sowole@spatialmatrix.com || No notes yet
|-
| 3 || [[User:Sokolic|Frank Sokolic]] || Cape Town, South Africa || yes || yes || Funding, workshops || sokolic@worldonline.co.za || No notes yet
|-
| 4 || [[Jeff McKenna]] || Canada || yes || ''(my experience with Nottingham is that it is easier for locals to print materials etc.)'' || workshop || jmckenna(at)osgeo.org || MapServer workshop?
|-
| 3 || [[User:pinghanling|Hanlie Pretorius]] || Cape Town, South Africa || no || yes || Poster with myths about FOSS GIS software || hanlie.pretorius@gmail.com || No notes yet
|-
| || || || || || || ||
|-
|}



== FAQ ==

* **Do I need to be a FOSS GIS guru?** It will help if you know your way around the FOSS GIS stack, but nobody needs to be a guru.
* **Will I earn money for doing this?** In the afterlife maybe, in this one you will probably need to part with some of your hard earned cash to cover conference fees and perhaps chip in for goodies for the stand.

== Social Activities ==

Lets get together for a OSGeo Africa Chapter meetup while we are there!

== Budget ==

TBD

== Materials ==

QGIS Flyers: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/42637169/qgis20_brochure_screen.pdf
QGIS Poster: https://t.co/OaotY8dHir (needs updating a little)

[[Category:Local Chapters]]
[[Category:Africa]]

AfricaGEO 2014

2014-06-26T20:28:15Z

Gfleming:

''AfricaGEO 2014 OSGeo presence organising page''

== Purpose ==

Organise activities around the AfricaGEO 2014 event being held 1-3 July 2014 in Cape Town. See http://www.africageo.org/ for event details.

== Dates and Times ==

'''30 June: FOSS GIS Unconference'''

Jul 1-3 at the conference: Hang around the 1Map stand or the GISSA stand. There are various FOSS-related talks and sessions too.

== Venue ==

'''FOSS GIS Unconference: NGI Head Office, Mowbray'''

AfricaGeo: The Cape Town International Conference Center.

== Communication ==

Please join the Africa mailing list: http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/africa

== Participants ==

=== FOSS GIS Unconference ===

update: By 26 June lots of people have replied by email and phone that they are coming. Add your name here and ideas here if you like but it sounds like it's going to be a nice turnout

=== AfricaGeo FOSS champions ===

We don't have our own OSGeo stall at the main conference but will hang an OSGeo banner either at the GISSA or 1Map stand.

{| style="border: solid grey 1px; width:100%" class="sortable"
|+ Participants
|-
| # || Participant || Home || Man Booth || Preparation of materials || Other contributions || contact || Notes
|-
| 1 || [[User:timlinux|Tim Sutton]] || Swellendam, South Africa || yes || yes || Not sure what yet || tim@linfiniti.com || No notes yet
|-
| 2 || [[User:Spatialmatrix|Tobi Sowole]] || Lagos, Nigeria || no || yes || Funding || tobi.sowole@spatialmatrix.com || No notes yet
|-
| 3 || [[User:Sokolic|Frank Sokolic]] || Cape Town, South Africa || yes || yes || Funding, workshops || sokolic@worldonline.co.za || No notes yet
|-
| 4 || [[Jeff McKenna]] || Canada || yes || ''(my experience with Nottingham is that it is easier for locals to print materials etc.)'' || workshop || jmckenna(at)osgeo.org || MapServer workshop?
|-
| 3 || [[User:pinghanling|Hanlie Pretorius]] || Cape Town, South Africa || no || yes || Poster with myths about FOSS GIS software || hanlie.pretorius@gmail.com || No notes yet
|-
| || || || || || || ||
|-
|}



== FAQ ==

* **Do I need to be a FOSS GIS guru?** It will help if you know your way around the FOSS GIS stack, but nobody needs to be a guru.
* **Will I earn money for doing this?** In the afterlife maybe, in this one you will probably need to part with some of your hard earned cash to cover conference fees and perhaps chip in for goodies for the stand.

== Social Activities ==

Lets get together for a OSGeo Africa Chapter meetup while we are there!

== Budget ==

TBD

== Materials ==

QGIS Flyers: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/42637169/qgis20_brochure_screen.pdf
QGIS Poster: https://t.co/OaotY8dHir (needs updating a little)

[[Category:Local Chapters]]
[[Category:Africa]]

Africa Local Chapter

2014-06-26T20:16:37Z

Gfleming: /* Events */

The OSGeo Africa Local Chapter, which started out as a mailing list in 2005 after AfricaGIS2005, is now in the formal establishment process as per [[Local_Chapter_Guidelines]] after a successful FOSS4G 2008 in Cape Town. In April 2012 this mailing list had 510 members. The majority of these are from South Africa but there are substantial numbers from across Africa and several from around the world.

You'll find lively discussion from members across Africa covering technical issues, organising meetings, advocacy, training, work opportunities and more.

Please join the [http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/africa Africa] mailing list, and review the [http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/africa/ archive].

== Mission ==

The OSGeo Africa Chapter acts as a representative body and a forum for any issue relating to Free and Open Source GIS. By calling ourselves the Africa Chapter we mean to be inclusive to anyone who identifies with Africa. As countries or linguistic groups within Africa generate enough momentum to form their own local chapters, these will emerge and will coexist alongside or under the umbrella of the Africa Chapter. Since most African countries have arbitrary colonial boundaries in any case why perpetuate them in the borderless world of OSGeo? Perhaps the sub-groupings that make most sense are predominant linguistic groups such as Swahili, Arabic, English, French and Portuguese. As these do emerge, the current 'Africa' Local Chapter could morph into the 'Africa English Chapter' or the 'Southern Africa Chapter'.

== Objectives ==

Our objectives are to:
* Organise
* Develop skills
* Advocate FOSS GIS
* Build community

They are spelt out in our Roadmap below.

== A RoadMap for OSGeo Africa ==

=== What is needed ===

Some common refrains from amongst the people Tim spoke to at FOSS4G2008:

* we don't know what FOSS GIS products exist
* how do we choose between two or more competing FOSS GIS products that do the same thing
* how can we get training in FOSS GIS
* how do we migrate our existing set up to FOSS GIS
* how can we get (PAID and otherwise) support for FOSS GIS
* where can we get free data

There were also some heartwarming success stories of people who have already adopted FOSS in their businesses and municiplities etc. For me when I review the above laundry list of concerns and questions it becomes very obvious that we need to become organised.

=== Getting organised ===

We already have a 'home' with [http://www.gissa.org.za/gissa/sig/opensource/ GISSA] so we do not need to form a new association. At the moment that consists of turning the extant GISSA FOSS SIG (Special Interest Group) into the OSGeo Africa Local Chapter, with a seat on the GISSA National Council and access to the GISSA website, meetings and other resources. If the Chapter decides to set up an independent non-profit organisation, such as a Section 21 Company in South Africa, we are quite open to doing that in due course. But the link with GISSA enables us to move fast as we plan AFOSSGISS 2010.

I would like to take the initiative to propose that we form a 5 person working group to start to put things in place. Since I am proposing this, I obviously volunteer to be one of the members and I call on others on this list or beyond to answer this call to arms. The idea of the 5 person working group will be to bootstrap ourselves into an effective organisation which can make its presence felt both locally and beyond the shores of Africa. I also realise that this proposal may not be perfect so consider it a start that we can build on rather than a plan that has to be cast in stone. The main idea will be that each working group member will try to form a small team, typically of 5 members including the team member. One of these members would also double as official OSGeo liaison officer. Here follows a proposal for a team that will enable us to get organised and effective.

'''Advocacy Leader:'''

People don't know they have FOSS alternatives - we need to make them aware - including by making press releases, press materials, attending industry events, making contact with academic, municipal and state bodies and letting them know we exist and want to collaborate.

Volunteer: Tim Sutton <tim at linfiniti.com>

'''Education Leader:'''

We need to get FOSS GIS into schools, and provide open (e.g. creative commons) curricula. In the case of South Africa the National Curriculum Statement on Geography provides some (albeit vague) guidelines on how GIS should be included in the school curriculum (there is a link to this document on the GISSA website: [http://www.gissa.org.za/sig/education/school-gis School GIS]).

Volunteer: ?

'''Training Leader:'''

* We need to train people to use FOSS GIS.
* First we need to train create a tier of experts / power users, second they need to train people in their local areas.
* We need to start this ""soon"".
* We need to do this on a free / cost recovery basis.
* We need to establish suitable venues in each regional center that can be used for training.
* We need to build up sets of Free (unencumbered) data that can be used by anyone
* We need to build up training materials that can be used to ease the process of training people.

Volunteer: ?

'''Professional Support Leader:'''

We need to create a body of professionals who can provide on the ground support - there is a huge business opportunity here - we need to take advantage. We will call this the OSGeo Africa Professional Association (or something along those lines). The group will among other things provide a directory of FOSS support and solution providers (along with their location). The group will act as an advisory body to organisations wishing to deploy FOSS GIS. We are floating the idea of forming a Cooperative to organise ourselves professionally See under 'Cooperatives development' in the left panel of http://www.dti.gov.za/.

If you or your organisation provide any type of professional service already, get your details onto the OSGeo [[SPD|Service Provider Directory]] as a start.

Volunteer: Brendon Wolff-Piggott <brendon AT integratedgeodata.co.za>

'''Community Leader:'''

We need to build a community - this means building up a responsive, friendly mailing list. We also need to curate our area on the OSGeo wiki and build up other online resources that will allow new and established members in the OSGeo AFRICA community to find up to date relevant and helpful information to address their needs.

Volunteer: Gavin Fleming (also proposed as official OSGeo liaison representative)

=== Skills development strategy ===

I'm thinking that since we are starting pretty much from ground zero we need to structure things in a 'knowledge ladder':

4 - Becoming a FOSSGIS developer
3 - Becoming a FOSSGIS Expert
2 - Becoming a FOSSGIS User
1 - FOSSGIS Familiarisation

My suggestion is that we do a first round of workshops which basically introduce a FOSSGIS software stack to users so the can understand what can be achieved with FOSSGIS. Following that we can continue with a next round where we start building skills in particular products e.g. a day training on postgis, followed by a day on QGIS etc etc. Of course we need not expect everyone to reach level 4. although it is my hope that we can build a caucus of FOSSGIS developers in Africa so that we can play a role in shaping the future of FOSSGIS and also building up our own local skills.

The workshops can be repeated as demand dictates. Currently there is interest in Jhb, Cape Town, and now with your email Durbs. I thing the folks in East London may be interested too. It would be great if we can establish regional user groups that can eventually do the local organisation for workshops and then presenters can visit different regions and not have to manage all the arrangements solo. But to start lets aim to do 3 or 4 introductory workshops and work on from there. Workshops would be carried out at no charge for as long as we can sustain it - and we could look at ways to raise funds in order to make it sustainable - possible the likes of SITA etc could help out since what we doing would very much further the goals of skills development within FOSSGIS in South Africa. We should also look at how we can extend these activites further afield since other African countries can equally benifit.

== Our logo ==

[[Image:OSGeoAfrica logo75dpi.png]] Low res version

[[Image:OSGeoAfrica logo300dpi.png‎|500px|thumb]] 300dpi version

== Role Players ==

Everyone can be a role player - this list is just a way to keep track of the various people involved - feel free to add yourself!

{| border=1
|-
!Who
!Email
!Where
!Organisation
!Website
|-
|Tim Sutton
|tim at linfiniti.com
|Jhb, will travel
|linfiniti consulting ( http://linfiniti.com )
|-
| Stefaan Dondeyne
| stefaan_dondeyne at yahoo.co.uk
| Mozambique?
| Teaching QGIS in Mozambique
|-
| Brendon Wolff-Piggott
| brendon at integratedgeodata.co.za
| Pretoria, will travel
| [http://www.integratedgeodata.co.za integrated geodata solutions]
|-
| Gavin Fleming
| gavinjfleming at gmail.com
| Paarl, Western Cape
| [http://www.saeon.ac.za SAEON]
|-
| Jean-Francis AHANDA
| jeanfrancisahanda at opensolutions-cameroun.com
| Yaounde,Cameroon
| Open Solutions Cameroun
| [http://www.opensolutions-cameroun.com]
|-
| Graeme McFerren
| graeme dot mcferren at gmail dot com
| Jhb/Pretoria
| GIS Researcher, [http://www.meraka.org.za Meraka]
| [http://grimmeister.wordpress.com Southern Tip blog]
|-
| Alex Siyengo
| alex dot siyengo at gmail dot com
| Lusaka,Zambia
| GIS Researcher,volunteer at Southern Africa Telecentre Network
| [http://www.satnetwork.org]
|-
| Jude Mwenda
| judemwenda at gmail dot com
| Nairobi,Kenya
| GIS Developer,Freelance
| [http://www.africangeogeek.com]
|-
| Tobi Sowole
| tobi dot sowole at gmail dot com
| Nigeria,Lagos
| Geospatial Services, Consulting, Training
| [http://www.spatialmatrix.com]
|}

== Events ==

{|border=1
|-
| '''When'''
| '''Where'''
| '''Topic'''
| '''Programme'''
| '''Notes'''
|-
| 30 June 2014
| NGI, Mowbray
| FOSS GIS Unconference
| [[AfricaGEO_2014]]
|
|-
| 29 November 2008
| Johannesburg
| Demo & Workshop covering PostGIS, GeoServer, uDig, QGIS
| [[AfricaEvents29November2008| Programme Here]]
| Our first local community event!
|-
| 27 June 2009
| Johannesburg
| Introduction to QGIS
| [[AfricaEvents27June2009| Programme Here]]
| Our second local community event!
|-
| 13-17 July 2009
| Cape Town
| IGARSS 2009
| [[IGARSS_2009]]
| We put up the OsGeo banner and handed out brochures
|-
| 14 August 2010
| Bridge House School, Franschhoek
| QGIS day
| [[QGISDay14Aug2010 | details here]]
| Our first OSGeo event in the Western Cape since FOSS4G 2008!
|-
| Postponed
| Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa
| AFOSSGIS 2010
| http://afossgis.org/
| Our first large-scale Local Chapter meeting
|}

= Service Providers =

OSGeo wiki has a comprehensive list of Service Providers offering support services around FOSS GIS software. For you convenience, here are quick links to African providers.

{|border=1
|-
|'''Country'''
|-
|[SouthAfrica http://tinyurl.com/osgeo-southafrica-providers]
|-
|[Cameroon http://www.opensolutions-cameroun.com]
|-
|[Nigeria http://www.spatialmatrix.com]
|}

= Gallery of Projects and Case Studies =

Click here to see the [[ Africa Gallery | gallery]].

[[Category:Local Chapters]]
[[Category:Africa]]
[[Category:FOSS4G2008]]

Africa Local Chapter

2014-06-26T20:15:08Z

Gfleming:

The OSGeo Africa Local Chapter, which started out as a mailing list in 2005 after AfricaGIS2005, is now in the formal establishment process as per [[Local_Chapter_Guidelines]] after a successful FOSS4G 2008 in Cape Town. In April 2012 this mailing list had 510 members. The majority of these are from South Africa but there are substantial numbers from across Africa and several from around the world.

You'll find lively discussion from members across Africa covering technical issues, organising meetings, advocacy, training, work opportunities and more.

Please join the [http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/africa Africa] mailing list, and review the [http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/africa/ archive].

== Mission ==

The OSGeo Africa Chapter acts as a representative body and a forum for any issue relating to Free and Open Source GIS. By calling ourselves the Africa Chapter we mean to be inclusive to anyone who identifies with Africa. As countries or linguistic groups within Africa generate enough momentum to form their own local chapters, these will emerge and will coexist alongside or under the umbrella of the Africa Chapter. Since most African countries have arbitrary colonial boundaries in any case why perpetuate them in the borderless world of OSGeo? Perhaps the sub-groupings that make most sense are predominant linguistic groups such as Swahili, Arabic, English, French and Portuguese. As these do emerge, the current 'Africa' Local Chapter could morph into the 'Africa English Chapter' or the 'Southern Africa Chapter'.

== Objectives ==

Our objectives are to:
* Organise
* Develop skills
* Advocate FOSS GIS
* Build community

They are spelt out in our Roadmap below.

== A RoadMap for OSGeo Africa ==

=== What is needed ===

Some common refrains from amongst the people Tim spoke to at FOSS4G2008:

* we don't know what FOSS GIS products exist
* how do we choose between two or more competing FOSS GIS products that do the same thing
* how can we get training in FOSS GIS
* how do we migrate our existing set up to FOSS GIS
* how can we get (PAID and otherwise) support for FOSS GIS
* where can we get free data

There were also some heartwarming success stories of people who have already adopted FOSS in their businesses and municiplities etc. For me when I review the above laundry list of concerns and questions it becomes very obvious that we need to become organised.

=== Getting organised ===

We already have a 'home' with [http://www.gissa.org.za/gissa/sig/opensource/ GISSA] so we do not need to form a new association. At the moment that consists of turning the extant GISSA FOSS SIG (Special Interest Group) into the OSGeo Africa Local Chapter, with a seat on the GISSA National Council and access to the GISSA website, meetings and other resources. If the Chapter decides to set up an independent non-profit organisation, such as a Section 21 Company in South Africa, we are quite open to doing that in due course. But the link with GISSA enables us to move fast as we plan AFOSSGISS 2010.

I would like to take the initiative to propose that we form a 5 person working group to start to put things in place. Since I am proposing this, I obviously volunteer to be one of the members and I call on others on this list or beyond to answer this call to arms. The idea of the 5 person working group will be to bootstrap ourselves into an effective organisation which can make its presence felt both locally and beyond the shores of Africa. I also realise that this proposal may not be perfect so consider it a start that we can build on rather than a plan that has to be cast in stone. The main idea will be that each working group member will try to form a small team, typically of 5 members including the team member. One of these members would also double as official OSGeo liaison officer. Here follows a proposal for a team that will enable us to get organised and effective.

'''Advocacy Leader:'''

People don't know they have FOSS alternatives - we need to make them aware - including by making press releases, press materials, attending industry events, making contact with academic, municipal and state bodies and letting them know we exist and want to collaborate.

Volunteer: Tim Sutton <tim at linfiniti.com>

'''Education Leader:'''

We need to get FOSS GIS into schools, and provide open (e.g. creative commons) curricula. In the case of South Africa the National Curriculum Statement on Geography provides some (albeit vague) guidelines on how GIS should be included in the school curriculum (there is a link to this document on the GISSA website: [http://www.gissa.org.za/sig/education/school-gis School GIS]).

Volunteer: ?

'''Training Leader:'''

* We need to train people to use FOSS GIS.
* First we need to train create a tier of experts / power users, second they need to train people in their local areas.
* We need to start this ""soon"".
* We need to do this on a free / cost recovery basis.
* We need to establish suitable venues in each regional center that can be used for training.
* We need to build up sets of Free (unencumbered) data that can be used by anyone
* We need to build up training materials that can be used to ease the process of training people.

Volunteer: ?

'''Professional Support Leader:'''

We need to create a body of professionals who can provide on the ground support - there is a huge business opportunity here - we need to take advantage. We will call this the OSGeo Africa Professional Association (or something along those lines). The group will among other things provide a directory of FOSS support and solution providers (along with their location). The group will act as an advisory body to organisations wishing to deploy FOSS GIS. We are floating the idea of forming a Cooperative to organise ourselves professionally See under 'Cooperatives development' in the left panel of http://www.dti.gov.za/.

If you or your organisation provide any type of professional service already, get your details onto the OSGeo [[SPD|Service Provider Directory]] as a start.

Volunteer: Brendon Wolff-Piggott <brendon AT integratedgeodata.co.za>

'''Community Leader:'''

We need to build a community - this means building up a responsive, friendly mailing list. We also need to curate our area on the OSGeo wiki and build up other online resources that will allow new and established members in the OSGeo AFRICA community to find up to date relevant and helpful information to address their needs.

Volunteer: Gavin Fleming (also proposed as official OSGeo liaison representative)

=== Skills development strategy ===

I'm thinking that since we are starting pretty much from ground zero we need to structure things in a 'knowledge ladder':

4 - Becoming a FOSSGIS developer
3 - Becoming a FOSSGIS Expert
2 - Becoming a FOSSGIS User
1 - FOSSGIS Familiarisation

My suggestion is that we do a first round of workshops which basically introduce a FOSSGIS software stack to users so the can understand what can be achieved with FOSSGIS. Following that we can continue with a next round where we start building skills in particular products e.g. a day training on postgis, followed by a day on QGIS etc etc. Of course we need not expect everyone to reach level 4. although it is my hope that we can build a caucus of FOSSGIS developers in Africa so that we can play a role in shaping the future of FOSSGIS and also building up our own local skills.

The workshops can be repeated as demand dictates. Currently there is interest in Jhb, Cape Town, and now with your email Durbs. I thing the folks in East London may be interested too. It would be great if we can establish regional user groups that can eventually do the local organisation for workshops and then presenters can visit different regions and not have to manage all the arrangements solo. But to start lets aim to do 3 or 4 introductory workshops and work on from there. Workshops would be carried out at no charge for as long as we can sustain it - and we could look at ways to raise funds in order to make it sustainable - possible the likes of SITA etc could help out since what we doing would very much further the goals of skills development within FOSSGIS in South Africa. We should also look at how we can extend these activites further afield since other African countries can equally benifit.

== Our logo ==

[[Image:OSGeoAfrica logo75dpi.png]] Low res version

[[Image:OSGeoAfrica logo300dpi.png‎|500px|thumb]] 300dpi version

== Role Players ==

Everyone can be a role player - this list is just a way to keep track of the various people involved - feel free to add yourself!

{| border=1
|-
!Who
!Email
!Where
!Organisation
!Website
|-
|Tim Sutton
|tim at linfiniti.com
|Jhb, will travel
|linfiniti consulting ( http://linfiniti.com )
|-
| Stefaan Dondeyne
| stefaan_dondeyne at yahoo.co.uk
| Mozambique?
| Teaching QGIS in Mozambique
|-
| Brendon Wolff-Piggott
| brendon at integratedgeodata.co.za
| Pretoria, will travel
| [http://www.integratedgeodata.co.za integrated geodata solutions]
|-
| Gavin Fleming
| gavinjfleming at gmail.com
| Paarl, Western Cape
| [http://www.saeon.ac.za SAEON]
|-
| Jean-Francis AHANDA
| jeanfrancisahanda at opensolutions-cameroun.com
| Yaounde,Cameroon
| Open Solutions Cameroun
| [http://www.opensolutions-cameroun.com]
|-
| Graeme McFerren
| graeme dot mcferren at gmail dot com
| Jhb/Pretoria
| GIS Researcher, [http://www.meraka.org.za Meraka]
| [http://grimmeister.wordpress.com Southern Tip blog]
|-
| Alex Siyengo
| alex dot siyengo at gmail dot com
| Lusaka,Zambia
| GIS Researcher,volunteer at Southern Africa Telecentre Network
| [http://www.satnetwork.org]
|-
| Jude Mwenda
| judemwenda at gmail dot com
| Nairobi,Kenya
| GIS Developer,Freelance
| [http://www.africangeogeek.com]
|-
| Tobi Sowole
| tobi dot sowole at gmail dot com
| Nigeria,Lagos
| Geospatial Services, Consulting, Training
| [http://www.spatialmatrix.com]
|}

== Events ==

{|border=1
|-
| '''When'''
| '''Where'''
| '''Topic'''
| '''Programme'''
| '''Notes'''
|-
| 30 June 2014
| NGI, Mowbray
| FOSS GIS Unconference
| [AfricaGEO_2014]
|
|-
| 29 November 2008
| Johannesburg
| Demo & Workshop covering PostGIS, GeoServer, uDig, QGIS
| [[AfricaEvents29November2008| Programme Here]]
| Our first local community event!
|-
| 27 June 2009
| Johannesburg
| Introduction to QGIS
| [[AfricaEvents27June2009| Programme Here]]
| Our second local community event!
|-
| 13-17 July 2009
| Cape Town
| IGARSS 2009
| [[IGARSS_2009]]
| We put up the OsGeo banner and handed out brochures
|-
| 14 August 2010
| Bridge House School, Franschhoek
| QGIS day
| [[QGISDay14Aug2010 | details here]]
| Our first OSGeo event in the Western Cape since FOSS4G 2008!
|-
| Postponed
| Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa
| AFOSSGIS 2010
| http://afossgis.org/
| Our first large-scale Local Chapter meeting
|}

= Service Providers =

OSGeo wiki has a comprehensive list of Service Providers offering support services around FOSS GIS software. For you convenience, here are quick links to African providers.

{|border=1
|-
|'''Country'''
|-
|[SouthAfrica http://tinyurl.com/osgeo-southafrica-providers]
|-
|[Cameroon http://www.opensolutions-cameroun.com]
|-
|[Nigeria http://www.spatialmatrix.com]
|}

= Gallery of Projects and Case Studies =

Click here to see the [[ Africa Gallery | gallery]].

[[Category:Local Chapters]]
[[Category:Africa]]
[[Category:FOSS4G2008]]

Live GIS History

2014-06-26T04:12:05Z

Gfleming: /* 1-3 July 2014, AfricaGE */

Where has the LiveDVD been used? Please tell us. A history of wide use provides justification for future developers to include, and improve their application on OSGeo-Live.

== Template Questions ==
* date of the event or training course, or program
* City, Country
* link to webside
* OSGeo-Live handed out to attendees? How many?
* USBs, DVDs, or VMs used? How many?
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presented? To how many people? Was it a plenary event? If not, what percentage of the attendees attended this talk? Did you get any feedback? What did you hear?
* OSGeo-Live used for workshops or training programs? What did the workshop/training cover. Was the USB/DVD or VM used? Were attendees computers used? If so, what operating systems were they running? How long did it take to set up? Were there any issues?
* Any suggestions on what we can do to improve OSGeo-Live for future?
* Contact: person (usually coordinator) who can be contacted to ask further questions

== 2015 ==
=== 11. - 13. March 2015 FOSSGIS ===
* 11. - 13. March 2015
* Münster, Germany
* http://www.fossgis.de/konferenz/2015/
* Videos on youtube: http://youtube.com/fossgis
* Hand out OSGeo-Live xx postcards to all delegates - about xx postcards
* > 10 Workshops will take place, most of them will use OSGeo-Live
** xx persons in the workshops
* What format of OSGeo-Live was used?
** xx
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

== 2014 ==
=== 2-3 September 2014, OSGIS 2014===
* University of Nottingham, UK
* http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/osgis/home.aspx
* Contact: Suchith Anand

=== 15.-17. July 2014 FOSS4G-Euope===
* Jacobs University Bremen, Germany
* http://foss4g-e.org/
* OSGeo booth together with FOSSGIS e.V.
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== 7-11 July 2014, Fifth Open Source Opportunities in GIS Summer School ===
* Girona, Spain
* http://www.sigte.udg.edu/summerschool2014/
* The Summer School is focused on the development and creation of Open Web Services and Web Applications, especially on the publication of data on the web. With this goal, the programme will cover topics related to the acquisition and importation of OpenStreetMap data into a spatial database, creation of geospatial web services and development of internet viewers for publishing geospatial data.
The course has been designed and will be conducted on a GNU/Linux operating system based on the use of the OSGeo-Live DVD
* http://live.osgeo.org/en/index.html
* Contact: Lluis Vicens

=== 1-3 July 2014, AfricaGeo ===
* Cape Town, South Africa
* http://www.africageo.org/
* presentation and paper based on OSGeo-Live (and distribution of ~550 OSGeo-Live DVDs in delegate bags)
* Contact: [[User:Gfleming|Gavin Fleming]], Tim Sutton

=== ANLiegen Natur (journal: article - print and online) ===
* journal focused on applied nature conservation (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
* June 2015
* journal: [http://www.anl.bayern.de/publikationen/anliegen/anliegen36_1.htm ANLiegen Natur 36(1)]
* ''Open Data und freie und offene Geographische Informationssysteme (FOSSGIS) – ein Werkzeug für den (ehrenamtlichen) Naturschutz?''
* ''Open Data and free and open source software for geographic information systems (FOSSGIS) – a tool for (voluntary) nature conservation?''
* [http://www.anl.bayern.de/publikationen/anliegen/doc/an36113kudrnovsky_2014_open_data.pdf article]
* Contact: [[User:hellik|Helmut Kudrnovsky]]

=== 17-20 June 2014, USFWS National GIS Workshop ===
* West Virginia, USA
* http://training.fws.gov/nctcweb/catalog/CourseDetail.aspx?CourseCodeLong=FWS-CSP7304
* Contact: Doug Newcomb
* Presented OSGeo-Live presentation, handed out OSGeo-Live DVDs

=== 10-13 June 2014, OGRS 2014 ===
* Helsinki, Finland
* http://2014.ogrs-community.org/
* Contact: [[User:Ajolma|Ari Jolma]]

=== 20-22 May 2014 FOSS4G-FR ===
* Paris, France
* Contact: Vicent Picavet

=== 21 May 2014 QLD Open Source Spatial Workshop ===
* Brisbane, Australia
* http://www.sssi.org.au/Events/QLD-Open-Source-Spatial-Workshop/eid/988.html
* OSGeo-Live DVD handed out to all participants and used in hands on workshops
* Contact: Shaun Kolomeitz

=== 27 April – 2 May, 2014 European Geosciences Union General Assembly===
* Vienna, Austria
* http://www.egu2014.eu/
* 100 OSGeo-Live DVDs handed out to participants
* Contact Peter Löwe

=== 26-28 March 2014, 8as Jornadas de SIG Libre (Spanish FOSS4G) ===
* 26 - 28 March 2014 in Girona
* http://www.sigte.udg.edu/jornadassiglibre
* 6 Workshops will take place, using OSGeo-Live
** Introduction to QGIS
** Integration of Free Geospatial Technologies
** Introduction to python for geospatial applications
** Introduction to MapProxy
** Developing mobile applications with Glob3 mobile SDK
** Creating Web Applications with AngularJS AND LeafletJS
* What format of OSGeo-Live was used?
** VirtualMachine
* Contact: [[User:Lluís|Lluís Vicens]]

=== 19. - 21. March 2014 FOSSGIS ===
* 19. - 21. March 2014
* Berlin, Germany
* http://www.fossgis.de/konferenz/2014/
* Videos on youtube: http://youtube.com/fossgis
* Hand out OSGeo-Live 7.9 postcards to all delegates - about 550 postcards
* Presenatation about OSGeo-Live '''OSGeo-Live rocks!''' '''maybe'''
* > 10 Workshops will take place, most of them will use OSGeo-Live
** 204 persons in the workshops
* What format of OSGeo-Live was used?
** VirtualMachine
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== 23 February 2014 FOSS4G Sri Lanka ===
* Malabe, Sri Lanka
* OSGeo-Live Presentation including demo of OSGeo-Live
* Handed out OSGeo Live 7.0 DVDs
* Contact: Nimalika Fernando

=== 1-2 February 2014 FOSDEM ===
* Brussels, Belgium
* http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSDEM2014
* Presentation of OSGeo Live Overview on a screen, event was attended by ~5000 people, OSGeo stand got visit of at least 500 (all marketing material was given away)
* Contact: Anne Ghisla

=== 23-25 January 2014 Societal GIS training workshop ===
* Rajahmundry, India
* OSGeo India had a 3 day Societal GIS training workshop.
* Used OSGeo Live-7, both DVD and USB driven. Wish to use Virtual Box as Windows-8 has serious booting issues and OSGeo-Live works fine with Virtual Box (Sun Microsystems).
* http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/User_talk:Ravivundavalli#OSGeo_India_and_Adi_Kavi_Nannaya_University_Training_workshop_23_-_25_January_2014

== 2013 ==
=== 4-6 December 2013, National Seminar on 'Remote Sensing and GIS for Environment', India ===
* Visakhapatnam, India
* OSGeo booth attracted a bee line of students who were eager to experiment with OSGeo software. Copies of OSGeo Live-DVD were distributed to all those who have answered a questionnaire quizzing about OSGeo and FOSS GIS.
* http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/User_talk:Ravivundavalli#OSGeo_India_Booth_at_Visakhapatnam.2C_India

=== 14-15 November 2013, FOSS4G Korea 2013 ===
* Seoul, Korea
* http://www.osgeo.kr/135/
* OSGeo Live DVD will be distributed at the FOSS4G Korea venue and through KAOS-G booth at Smart GeoExpo Korea 2013.
* Contact: [[User:sanghee|Sanghee Shin]]

=== 4-8 November 2013, AfricaGIS 2013 / GSDI 14 ===
* Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
* http://www.gsdi.org/gsdiconf/gsdi14/
* Lightning overview presented (reveal JS version)
* Contact: [[User:Gfleming|Gavin Fleming]]

=== 8-10 October 2013, INTERGEO 2013 ===
* Essen, Germany
* http://intergeo.de
* it is planned to hand out 500 OSGeo 7.0 DVDs
* slides about OSGeo-Live in FOSSGIS e.V. presentation
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== 24 - 26 Sept 2013, Asian Geospatial Forum 2013 ===
* Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
* http://www.asiageospatialforum.org
* OSGEO-Live and ICA-OSGEO lab network [http://prezi.com/hv18xf8_wolq/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy presentation]
* Contact: [[TuongThuy Vu|Thuy Vu]]

=== 19 - 21 Sept 2013, INCA-33 International Congress India ===
* Jodhpur, India
* http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/User_talk:Ravivundavalli#OSGeo_India_.40_INCA-33_International_congress.2C_Jodhpur.2C_Rajasthan.2C_India
* Through OSGeo India booth 100 Live-DVDs are distributed
* Contact: ravivundavalli@yahoo.com

=== 17-21 September 2013, FOSS4G ===
* Nottingham, United Kingdom
* http://2013.foss4g.org
* Contact: Steven Feldman

=== 25-30 August 2013, International Cartographic Conference ===
* Dresden, Germany
* http://www.dgfk.net/index.php?id=164&do=akt
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== 8-12 July 2013, Open Source Opportunities in GIS Summer School ===
* Girona, Catalonia, Spain
* About 25 students running OSGeo-Live in a Virtual Machine (Virtual Box).
* http://www.sigte.udg.edu/summerschool2013/
* Contact: [[User:Lluís|Lluís Vicens]]

=== 3-5 July 2013, AGIT25 ===
* Salzburg, Austria
* http://www.agit.at
* OSGeo Day http://www.agit.at/index.php/programm-2013/themen/osgeo
* Hand out OSGeo-Live 6.5 DVDs at FOSSGIS/OSGeo Booth - about 200 DVDs
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== 10 June 2013, FROG (FRancophone Opensource Geomatique)===
* Paris, France
* http://osgeo.asso.fr
* Distribution to participants ?
* Contact : Vincent Picavet

=== 12.-14. June 2013 FOSSGIS ===
* 12.-14. June 2013
* Rapperswil, Switzerland
* http://www.fossgis.de/konferenz/2013/
* Hand out OSGeo-Live 6.5 DVDs to all delegates - about 350 DVDs
* Presenatation about OSGeo-Live '''OSGeo-Live rocks!''' by [[User:Astrid Emde | Astrid Emde]] http://www.fossgis.de/konferenz/2013/programm/events/576.de.html
* > 10 Workshops will take place, most of them will use OSGeo-Live 6.5
** 5 - 20 persons in the workshops
* What format of OSGeo-Live was used?
** VirtualMachine
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== 17-19 June 2013, FOSS4G-CEE 2013 ===
* Bucharest, Romania
* OSGeo-Live 6.5 (or higher) DVDs will be handed out to all participants (conference target: 300)
* Some workshops are expected to make use of OSGeo-Live (call for workshops opens June 13th)
* A OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation is welcome (call for presentations opens June 13th)
* http://2013.foss4g-cee.org
* Contact: [http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/User:Vasile Vasile Crăciunescu]

=== 21 May 2013, Location Intelligence Conference ===
* Washington DC, United States
* OSGeo-Live presentation by [[User:Amyonthemap|Amy Gao]]

=== 29-30 April, 2013 GIS In Action ===
* April 29 to May 1, 2013,
* Portland, Oregon
* http://www.orurisa.org/GIS_In_Action (website is reused every year, [https://web.archive.org/web/20130510063948/http://www.orurisa.org/GIS_In_Action Archive.org site])
* The DVD was used to run demos at the booth. A limited number of copies were available to hand out to people who seemed very interested.
* The PDX-OSGeo chapter also helps organize an Open Source Track at GIS In Action which was very popular. This year, there was not a specific talk about the LiveDVD although it is often mentioned as a great way to try out software that people ask about.
* On May 2, there was an unconference where the LiveDVD was frequently referenced.
* Contact: [[User:EliL | EliL]]

=== 24 April, 2013 FOSS4G Buenos Aires 2013 ===
* 24 to 26 of April 2013, Buenos Aires, Argentina
* http://www.foss4g.org.ar/
* Unfortunately there was a problem with the DVD distributor and the participants didn't receive a copy.
* [http://jsanz.github.io/slides-201304-foss4gba/osgeo-live/#/title OSGeo Live presentation] by [[Jorge Sanz]]
* OSGeo Live was used on the MapProxy workshop by the lecturer and some attendants that were able to run it on Virtual Box
* Contact: [[Mauricio Miranda]]

=== 10 April, 2013 EGU 2013 ===
* Vienna, Austria
* http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2013/session/13223
* DVD-distribution to journalists
* splinter meeting with short presentation and screenshots of OSGeo-Live
* Contact: Peter Löwe

=== 6-8 March 2013, Jornadas de SIG Libre (Spanish FOSS4G2013) ===
* Girona, Spain
* http://www.sigte.udg.edu/jornadassiglibre
* Contact: [[User:Lluís|Lluis Vicens]]

=== 17-18 January 2013, WhereCampEU ===
* Rome, Italy
* http://wherecamp.eu/
* OSGeo-Live presentation by [[User:Lucadelu|Luca Delucchi]]

== 2012 ==

=== 4-7 December 2012, Open Source Developers Conference ===
* Sydney, Australia
* http://www.osdc.com.au/
* OSGeo-Live presentation by Cameron Shorter
* Contact: Cameron Shorter

=== 22-24 November 2012, PhilGEOS 2012 ===
* Quezon City, Philippines
* http://philgeos2012.wordpress.com/
* Over 60 participants joined 8 workshops and 3 lightning talks. The OSGeo Live project was also presented in one of the parallel technical sessions in the main conference. Likewise, an exhibit booth was installed during the PhilGEOS conference for OSGeo and OpenStreetMap. Over ~50 OSGeo Live DVDs were handed out to conference participants.
* Contact: Maning Sambale

=== 17-18 November 2012, OpenGIS ===
* Moscow, Russia
* conference on everything related to free and opensource GIS: data, software, methodology, organized by members of Russian GIS-Lab and OpenStreetMap communities.
* Over 200 participants; OSGeo-Live DVD was used in GRASS GIS workshop; ~10 OSGeo Live DVDs were handed out to conference participants.
* http://gisconf.ru/en/
* Contact: Maxim Dubinin, Alexander Mury

=== 14-17 November 2012, GFOSSDAY 2012 - OSMit 2012 ===
* Turin, Italy
* http://www.gfoss.it/drupal/gfossday2012
* OSGeo-Live software directly used from VMs within five workshops
* OSGeo-Live overview in keynote presentation
* Title: OSGeo-Live: il più semplice strumento per provare le applicazioni GFOSS / OSGeo-Live: the simplest way to test FOSS4G software
* Contact: [[User:Lucadelu|Luca Delucchi]]

=== 14-16 November 2012, EGU Leonardo Conference ===
* Turin, Italy
* http://www.eguleonardo2012.polito.it/
* Poster presentation in Session: Population
* Notes: Poster Presentations consist in a quick (1-Slide) oral overview during the sessions and in the attendance by the poster stand between the sessions.
* Title: A complete review of the breadth of quality Geospatial Open Source Software available to Hydrologists, using OSGeo-Live
* Contact: [[User:Madi|Margherita Di Leo]]

=== 12-13 November 2012, SWE-SmartCities Workshop ===
* Barcelona, Spain
* https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5tKYbjsGOrxWkVwWWZsM2NHNlk/edit
* Sensor Web Enablement workshop held by 52°North
* 21 OSGeo-Live handed to the participants and used for the exercises
* The DVD was used for a training workshop on OGC Sensor Web Enablement. Participants worked with the 52°North SOS and the 52°North WPS. The DVD was mostly used, in some cases the VM was used.During the training, the participants used their own laptop computers (a full mix of all operating systems).There was no dedicated time needed for setting up the DVD. No issues occured.
* Contact: [[User:esllolo|Estela Llorente López]], Simon Jirka (52°North)

=== November 2012, Open Source GIS and Webmapping Workshop ===
* Vienna (Austria)
* Waiting on Barend Köbben to provide website url once details are finalised

===25-26 October 2012, FOSS4G-India ===
* Hyderabad, India
* http://lsi.iiit.ac.in/foss4gindia
* OSGeo-Live DVDs to be handed out to all participants
* OSGeo-Live to be used in workshops
* OSGeo-Live Presentation to be given by K S Rajan
* Contact: K S Rajan

=== October 2012, LatinOSGIS ===
* Guayaquil, Ecuador
* OSGeo-Live 6.0 DVDs to be handed out
* lightning presentation by Mauricio Miranda
* http://www.fiec.espol.edu.ec/LatinOSGIS
* Contact: Indira Yadira Nolivos Alvarez

===17,18 October 2012, GeoINT 2012 ===
* Orlando Florida
* OSGeo-Live link handed out
* mentioned in various panels and forums
* geoint2012.com
* Contact: Mark Lucas and John Scott

=== 17-19 October 2012, Geospace Europe Summit 2012 ===
* Brussels Belgium
* OSGeo-Live link handed out
* Presentation pointing to live.ogeo.org efforts
* http://defence.flemingeurope.com/geospatial-intelligence-europe
* Contact: Mark Lucas

=== 17-19 October 2012, Latinoware ===
* Keynote presentation by Jody Garnett including parts of the OSGeo Lightning presentation
* http://2012.latinoware.org/?lang=en , http://2012.latinoware.org/?page_id=228
* Contact: Jody Garnett

=== October 2012, INTERGEO 2012 ===
* Hannover Germany, 9.-11.10.2012
* ~600 OSGeo 6.0 (and some of Version 5.5.) DVDs were distributed
* slide about OSGeo-Live in [http://fossgis.de FOSSGIS e.V.] presentation
* very good feedback to the DVD. Lot of people already know OSGeo-Live
* http://intergeo.de
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== October 2012, Smart Korea 2012 in conjunction with OGC TC/PC Meeting ===
* Seoul, Korea
* Around 50 OSGeo-Live 6.0 DVDs were handed out at OSGeo booth there
* http://www.opengeospatial.org/event/1210tc
* Contact: Sanghee Shin

=== 11-13 October 2012, XXXII INCA International Conference 2012 ===
* Dehradun, India
* http://www.incaindia.org/32INCA/
* Nearly 80 OSGeo-Live 6.0 DVDs handed out at OSGeo/IIRS Booth. Posters with screenshots of some applications with local data were put up.
* Explained delegates about OpenSource GIS. Demonstrated QGIS to anyone with a question. Demoed OpenCPN to some of the folks from National Hydrographic Office.
* Contact: Chaitanya Kumar CH

=== October 12, 2012, FOSS4G Korea 2012 ===
* COEX, Seoul, Korea
* Nearly 70~80 OSGeo-Live 6.0 DVDs were handed out during the event and brief explanation of OSGeo-Live project was given to participants
* FOSS4G Korea will be held in conjunction with Smart Korea 2012
* http://www.osgeo.kr
* Contact: Sanghee Shin

=== October 3-5, 2012, Minnesota GIS/LIS 2012 ===
* Saint Cloud, Minnesota, USA
* OSGeo-Live 6.0 DVDs handed out at OSGeo/FOSS4GNA Booth.
* OSGeo-Live ODP file set to loop on digital display in booth, augmented with local OSGeo project screenshots.
* Annual Conference and Workshops.
* http://www.mngislis.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=718
* Contact: Bob Basques

=== October 2012, GISSA Ukubuzana conference ===
* 1-3 October, Johannesburg, South Africa
* ~450 OSGeo 6.0 DVDs were distributed
* Lightning overview wwas also presented
* It was also used in two workshops ('Intro to PostGIS and QGIS' and 'Enterprise GIS with FOSS')
* http://gissa.org.za/activities/conferences/gissa-ukubuzana-2012
* More were distributed and used in workshops at the launch of the University of Pretoria ICA/OSGeo Lab on 4 Oct
* [[User:Gfleming|Gavin Fleming]]

=== September 2012, Geocamp ===
* September 22nd, Campo Maior, Portugal
* http://geocampers.com
* OSGeo project presentation: how the project is managed, how translations work, how a project is involved
* Contact: [[Jorge Sanz]], Hugo Santos info (at) geocampers (dot) com

=== September 2012, Asia GeoSpatial Forum ===
* Hanoi, Vietnam. 17~19th, September
* Around 50 OSGeo-Live 6.0 DVDs were handed out to the participants.
* A presentation on OSGeo overview and OSGeo-Live was given in oral presentation session
* Open Source GIS Session
* http://www.asiageospatialforum.org/
* Contact: Sanghee Shin

=== 5 September 2012 Open Source GIS Conference (OSGIS) ===
* Nottingham, United Kingdom
* All day session: "Educational use of OSGeo Live" presented by Ari Jolma
* 100 OSGeo-Live DVDs handed out
* OSGeo-Live lightning presentation by Barry Rowlingson
* http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/osgis/
* Contact: Suchith Anand

=== August 2012, 34th International Geological Conference ===
* Brisbane, Australia
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation by Peter Baunmann, conference convener
* http://www.34igc.org/
* Contact: Peter Baunmann

=== 18-19 July 2012, FOSS4G Southeast Asia ===
* Johor Bahru, Malaysia
* OSGEO-live DVD used at the plenary session. Several slides from OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation used plus some demonstration.
* OSGeo-Live handed out to all delegates.
* Contact: Dr. Franz-Josef Behr

=== July 2012, Third Open Source GIS Summer School ===
* Girona, Spain
* School program focused on the development and creation of Open Web Mapping Services and Web applications. Jeremy Morley (Lecturer and a theme leader at the NGI) will be contributing the Nottingham components for the Summer School. The course has been designed and will be conducted on a GNU/Linux operating system based on the use of the OSGeo-Live DVD.
* http://www.sigte.udg.edu/summerschool2012/
* Contact: Lluís Vicens

=== July 2012, International Environmental Modeling and Software Society Conference (IEMSS) ===
* Leipzig, Germany
* ~ 100 OSGeo-Live 5.5 DVDs to be handed out
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation
* http://www.iemss.org/sites/iemss2012/sessions_D.html
* Contact: Daniel P. Ames

=== July 2012, AGIT ===
* Salzburg (Austria) Annual Conference
* http://www.agit.at/
* [[AGIT]], Friday is OSGeo day, free booth together with OSM throughtout the week ([[Arnulf]])
* we want to hand out +- 500 OSGeoLive DVDs

===June 30 - July 1, 2012, FOSS4G Hokkaido 2012 ===
*Sapporo, Hokkaido JAPAN
*50 OSGeo-Live 5.5 DVDs handed out to delegates
*OSGeo.JP and OSGeo-Live overview in keynote presentation
*[https://sites.google.com/site/foss4ghokkaido/ Website (in Japanese)]
*[https://www.facebook.com/FOSS4G.Hokkaido Facebook (in Japanese)]

=== June 2012, useR! The International R User Conference ===
* Vanderbilt U, Nashville USA
* http://biostat.mc.vanderbilt.edu/wiki/Main/UseR-2012
* Workshop Presentation on Geospatial Data in R, 33 attendees
* Five or six OSGeo-Live 5.5 DVDs taken
* Boot and demo at end of workshop.

=== June 28, 2012, OSGeo.nl Day (FOSS4G Regional) within MapWindow Conference - The Netherlands ===
* Velp, The Netherlands
* OSGeo-Live 5.5 DVDs handed out to all delegates (about 120). This included a large contingent of OSGeo-NL people who I heard were very appreciative of the DVD.
* OSGeo-Live + OSGeo overview in keynote presentation
* OSGeo-Live software directly used from VMs within the two workshops
* http://osgeo.nl/osgeonl_dag_2012.html (OSGeo.nl Day Program + Pres. Slides)
* http://www.mapwindow.org/conference/2012 (general MapWindow conf)
* Contact: Daniel P. Ames

=== May 2012, FOSS4G-CEE & Geoinformatics 2012 ===
* Prague, Czech Republic
* OSGeo-Live 5.5 DVDs to be used in workshops
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation
* http://foss4g-cee.org/
* Contact: Jachym Cepicky

=== May 2012, FOSSCOMM 2012 ===
* Serres, Greece
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation
* 1 undergraduate thesis presentation using OSGeo-Live
* http://serres.fosscomm.gr/?page_id=582

=== May 2012, HellasGI 2012 ===
* Athens, Greece
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation
* Local chapter meeting

=== April 2012, COMEM OGO course :: Webmapping with OGC standards ===
* April 16th, a course dedicated on geospatialized e-Content for Media Engineering bachelor students (http://www.comem.ch) at School of Engineering and Business Vaud (http://www.heig-vd.ch), Western Switzerland, Yverdon-les-Bains
* Topic : learning webmapping and OGC standards with OpenLayers, GeoServer, PostGIS (http://ogo.heig-vd.ch)
* A customized OSGeo-Live 5.5 VM has been used through VirtualBox by 15 students to execute several exercices and to build a five days project (http://carto.iict.ch)
* Delivering a complete and ready to use geo-enabled VM is interessant for students to work in a kind of sandbox and to bring something easely back at home for later reuse.

=== April 2012, Geospatial World Forum 2012 ===
* The RAI, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
* 4-hour [http://wiki.osgeo.org/images/b/bf/GeospatialWorldForum_2012_OpenSource_Seminar_Program.pdf "Open Source Seminar"] organized by OSGeo/[http://OSgeo.nl OSGeo Dutch Chapter] with 11 speakers
* OSGeo-Live lightning presentation (15mins)
* http://www.geospatialworldforum.org/2012/open.htm

=== April 2012, FOSS4G North America 2012 ===
* Washington, United States
* Hand out OSGeo-Live 5.5 DVDs to all delegates
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation?
* http://foss4g-na.org/

=== April 2012, GISRUK 2012 ===
* Lancaster University, UK
* (probably) To be used for pre-conference workshop from Lutra Consulting
* Around 200 DVDs to be handed out at the OSGeo-UK desk
* http://www.lancs.ac.uk/gisruk2012/

=== April 2012, AGILE 2012===
* Avignon, France
* http://agile2012.imag.fr/index.php/workshops/hands-on-qopen-source-gis-a-webmappingq
* Open Source GIS & WebCartography workshop
* OSGeo-Live USBs handed to all workshop attendees

=== March 2012, Association for Geographic Information Welsh Group Open Source Seminar ===
* Wrexham, Wales, UK
* DVDs handed out to all delegates (20)
* http://astuntechnology.com/news/agi-open-source-training/ (proper link no longer available)

=== March 2012, AWRA GIS and Water Resources Conference ===
* New Orleans
* ~ 350 DVDs handed to delegates
* http://awra.org/meetings/Spring2012/

=== March 2012, FOSSGIS 2012 ===
* Dessau, Germany
* Hand out OSGeo-Live 5.5 DVDs to all delegates - more than 400 DVDs
* OSGeo-Live was mentioned in the opening speech
* http://www.fossgis.de/konferenz/2012/
* OSGeo-Live was mentioned a lot on the conference. Some presenter mentioned in their presentation, to test the new stuff with OSGeo-Live
* How many people were in the workshop?
** 21 Wokshops took place in total, 15 Workshop used OSGeo-Live 5.5, some of the workshops used a modified OSGeo-Live version
** 5 - 20 persons were in the workshops
* What format of OSGeo-Live was used? DVD? USB? VM?
** Used with VirtualBox
* Did students bring their own computers? What types of computers and operating systems were brought in?
** No own computers. We used the computers with windows and VirtualBox from the GIS pool of the university
* How much time was spent setting up the class with setting up OSGeo-Live?
** This was done before the workshop

=== March 2012, Spanish FOSS4G 2012 ===
* Girona, Spain
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation.
* Possibly also handing out osgeo-live 5.5 DVDs?
* http://www.sigte.udg.edu/jornadassiglibre/

=== 6-7 March 2012, Malaysian Geospatial Forum ===
* Malaka, Malaysia
* http://www.malaysiageospatialforum.org
* The OSGEO-Live lightning overview was presented to around 50 attendees (of approximately 300 attendees of the whole event). Positive feedbacks, the common question was which package should be used to their work.

=== February 2012, AAG 2012 ===
* New York, New York
* 25 OSGeo-Live 5.0 bootable thumb drives to be handed out
* FOSS4G Workshop for Educators
* http://www.aag.org/cs/annualmeeting

=== February 2012, GIS courses ===
* 6-10 Feb, Enterprise GIS course at University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
* 13-17 Feb , Introduction to QGIS and PostGIS course, Muizenberg, South Africa
* OSGeo 5.0 DVDs handed out to course attendees (~15 each)
* Ran in first session of workshops as LiveDVD to browse through the ecosystem and get a feel for Linux and FOSS GIS.
* [[User:Gfleming|Gavin Fleming]]

=== January 2012, Pleiades Days 2012 ===
* Toulouse, France
* 50 OSGeo-Live 5.0 bootable thumb drives to be handed out
* [http://www.pleiades2012.com/ Website]

== 2011==

=== December 2011, Enterprise GIS course at the Council for Geoscience ===
* 12-14 Dec, Cape Town, South Africa
* OSGeo 5.0 DVDs handed out to course attendees
* We set up the VM on Windows for part of the workshop. Demo'd QGIS server and browsed through the system for an overview of other tools.
* It would be nice to have OpenGeo Suite Community Edition installed. It could provide PostGIS and GeoServer to the rest of the DVD. Also GeoNode.
* [[User:Gfleming|Gavin Fleming]]

=== November 2011, FOSS4G Tokyo/Osaka 2011 ===
*Tokyo and Osaka, JAPAN
*each 50+ OSGeo-Live 5.0 DVDs handed to delegates
*[http://www.osgeo.jp/%E3%82%A4%E3%83%99%E3%83%B3%E3%83%88/foss4g-2011-tokyo/ Website (in Japanese)]
*[http://www.osgeo.jp/%E3%82%A4%E3%83%99%E3%83%B3%E3%83%88/foss4g-2011-osaka/ Website (in Japanese)]

=== October 2011, IAEA/FAO Coordinated Research Program ===
* Burkina Faso
* This conference was the third in a series of semi-annual meetings reviewing research programs regarding two agricultural pests: Tsetse and Old/New World Screw-worm. The meetings focus on merging population genetics and GIS techniques to better understand the spread of these pests.
* A customized version of the OSGeoLive 5.0 was prepared with data specific to Burkina Faso, and each of the 15 participants received a USB flash drive for the practice session. Some basic exercises were conducted demonstrating QGIS, Spatialite, and R.
* Responses were overwhelmingly positive.

=== September 2011, Intergeo 2011 ===
* Nuremberg, Germany
* Intergeo is an anual big fair on geodesy, geoinformation and land management
* [http://fossgis.de FOSSGIS e.V.] (german language local chapter of OSGeo) organizes an the OSGeo Park at Intergeo every year presenting OSGeo software. There also is a [http://www.fossgis.de/wiki/Intergeo_2011/Vortragsprogramm presentation area] where we present OSGeo Software and solutions 3 days long
* Rest of the OSGeo-Live 4.5 handed out (aprox 100 DVDs)
* http://www.intergeo.de/en/englisch/index.php

=== September 2011, FOSS4G 2011 ===
Denver, United States
* OSGeo Live given to every delegate. (Release 5.0)
* 300 USBs printed, 600 DVDs
* OSGeo-Live was used within many of the workshops

=== June/July 2011, Open Source GIS Summer School ===
* University of Gerona, Gerona, Spain
* The school taught Open Source GIS technologies and made use of the OSGeoLive DVD
* http://www.sigte.udg.edu/summerschool2011/target-audience/prerequisites

=== August 2011, [http://irdal.ird.fr/spip.php?page=ecole_ete_spatial_bresil11_sommaire&id_rubrique=1022|Ecole d'été - Observation spatiale de l'environnement] ===
* Macapa, Brazil
* OSGeo-Live 5.0RC1 on a USB was used in a workshop for 12 students learning OTB and Monteverdi.

=== June 2011, FLUXNET & RS Open-Workshop ===
* David Brower Environmental Center, USA
* http://nature.berkeley.edu/biometlab/fluxnet2011/fluxwkshp_post.html
* Provided OSGeo LiveDVD to interested participants

=== June 2011, [[Live_GIS_Disk_FOSS4G_2010| OSGIS 2011]] ===
Centre for Geospatial Science, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
* http://cgs.nottingham.ac.uk/~osgis11/os_home.html
* Provided OSGeo-Live lightning presentation, abstract: [[Live_GIS_Disk_OSGIS_2011]]
* handed out OSGeo-Live DVDs to all delegates

=== May 2011, CGS 2011 ===
* Bishop CA, USA
* ~10 discs

=== April 2011, GITA 2011 ===
* Dallas Tx, USA
* 100 discs sent to OSGeo booth

=== April 2011, AAG 2011 ===
* Seattle, WA USA
* Annual Geography conference 8-10,000 attendants
* ~30-50 discs given away at OSGeo booth
* Remaining ~150 divided between CUGOS and Portland? chapters.

=== April 2011, FOSSGIS 2011 ===
* Heidelberg, Germany
* [http://www.fossgis.de/konferenz/2011/ FOSSGIS] is an annual conference in german language with ~ 400 attendants
* we printed OSGeo-Live 4.5 and handed out about 450 DVDs
* OSGeoLive 4.5 was used sucessfully in ~ 12 workshops
* [http://www.fossgis.de/konferenz/2011/programm/events/248.de.html Astrid Emde presented OSGeo-Live] in a 20 min talk with focus on the background of the project and the possibilities the project offers
** about 40 attendants

== 2010 ==
=== November 2010, GeoData Camp ===
* Athens, Greece
* Presented OSGeo-Live lightning presentation in Greek to more than 300 attendants. This included two 1-hour presentations in technical sessions and a 15 minute presentation in the main event.

=== October 2010, Intergeo 2010 ===
* Cologne, Germany
* Intergeo is an anual big fair on geodesy, geoinformation and land management
* [http://fossgis.de FOSSGIS e.V.] (german language local chapter of OSGeo) organizes an Open Source Park on Intergeo every year where OSGeo Software is presented. There also is a [http://www.fossgis.de/wiki/Intergeo_2010/Vortragsprogramm presentation area] where we present OSGeo Software and solutions 3 days long
* we printed OSGeo-Live 4.0 and handed out about 450 DVDs
* Lars Lingner presented the DVD with Cameron Shorters presentation
* http://www.intergeo.de/en/englisch/index.php
* Feedback
** good feedback: OSGeo-Live offers the possibility to get to know OSGeo Software without an installation

=== September 2010, [[Live_GIS_Disk_FOSS4G_2010|FOSS4G 2010]] ===
Barcelona, Spain
* Provided a 90 minute tutorial of OSGeo Live
* OSGeo Live given to every delegate. (Release 4.0)

=== April 2010, [http://www.fig2010.com/ FIG 2010] - International Surveyors conference===
Sydney, Australia
* Handed out Live DVDs from OSGeo stand. (Release 3.0)
* Provided 15 minute lightning talk about the OSGeo stack, promoting the LiveDVD. [[http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2010/04/report-from-osgeo-stand-at-federation.html Report]], [[http://blip.tv/file/3503561 presentation video]]

== 2009 ==

=== October 2009, [http://2009.foss4g.org FOSS4G 2009] ===
Sydney, Australia
* Handed out 500 Live DVDs in every delegate's show bag. (Release: 2.0.3)

=== June 2009, [http://www.spatial.gov.au/Conferences/spatialgov+2009/default.aspx Spatial@Gov] ===
* Canberra, Australia
* Handed out Live DVDs from an OSGeo stand. (Release 1.0)
* Cameron Shorter provided a 30 minute presentation on the Open Source GeoSpatial Stack.

== 2008 ==

=== November 2008, Australian Cooperative Research Center for Spatial Information Conference ===
* Brisbane, Australia
* Distributed ~ 250 OSGeo-Live DVDs to delegates (Release 1.0)

===September 2008, [http://2008.foss4g.org FOSS4G 2008]===
* Handed out ~ 150 Live DVDs from the OSGeo stand. (Release: foss4g2008)

[[Category: Live-demo]]
[[Category: History]]

Live GIS History

2013-11-06T05:57:51Z

Gfleming: added AfricaGIS 2013

Where has the LiveDVD been used? Please tell us. A history of wide use provides justification for future developers to include, and improve their application on OSGeo-Live.

== Template Questions ==
* date of the event, City, Country
* link to event webside
* Was OSGeo-Live handed out to attendees? How many were handed out? Were USBs, DVDs, or VMs used or handed out? How many?
* Was the OSGeo-Live lightning overview presented? To how many people? Was it a plenary event? If not, what percentage of the attendees attended this talk? Did you get any feedback? What did you hear?
* Was OSGeo-Live used for workshops? What did the workshop cover. Was the USB/DVD or VM used? Were attendees computers used? If so, what operating systems were they running? How long did it take to set up? Were there any issues?
* Any suggestions on what we can do to improve OSGeo-Live for future?
* Contact: person involved from the conference

== 2014 ==
=== 10-13 June 2014, OGRS 2014 ===
* Helsinki, Finland
* http://2014.ogrs-community.org/
* Contact: [[User:Ajolma|Ari Jolma]]

=== 19. - 21. March 2014 FOSSGIS ===
* 19. - 21. March 2014
* Berlin, Germany
* http://www.fossgis.de/konferenz/2014/
* Hand out OSGeo-Live 7.5 DVDs to all delegates - about 500 DVDs
* Presenatation about OSGeo-Live '''OSGeo-Live rocks!''' '''maybe'''
* > 10 Workshops will take place, most of them will use OSGeo-Live
** ?? persons in the workshops
* What format of OSGeo-Live was used?
** VirtualMachine
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

== 2013 ==
=== 4-8 November 2013, AfricaGIS 2013 / GSDI 14 ===
* Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
* http://www.gsdi.org/gsdiconf/gsdi14/
* Lightning overview presented (reveal JS version)
* Contact: [[User:Gfleming|Gavin Fleming]]
=== 8-10 October 2013, INTERGEO 2013 ===
* Essen, Germany
* http://intergeo.de
* it is planned to hand out 500 OSGeo 7.0 DVDs
* slides about OSGeo-Live in FOSSGIS e.V. presentation
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== 24 - 26 Sept 2013, Asian Geospatial Forum 2013 ===
* Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
* http://www.asiageospatialforum.org
* OSGEO-Live and ICA-OSGEO lab network [http://prezi.com/hv18xf8_wolq/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy presentation]
* Contact: [[TuongThuy Vu|Thuy Vu]]

=== 19 - 21 Sept 2013, INCA-33 International Congress India ===
* Jodhpur, India
* http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/User_talk:Ravivundavalli#OSGeo_India_.40_INCA-33_International_congress.2C_Jodhpur.2C_Rajasthan.2C_India
* Through OSGeo India booth 100 Live-DVDs are distributed
* Contact: ravivundavalli@yahoo.com

=== 17-21 September 2013, FOSS4G ===
* Nottingham, United Kingdom
* http://2013.foss4g.org
* Contact: Steven Feldman

=== 25-30 August 2013, International Cartographic Conference ===
* Dresden, Germany
* http://www.dgfk.net/index.php?id=164&do=akt
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== 8-12 July 2013, Open Source Opportunities in GIS Summer School ===
* Girona, Catalonia, Spain
* About 25 students running OSGeo-Live in a Virtual Machine (Virtual Box).
* http://www.sigte.udg.edu/summerschool2013/
* Contact: [[User:Lluís|Lluís Vicens]]

=== 3-5 July 2013, AGIT25 ===
* Salzburg, Austria
* http://www.agit.at
* OSGeo Day http://www.agit.at/index.php/programm-2013/themen/osgeo
* Hand out OSGeo-Live 6.5 DVDs at FOSSGIS/OSGeo Booth - about 200 DVDs
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== 10 June 2013, FROG (FRancophone Opensource Geomatique)===
* Paris, France
* http://osgeo.asso.fr
* Distribution to participants ?
* Contact : Vincent Picavet

=== 12.-14. June 2013 FOSSGIS ===
* 12.-14. June 2013
* Rapperswil, Switzerland
* http://www.fossgis.de/konferenz/2013/
* Hand out OSGeo-Live 6.5 DVDs to all delegates - about 350 DVDs
* Presenatation about OSGeo-Live '''OSGeo-Live rocks!''' by [[User:Astrid Emde | Astrid Emde]] http://www.fossgis.de/konferenz/2013/programm/events/576.de.html
* > 10 Workshops will take place, most of them will use OSGeo-Live 6.5
** 5 - 20 persons in the workshops
* What format of OSGeo-Live was used?
** VirtualMachine
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== 17-19 June 2013, FOSS4G-CEE 2013 ===
* Bucharest, Romania
* OSGeo-Live 6.5 (or higher) DVDs will be handed out to all participants (conference target: 300)
* Some workshops are expected to make use of OSGeo-Live (call for workshops opens June 13th)
* A OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation is welcome (call for presentations opens June 13th)
* http://2013.foss4g-cee.org
* Contact: [http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/User:Vasile Vasile Crăciunescu]

=== 21 May 2013, Location Intelligence Conference ===
* Washington DC, United States
* OSGeo-Live presentation by [[User:Amyonthemap|Amy Gao]]

=== 24 April, 2013 FOSS4G Buenos Aires 2013 ===
* 24 to 26 of April 2013, Buenos Aires, Argentina
* http://www.foss4g.org.ar/
* Unfortunately there was a problem with the DVD distributor and the participants didn't receive a copy.
* [http://jsanz.github.io/slides-201304-foss4gba/osgeo-live/#/title OSGeo Live presentation] by [[Jorge Sanz]]
* OSGeo Live was used on the MapProxy workshop by the lecturer and some attendants that were able to run it on Virtual Box
* Contact: [[Mauricio Miranda]]

=== 10 April, 2013 EGU 2013 ===
* Vienna, Austria
* http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2013/session/13223
* DVD-distribution to journalists
* splinter meeting with short presentation and screenshots of OSGeo-Live
* Contact: Peter Löwe

=== 6-8 March 2013, Jornadas de SIG Libre (Spanish FOSS4G2013) ===
* Girona, Spain
* http://www.sigte.udg.edu/jornadassiglibre
* Contact: [[User:Lluís|Lluis Vicens]]

=== 17-18 January 2013, WhereCampEU ===
* Rome, Italy
* http://wherecamp.eu/
* OSGeo-Live presentation by [[User:Lucadelu|Luca Delucchi]]

== 2012 ==

=== 4-7 December 2012, Open Source Developers Conference ===
* Sydney, Australia
* http://www.osdc.com.au/
* OSGeo-Live presentation by Cameron Shorter
* Contact: Cameron Shorter

=== 22-24 November 2012, PhilGEOS 2012 ===
* Quezon City, Philippines
* http://philgeos2012.wordpress.com/
* Over 60 participants joined 8 workshops and 3 lightning talks. The OSGeo Live project was also presented in one of the parallel technical sessions in the main conference. Likewise, an exhibit booth was installed during the PhilGEOS conference for OSGeo and OpenStreetMap. Over ~50 OSGeo Live DVDs were handed out to conference participants.
* Contact: Maning Sambale

=== 17-18 November 2012, OpenGIS ===
* Moscow, Russia
* conference on everything related to free and opensource GIS: data, software, methodology, organized by members of Russian GIS-Lab and OpenStreetMap communities.
* Over 200 participants; OSGeo-Live DVD was used in GRASS GIS workshop; ~10 OSGeo Live DVDs were handed out to conference participants.
* http://gisconf.ru/en/
* Contact: Maxim Dubinin, Alexander Mury

=== 14-17 November 2012, GFOSSDAY 2012 - OSMit 2012 ===
* Turin, Italy
* http://www.gfoss.it/drupal/gfossday2012
* OSGeo-Live software directly used from VMs within five workshops
* OSGeo-Live overview in keynote presentation
* Title: OSGeo-Live: il più semplice strumento per provare le applicazioni GFOSS / OSGeo-Live: the simplest way to test FOSS4G software
* Contact: [[User:Lucadelu|Luca Delucchi]]

=== 14-16 November 2012, EGU Leonardo Conference ===
* Turin, Italy
* http://www.eguleonardo2012.polito.it/
* Poster presentation in Session: Population
* Notes: Poster Presentations consist in a quick (1-Slide) oral overview during the sessions and in the attendance by the poster stand between the sessions.
* Title: A complete review of the breadth of quality Geospatial Open Source Software available to Hydrologists, using OSGeo-Live
* Contact: [[User:Madi|Margherita Di Leo]]

=== 12-13 November 2012, SWE-SmartCities Workshop ===
* Barcelona, Spain
* https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5tKYbjsGOrxWkVwWWZsM2NHNlk/edit
* Sensor Web Enablement workshop held by 52°North
* 21 OSGeo-Live handed to the participants and used for the exercises
* The DVD was used for a training workshop on OGC Sensor Web Enablement. Participants worked with the 52°North SOS and the 52°North WPS. The DVD was mostly used, in some cases the VM was used.During the training, the participants used their own laptop computers (a full mix of all operating systems).There was no dedicated time needed for setting up the DVD. No issues occured.
* Contact: [[User:esllolo|Estela Llorente López]], Simon Jirka (52°North)

=== November 2012, Open Source GIS and Webmapping Workshop ===
* Vienna (Austria)
* Waiting on Barend Köbben to provide website url once details are finalised

===25-26 October 2012, FOSS4G-India ===
* Hyderabad, India
* http://lsi.iiit.ac.in/foss4gindia
* OSGeo-Live DVDs to be handed out to all participants
* OSGeo-Live to be used in workshops
* OSGeo-Live Presentation to be given by K S Rajan
* Contact: K S Rajan

=== October 2012, LatinOSGIS ===
* Guayaquil, Ecuador
* OSGeo-Live 6.0 DVDs to be handed out
* lightning presentation by Mauricio Miranda
* http://www.fiec.espol.edu.ec/LatinOSGIS
* Contact: Indira Yadira Nolivos Alvarez

===17,18 October 2012, GeoINT 2012 ===
* Orlando Florida
* OSGeo-Live link handed out
* mentioned in various panels and forums
* geoint2012.com
* Contact: Mark Lucas and John Scott

=== 17-19 October 2012, Geospace Europe Summit 2012 ===
* Brussels Belgium
* OSGeo-Live link handed out
* Presentation pointing to live.ogeo.org efforts
* http://defence.flemingeurope.com/geospatial-intelligence-europe
* Contact: Mark Lucas

=== 17-19 October 2012, Latinoware ===
* Keynote presentation by Jody Garnett including parts of the OSGeo Lightning presentation
* http://2012.latinoware.org/?lang=en , http://2012.latinoware.org/?page_id=228
* Contact: Jody Garnett

=== October 2012, INTERGEO 2012 ===
* Hannover Germany, 9.-11.10.2012
* ~600 OSGeo 6.0 (and some of Version 5.5.) DVDs were distributed
* slide about OSGeo-Live in [http://fossgis.de FOSSGIS e.V.] presentation
* very good feedback to the DVD. Lot of people already know OSGeo-Live
* http://intergeo.de
* Contact: [[User:Astrid Emde|Astrid Emde]]

=== October 2012, Smart Korea 2012 in conjunction with OGC TC/PC Meeting ===
* Seoul, Korea
* Around 50 OSGeo-Live 6.0 DVDs were handed out at OSGeo booth there
* http://www.opengeospatial.org/event/1210tc
* Contact: Sanghee Shin

=== 11-13 October 2012, XXXII INCA International Conference 2012 ===
* Dehradun, India
* http://www.incaindia.org/32INCA/
* Nearly 80 OSGeo-Live 6.0 DVDs handed out at OSGeo/IIRS Booth. Posters with screenshots of some applications with local data were put up.
* Explained delegates about OpenSource GIS. Demonstrated QGIS to anyone with a question. Demoed OpenCPN to some of the folks from National Hydrographic Office.
* Contact: Chaitanya Kumar CH

=== October 12, 2012, FOSS4G Korea 2012 ===
* COEX, Seoul, Korea
* Nearly 70~80 OSGeo-Live 6.0 DVDs were handed out during the event and brief explanation of OSGeo-Live project was given to participants
* FOSS4G Korea will be held in conjunction with Smart Korea 2012
* http://www.osgeo.kr
* Contact: Sanghee Shin

=== October 3-5, 2012, Minnesota GIS/LIS 2012 ===
* Saint Cloud, Minnesota, USA
* OSGeo-Live 6.0 DVDs handed out at OSGeo/FOSS4GNA Booth.
* OSGeo-Live ODP file set to loop on digital display in booth, augmented with local OSGeo project screenshots.
* Annual Conference and Workshops.
* http://www.mngislis.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=718
* Contact: Bob Basques

=== October 2012, GISSA Ukubuzana conference ===
* 1-3 October, Johannesburg, South Africa
* ~450 OSGeo 6.0 DVDs were distributed
* Lightning overview wwas also presented
* It was also used in two workshops ('Intro to PostGIS and QGIS' and 'Enterprise GIS with FOSS')
* http://gissa.org.za/activities/conferences/gissa-ukubuzana-2012
* More were distributed and used in workshops at the launch of the University of Pretoria ICA/OSGeo Lab on 4 Oct
* [[User:Gfleming|Gavin Fleming]]

=== September 2012, Geocamp ===
* September 22nd, Campo Maior, Portugal
* http://geocampers.com
* OSGeo project presentation: how the project is managed, how translations work, how a project is involved
* Contact: [[Jorge Sanz]], Hugo Santos info (at) geocampers (dot) com

=== September 2012, Asia GeoSpatial Forum ===
* Hanoi, Vietnam. 17~19th, September
* Around 50 OSGeo-Live 6.0 DVDs were handed out to the participants.
* A presentation on OSGeo overview and OSGeo-Live was given in oral presentation session
* Open Source GIS Session
* http://www.asiageospatialforum.org/
* Contact: Sanghee Shin

=== 5 September 2012 Open Source GIS Conference (OSGIS) ===
* Nottingham, United Kingdom
* All day session: "Educational use of OSGeo Live" presented by Ari Jolma
* 100 OSGeo-Live DVDs handed out
* OSGeo-Live lightning presentation by Barry Rowlingson
* http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/osgis/
* Contact: Suchith Anand

=== August 2012, 34th International Geological Conference ===
* Brisbane, Australia
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation by Peter Baunmann, conference convener
* http://www.34igc.org/
* Contact: Peter Baunmann

=== 18-19 July 2012, FOSS4G Southeast Asia ===
* Johor Bahru, Malaysia
* OSGEO-live DVD used at the plenary session. Several slides from OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation used plus some demonstration.
* OSGeo-Live handed out to all delegates.
* Contact: Dr. Franz-Josef Behr

=== July 2012, Third Open Source GIS Summer School ===
* Girona, Spain
* School program focused on the development and creation of Open Web Mapping Services and Web applications. Jeremy Morley (Lecturer and a theme leader at the NGI) will be contributing the Nottingham components for the Summer School. The course has been designed and will be conducted on a GNU/Linux operating system based on the use of the OSGeo-Live DVD.
* http://www.sigte.udg.edu/summerschool2012/
* Contact: Lluís Vicens

=== July 2012, International Environmental Modeling and Software Society Conference (IEMSS) ===
* Leipzig, Germany
* ~ 100 OSGeo-Live 5.5 DVDs to be handed out
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation
* http://www.iemss.org/sites/iemss2012/sessions_D.html
* Contact: Daniel P. Ames

=== July 2012, AGIT ===
* Salzburg (Austria) Annual Conference
* http://www.agit.at/
* [[AGIT]], Friday is OSGeo day, free booth together with OSM throughtout the week ([[Arnulf]])
* we want to hand out +- 500 OSGeoLive DVDs

===June 30 - July 1, 2012, FOSS4G Hokkaido 2012 ===
*Sapporo, Hokkaido JAPAN
*50 OSGeo-Live 5.5 DVDs handed out to delegates
*OSGeo.JP and OSGeo-Live overview in keynote presentation
*[https://sites.google.com/site/foss4ghokkaido/ Website (in Japanese)]
*[https://www.facebook.com/FOSS4G.Hokkaido Facebook (in Japanese)]

=== June 2012, useR! The International R User Conference ===
* Vanderbilt U, Nashville USA
* http://biostat.mc.vanderbilt.edu/wiki/Main/UseR-2012
* Workshop Presentation on Geospatial Data in R, 33 attendees
* Five or six OSGeo-Live 5.5 DVDs taken
* Boot and demo at end of workshop.

=== June 28, 2012, OSGeo.nl Day (FOSS4G Regional) within MapWindow Conference - The Netherlands ===
* Velp, The Netherlands
* OSGeo-Live 5.5 DVDs handed out to all delegates (about 120). This included a large contingent of OSGeo-NL people who I heard were very appreciative of the DVD.
* OSGeo-Live + OSGeo overview in keynote presentation
* OSGeo-Live software directly used from VMs within the two workshops
* http://osgeo.nl/osgeonl_dag_2012.html (OSGeo.nl Day Program + Pres. Slides)
* http://www.mapwindow.org/conference/2012 (general MapWindow conf)
* Contact: Daniel P. Ames

=== May 2012, FOSS4G-CEE & Geoinformatics 2012 ===
* Prague, Czech Republic
* OSGeo-Live 5.5 DVDs to be used in workshops
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation
* http://foss4g-cee.org/
* Contact: Jachym Cepicky

=== May 2012, FOSSCOMM 2012 ===
* Serres, Greece
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation
* 1 undergraduate thesis presentation using OSGeo-Live
* http://serres.fosscomm.gr/?page_id=582

=== May 2012, HellasGI 2012 ===
* Athens, Greece
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation
* Local chapter meeting

=== April 2012, COMEM OGO course :: Webmapping with OGC standards ===
* April 16th, a course dedicated on geospatialized e-Content for Media Engineering bachelor students (http://www.comem.ch) at School of Engineering and Business Vaud (http://www.heig-vd.ch), Western Switzerland, Yverdon-les-Bains
* Topic : learning webmapping and OGC standards with OpenLayers, GeoServer, PostGIS (http://ogo.heig-vd.ch)
* A customized OSGeo-Live 5.5 VM has been used through VirtualBox by 15 students to execute several exercices and to build a five days project (http://carto.iict.ch)
* Delivering a complete and ready to use geo-enabled VM is interessant for students to work in a kind of sandbox and to bring something easely back at home for later reuse.

=== April 2012, Geospatial World Forum 2012 ===
* The RAI, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
* 4-hour [http://wiki.osgeo.org/images/b/bf/GeospatialWorldForum_2012_OpenSource_Seminar_Program.pdf "Open Source Seminar"] organized by OSGeo/[http://OSgeo.nl OSGeo Dutch Chapter] with 11 speakers
* OSGeo-Live lightning presentation (15mins)
* http://www.geospatialworldforum.org/2012/open.htm

=== April 2012, FOSS4G North America 2012 ===
* Washington, United States
* Hand out OSGeo-Live 5.5 DVDs to all delegates
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation?
* http://foss4g-na.org/

=== April 2012, GISRUK 2012 ===
* Lancaster University, UK
* (probably) To be used for pre-conference workshop from Lutra Consulting
* Around 200 DVDs to be handed out at the OSGeo-UK desk
* http://www.lancs.ac.uk/gisruk2012/

=== April 2012, AGILE 2012===
* Avignon, France
* http://agile2012.imag.fr/index.php/workshops/hands-on-qopen-source-gis-a-webmappingq
* Open Source GIS & WebCartography workshop
* OSGeo-Live USBs handed to all workshop attendees

=== March 2012, Association for Geographic Information Welsh Group Open Source Seminar ===
* Wrexham, Wales, UK
* DVDs handed out to all delegates (20)
* http://astuntechnology.com/news/agi-open-source-training/ (proper link no longer available)

=== March 2012, AWRA GIS and Water Resources Conference ===
* New Orleans
* ~ 350 DVDs handed to delegates
* http://awra.org/meetings/Spring2012/

=== March 2012, FOSSGIS 2012 ===
* Dessau, Germany
* Hand out OSGeo-Live 5.5 DVDs to all delegates - more than 400 DVDs
* OSGeo-Live was mentioned in the opening speech
* http://www.fossgis.de/konferenz/2012/
* OSGeo-Live was mentioned a lot on the conference. Some presenter mentioned in their presentation, to test the new stuff with OSGeo-Live
* How many people were in the workshop?
** 21 Wokshops took place in total, 15 Workshop used OSGeo-Live 5.5, some of the workshops used a modified OSGeo-Live version
** 5 - 20 persons were in the workshops
* What format of OSGeo-Live was used? DVD? USB? VM?
** Used with VirtualBox
* Did students bring their own computers? What types of computers and operating systems were brought in?
** No own computers. We used the computers with windows and VirtualBox from the GIS pool of the university
* How much time was spent setting up the class with setting up OSGeo-Live?
** This was done before the workshop

=== March 2012, Spanish FOSS4G 2012 ===
* Girona, Spain
* OSGeo-Live lightning overview presentation.
* Possibly also handing out osgeo-live 5.5 DVDs?
* http://www.sigte.udg.edu/jornadassiglibre/

=== 6-7 March 2012, Malaysian Geospatial Forum ===
* Malaka, Malaysia
* http://www.malaysiageospatialforum.org
* The OSGEO-Live lightning overview was presented to around 50 attendees (of approximately 300 attendees of the whole event). Positive feedbacks, the common question was which package should be used to their work.

=== February 2012, AAG 2012 ===
* New York, New York
* 25 OSGeo-Live 5.0 bootable thumb drives to be handed out
* FOSS4G Workshop for Educators
* http://www.aag.org/cs/annualmeeting

=== February 2012, GIS courses ===
* 6-10 Feb, Enterprise GIS course at University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
* 13-17 Feb , Introduction to QGIS and PostGIS course, Muizenberg, South Africa
* OSGeo 5.0 DVDs handed out to course attendees (~15 each)
* Ran in first session of workshops as LiveDVD to browse through the ecosystem and get a feel for Linux and FOSS GIS.
* [[User:Gfleming|Gavin Fleming]]

=== January 2012, Pleiades Days 2012 ===
* Toulouse, France
* 50 OSGeo-Live 5.0 bootable thumb drives to be handed out
* [http://www.pleiades2012.com/ Website]

== 2011==

=== December 2011, Enterprise GIS course at the Council for Geoscience ===
* 12-14 Dec, Cape Town, South Africa
* OSGeo 5.0 DVDs handed out to course attendees
* We set up the VM on Windows for part of the workshop. Demo'd QGIS server and browsed through the system for an overview of other tools.
* It would be nice to have OpenGeo Suite Community Edition installed. It could provide PostGIS and GeoServer to the rest of the DVD. Also GeoNode.
* [[User:Gfleming|Gavin Fleming]]

=== November 2011, FOSS4G Tokyo/Osaka 2011 ===
*Tokyo and Osaka, JAPAN
*each 50+ OSGeo-Live 5.0 DVDs handed to delegates
*[http://www.osgeo.jp/%E3%82%A4%E3%83%99%E3%83%B3%E3%83%88/foss4g-2011-tokyo/ Website (in Japanese)]
*[http://www.osgeo.jp/%E3%82%A4%E3%83%99%E3%83%B3%E3%83%88/foss4g-2011-osaka/ Website (in Japanese)]

=== October 2011, IAEA/FAO Coordinated Research Program ===
* Burkina Faso
* This conference was the third in a series of semi-annual meetings reviewing research programs regarding two agricultural pests: Tsetse and Old/New World Screw-worm. The meetings focus on merging population genetics and GIS techniques to better understand the spread of these pests.
* A customized version of the OSGeoLive 5.0 was prepared with data specific to Burkina Faso, and each of the 15 participants received a USB flash drive for the practice session. Some basic exercises were conducted demonstrating QGIS, Spatialite, and R.
* Responses were overwhelmingly positive.

=== September 2011, Intergeo 2011 ===
* Nuremberg, Germany
* Intergeo is an anual big fair on geodesy, geoinformation and land management
* [http://fossgis.de FOSSGIS e.V.] (german language local chapter of OSGeo) organizes an the OSGeo Park at Intergeo every year presenting OSGeo software. There also is a [http://www.fossgis.de/wiki/Intergeo_2011/Vortragsprogramm presentation area] where we present OSGeo Software and solutions 3 days long
* Rest of the OSGeo-Live 4.5 handed out (aprox 100 DVDs)
* http://www.intergeo.de/en/englisch/index.php

=== September 2011, FOSS4G 2011 ===
Denver, United States
* OSGeo Live given to every delegate. (Release 5.0)
* 300 USBs printed, 600 DVDs
* OSGeo-Live was used within many of the workshops

=== June/July 2011, Open Source GIS Summer School ===
* University of Gerona, Gerona, Spain
* The school taught Open Source GIS technologies and made use of the OSGeoLive DVD
* http://www.sigte.udg.edu/summerschool2011/target-audience/prerequisites

=== August 2011, [http://irdal.ird.fr/spip.php?page=ecole_ete_spatial_bresil11_sommaire&id_rubrique=1022|Ecole d'été - Observation spatiale de l'environnement] ===
* Macapa, Brazil
* OSGeo-Live 5.0RC1 on a USB was used in a workshop for 12 students learning OTB and Monteverdi.

=== June 2011, FLUXNET & RS Open-Workshop ===
* David Brower Environmental Center, USA
* http://nature.berkeley.edu/biometlab/fluxnet2011/fluxwkshp_post.html
* Provided OSGeo LiveDVD to interested participants

=== June 2011, [[Live_GIS_Disk_FOSS4G_2010| OSGIS 2011]] ===
Centre for Geospatial Science, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
* http://cgs.nottingham.ac.uk/~osgis11/os_home.html
* Provided OSGeo-Live lightning presentation, abstract: [[Live_GIS_Disk_OSGIS_2011]]
* handed out OSGeo-Live DVDs to all delegates

=== May 2011, CGS 2011 ===
* Bishop CA, USA
* ~10 discs

=== April 2011, GITA 2011 ===
* Dallas Tx, USA
* 100 discs sent to OSGeo booth

=== April 2011, AAG 2011 ===
* Seattle, WA USA
* Annual Geography conference 8-10,000 attendants
* ~30-50 discs given away at OSGeo booth
* Remaining ~150 divided between CUGOS and Portland? chapters.

=== April 2011, FOSSGIS 2011 ===
* Heidelberg, Germany
* [http://www.fossgis.de/konferenz/2011/ FOSSGIS] is an annual conference in german language with ~ 400 attendants
* we printed OSGeo-Live 4.5 and handed out about 450 DVDs
* OSGeoLive 4.5 was used sucessfully in ~ 12 workshops
* [http://www.fossgis.de/konferenz/2011/programm/events/248.de.html Astrid Emde presented OSGeo-Live] in a 20 min talk with focus on the background of the project and the possibilities the project offers
** about 40 attendants

== 2010 ==
=== November 2010, GeoData Camp ===
* Athens, Greece
* Presented OSGeo-Live lightning presentation in Greek to more than 300 attendants. This included two 1-hour presentations in technical sessions and a 15 minute presentation in the main event.

=== October 2010, Intergeo 2010 ===
* Cologne, Germany
* Intergeo is an anual big fair on geodesy, geoinformation and land management
* [http://fossgis.de FOSSGIS e.V.] (german language local chapter of OSGeo) organizes an Open Source Park on Intergeo every year where OSGeo Software is presented. There also is a [http://www.fossgis.de/wiki/Intergeo_2010/Vortragsprogramm presentation area] where we present OSGeo Software and solutions 3 days long
* we printed OSGeo-Live 4.0 and handed out about 450 DVDs
* Lars Lingner presented the DVD with Cameron Shorters presentation
* http://www.intergeo.de/en/englisch/index.php
* Feedback
** good feedback: OSGeo-Live offers the possibility to get to know OSGeo Software without an installation

=== September 2010, [[Live_GIS_Disk_FOSS4G_2010|FOSS4G 2010]] ===
Barcelona, Spain
* Provided a 90 minute tutorial of OSGeo Live
* OSGeo Live given to every delegate. (Release 4.0)

=== April 2010, [http://www.fig2010.com/ FIG 2010] - International Surveyors conference===
Sydney, Australia
* Handed out Live DVDs from OSGeo stand. (Release 3.0)
* Provided 15 minute lightning talk about the OSGeo stack, promoting the LiveDVD. [[http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com/2010/04/report-from-osgeo-stand-at-federation.html Report]], [[http://blip.tv/file/3503561 presentation video]]

== 2009 ==

=== October 2009, [http://2009.foss4g.org FOSS4G 2009] ===
Sydney, Australia
* Handed out 500 Live DVDs in every delegate's show bag. (Release: 2.0.3)

=== June 2009, [http://www.spatial.gov.au/Conferences/spatialgov+2009/default.aspx Spatial@Gov] ===
* Canberra, Australia
* Handed out Live DVDs from an OSGeo stand. (Release 1.0)
* Cameron Shorter provided a 30 minute presentation on the Open Source GeoSpatial Stack.

== 2008 ==

=== November 2008, Australian Cooperative Research Center for Spatial Information Conference ===
* Brisbane, Australia
* Distributed ~ 250 OSGeo-Live DVDs to delegates (Release 1.0)

===September 2008, [http://2008.foss4g.org FOSS4G 2008]===
* Handed out ~ 150 Live DVDs from the OSGeo stand. (Release: foss4g2008)

[[Category: Live-demo]]
[[Category: History]]

OSGeo Advocate

2013-07-21T13:45:11Z

Gfleming: /* Africa:South Africa */ re-activated Gavin Fleming

__FORCETOC__

= Introduction =

OSGeo Advocates are authoritative OSGeo personalities who have volunteered to talk on behalf of the [http://osgeo.org OSGeo foundation]. Advocates should be able to speak well, even better if they are entertaining.

There are hundreds, if not thousands of conferences around the world which have an interest in seeing presentations from authoritative speakers, with deep insights into topics related to Open Source Geospatial Software. Luckily, OSGeo is fortunate to draw extensive membership from around the world, and has access to such authoritative figures within most countries.

= Advocates =

== Advocate Map ==


{{#umAllUserMap:}}

== Africa:Ghana ==

== Africa:South Africa ==
=== Gavin Fleming ===
{{User:Gfleming}}

== Asia:India ==

== Asia:Japan ==
===[http://cse.niaes.affrc.go.jp/niwasaki/ Nobusuke Iwasaki]===

[[File:Iwasaki.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Nobusuke Iwasaki]]

Senior Researcher, [http://www.niaes.affrc.go.jp/index_e.html National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences]

Location: Tsukuba, Japan

Nobusuke Iwasaki is researcher of land use change and rural planning and extensively using FOSS4G. Also, he is one of the main organizers of FOSS4G-Japan event and proactively commits promotion and dissemination of FOSS4G, especially academic sector. He strongly contributes [http://www.osgeo.jp/foss4g-mext/ some academic project which aims utilization of satellite image and FOSS4G for beginners and non-specialist user].
The major his product is [http://habs.dc.affrc.go.jp Historical Agro-Environmental Browsing System (HABS)], which is commended [http://psgsv2.gsi.go.jp/koukyou/G-award/list_award1.html the first Cyber Japan Award].

;OSGeo Experience [[File:OSGeo_user.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Community_Members]]:
:* [http://www.osgeo.jp/ OSGeo Japan Chapter] Board member since 2008
:* member of [http://www.gisa-japan.org/ GIS Assosiation of JAPAN]
:* member of [https://sites.google.com/site/foss4gsig/ FOSS4G special interest group] in GIS Assosiation of JAPAN

;Contact:
: Email: wata909 AT gmail DOT com
: Skype: wata909

;Profile last updated
:2013-07-11

== Asia:Korea ==

==Asia:Philippines==

== Australia ==
{{User:camerons}}
{{User:NathanW}}

== Canada ==
{{User:Dmorissette}}

== Europe:Czech Republic ==

== Europe:France ==

=== [[User:Djay|Gérald Fenoy]] ===
[[Image:Gérald Fenoy.jpg|thumb|right|100px]]

Founder and CEO of [http://www.geolabs.fr GeoLabs SARL].

Location: Lattes, France.

;OSGeo Experience [[File:OSGeo_translate.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Community_Members]] [[File:OSGeo_coder.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#Developers_and_Committee_Members]][[File:OSGeo_psc.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#Voted_position_in_an_OSGeo_community]][[File:OSGeo_user.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Community_Members]] [[File:OSGeo_charter.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Charter_Members]]

* [http://www.zoo-project.org ZOO-Project] Developper and PSC Chair,
* Creator of the original [http://www.postgis.fr french web site for PostGIS],
* Provide training, use and develop (WEB-)GIS applications based on OSGeo Libraries / Applications,
* Active in the [http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Senegalease OSGeo Senegal Local chapter],
* Provide Gentoo packaging and patches for proj, geos, postgis, pgRouting, mapserver and gpsbabel,
* Active at all FOSS4G international events since 2006.

;Contacts

: Phone: +33670082539
: Skype: gfenoy
: Mail: gerald DOT fenoy AT geolabs DOT fr
: IRC: djay

[[Category:OSGeo Charter Member]]
[[Category:OSGeo Member]]

== Europe:Germany ==
{{User:Arnulf Christl}}
{{User:Pebau}}

== Europe:Greece ==

== Europe:Italy ==
{{User:Madi}}

== Europe:The Netherlands ==
{{User:Ticheler}}
{{User:BarendKobben}}
{{User:Just}}

== Europe:Portugal==

== Europe:Romania ==

== Europe:Spain ==
{{User:Lluís}}
{{User:vehrka}}
{{User:Michogar}}
{{User:Delawen}}
{{User:Adiez}}
{{User:Jsanz}}

== Europe:United Kingdom ==
{{User:Ian}}

== Latin America:Argentina ==

== Latin America:Brazil ==

== Latin America:Chile ==

== Latin America: Colombia ==

== Latin America:Mexico ==

== United States ==
{{User:EliL}}

=== [http://www.redefinedhorizons.com/printingpress/landon-blakes-bio/ Landon Blake] (AKA - The Sunburned Surveyor) ===

[[File:landon_blake_portrait.jpg|100px|thumb|right|Landon Blake]]

Owner, [http://www.redefinedhorizons.com Redefined Horizons]

Location: Stockton, California, United States of America

Landon Blake is a land surveyor and GIS programmer with a focus on OpenJUMP and CAD customization.

* Web Page: [http://www.redefinedhorizons.com]
* Blog: [http://www.redefinedhorizonsblog.com]
* Twitter: [https://twitter.com/mapit4u]
* LinkedIn: [http://www.linkedin.com/in/landonblake]

;OSGeo Experience
* Volunteer Editor of the OSGeo Journal
* Board Representative for the OSGeo California Chapter

;Contact:
: Email: sunburned dot surveyor at gmail dot com
: Phone (Home): 209-464-2612
: Phone (Cell): 209-298-7521
: Skype:

;Profile last updated: 07 14 2013

= Past OSGeo Advocates =
This section lists prior listed Advocates who have not recently updated their profiles.

== Africa:Ghana ==
{{User:Eyedol}}

== Africa:South Africa ==
{{User:Sokolic}}
{{User:Timlinux}}

== Asia:India ==
{{User:ravivundavalli}}

== Asia:Japan ==
{{User:Yoichi}}

== Asia:Korea ==
{{User:Sanghee}}

==Asia:Philippines==
{{User:Maning}}

== Australia ==
{{User:jive}}

== Canada ==
{{User:Aross}}
{{User:Gzeiss}}
{{User:Mdavis}}
{{User:Pwramsey3}}

== Europe:Czech Republic ==
{{User:Jachym}}
{{User:KarelCharvat}}

== Europe:France ==
{{User:Djay}}
{{User:JRM}}
{{User:grizonnetm}}
{{User:NBozon}}
{{User:volaya}}

== Europe:Germany ==
{{User:Arnulf Christl}}
{{User:Astrid_Emde}}
{{User:misev}}
{{User:Stefan_A._Tzeggai}}
{{User:Thomas_Baschetti}}

== Europe:Greece ==
{{User:Kalxas}}
{{User:ArArgyridis}}
{{User:kotzino}}

== Europe:Italy ==
{{User:Aaime}}
{{User:Aghisla}}
{{User:Lucadelu}}
{{User:Madi}}
{{User:Maxi71}}
{{User:epifanio}}
{{User:Moovida}}
{{Talk:Markus_Neteler}}

== Europe:The Netherlands ==
{{User:Just}}
{{User:Milovanderlinden}}
{{User:Genuchten}}

== Europe:Portugal==
{{User:Lutra}}

== Europe:Romania ==
{{User:Vasile}}

== Europe:Spain ==

== Europe:United Kingdom ==
{{User:Ian}}
{{User:Ianturton}}
{{User:JoCook}}
{{User:Stevenfeldman}}
{{User:Sanand}}

== Latin America:Argentina ==
{{User:Maurimiranda}}

== Latin America:Brazil ==
{{User:Fsc7}}

== Latin America:Chile ==
{{User:Perriger}}

== Latin America: Colombia ==
{{User:Eamado}}

== Latin America:Mexico ==
{{User:Aborrell}}

== United States ==
{{User:Alex Mandel}}
{{User:Brian Hamlin}}
{{User:Dnewcomb}}
{{User:Amyonthemap}}
{{User:warmerda}}
{{User:Helena}}
{{User:Surveyor}}
{{User:Mark Lucas}}
{{User:mpg}}
{{User:pmbatty}}
{{User:Rburhum}}
{{User:Sdlime}}
{{User:Woodbri}}

= Understanding OSGeo roles =

Below is an explanation of roles which Advocates might have been involved in as part of OSGeo:

====[[File:OSGeo_board.png]] [[File:OSGeo_exboard.png]] OSGeo Board Members====
: We only have 9 active OSGeo board members in the world, which have been peer selected based upon their outstanding leadership in the greater OSGeo community.

====[[File:OSGeo_charter.png]] OSGeo Charter Members====
: Charter membership is obtained through a strongly contested selection process. Members tend to be developers and leaders in one or more OSGeo projects, and/or OSGeo business leaders, and have a deep understanding in many of the OSGeo projects and principles of Open Source.

==== [[File:SolKatz.png]] Sol Katz Award ====
: Every year, OSGeo presents the prestigious [http://www.osgeo.org/solkatz Sol Katz Award] to one individual who has demonstrated leadership and contributed significantly to advance open source ideals in the geospatial realm.

====[[File:OSGeo_chair.png]] [[File:OSGeo_psc.png]] Voted position in an OSGeo community====
: These people hold a position of responsibility within one of the OSGeo sub-communities. This may be a chair of an OSGeo committee or board member of a Regional Chapter, or a member of a project's Project Steering Committee (PSC).

====[[File:OSGeo_coder.png]] [[File:OSGeo_committee.png]] Developers and Committee Members====
: This is where the real work gets done developing and coordinating development of OSGeo Software.

====[[File:OSGeo_user.png]] OSGeo Community Members====
: These people are actively involved in one or more OSGeo communities, acting as practitioners, users, promoters or supporters of OSGeo software. These people tend to have a practical understanding about how OSGeo software works.

====[[File:OSGeo_translate.png]] OSGeo Translators====
: These people have translated documentation for OSGeo-Live, and/or OSGeo projects. They usually have an established understanding of OSGeo topics and can present them in local languages.

= Process for becoming an OSGeo Advocate =

Anyone fitting one of the [[OSGeo_Advocate#Understanding_OSGeo_roles|OSGeo Advocate categories]], may put themselves forward as an OSGeo Advocate. To do so, you will need to:
* Create an OSGeo wiki account, to edit this wiki (See "login" link in top right of this page).
* Add a portrait photo of yourself using the [http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Special:Upload Upload file] link in left margin in each page.
* Create a new wiki page http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/User:YourOSGeoWikiUserName, and populate as per [[User:Template]], (copy and paste from the [http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php?title=User:Template&action=edit source] so that you see comments in the template).
* You can then add your profile on [[OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Advocates|this wiki page]], under your Region:Country, names ordered alphabetically by First name, using the following:
{{User:<YourOSGeoWikiUserName>}}

= Annual Refresh of Advocate list =
* The list of OSGeo Advocates will be refreshed annually, after the annual voting of OSGeo Charter Members. This will be achieved by removing lapsed Advocates, then moving all Current Advocates into the Past Advocate section. All Advocates will be invited to update their profile, and move their profile back into the current Advocates section.

= Expenses =

This OSGeo Advocate list has been designed to help event organisors find local authoritative speakers. Events wishing to import keynote speakers should anticipate covering expenses of these speakers. Note that OSGeo is a volunteer driven organisation without paid positions of authority and OSGeo doesn't budget to cover travel expenses. Note also that unlike proprietary companies, a company promoting Open Source software don't earn license fees when a delegate is convinced to start using the free software.

When budgeting for keynote speakers expect to cover the following expenses:
* Travel, typically including:
** airfare
** visa
** travel insurance (including overseas medical, trip disruption, lost luggage, etc)
** meals during travel
** transit costs to local and host airports
* Accommodation
** standard 3 or 4 star hotel within walking distance of the event
** high speed internet
* Per diem costs
** 3 meals a day
* Speakers fee
** typically $US 1000 per day. (Note that OSGeo volunteer speakers usually have a full time job and will be loosing wages for the duration of the event)

For a rough guide of travel costs refer to the [http://aoprals.state.gov/web920/per_diem.asp US Department of State costs]

Individual speakers may waive any of these costs if attracted to the event for other reasons, and final costs are to be negotiated with the selected speaker.

= Other Resources =
Links to other organizations running a similar process.
* http://www.ogcnetwork.net/node/1585

OSGeo Advocate

2013-07-21T13:43:41Z

Gfleming: /* Africa:South Africa */

__FORCETOC__

= Introduction =

OSGeo Advocates are authoritative OSGeo personalities who have volunteered to talk on behalf of the [http://osgeo.org OSGeo foundation]. Advocates should be able to speak well, even better if they are entertaining.

There are hundreds, if not thousands of conferences around the world which have an interest in seeing presentations from authoritative speakers, with deep insights into topics related to Open Source Geospatial Software. Luckily, OSGeo is fortunate to draw extensive membership from around the world, and has access to such authoritative figures within most countries.

= Advocates =

== Advocate Map ==


{{#umAllUserMap:}}

== Africa:Ghana ==

== Africa:South Africa ==

== Asia:India ==

== Asia:Japan ==
===[http://cse.niaes.affrc.go.jp/niwasaki/ Nobusuke Iwasaki]===

[[File:Iwasaki.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Nobusuke Iwasaki]]

Senior Researcher, [http://www.niaes.affrc.go.jp/index_e.html National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences]

Location: Tsukuba, Japan

Nobusuke Iwasaki is researcher of land use change and rural planning and extensively using FOSS4G. Also, he is one of the main organizers of FOSS4G-Japan event and proactively commits promotion and dissemination of FOSS4G, especially academic sector. He strongly contributes [http://www.osgeo.jp/foss4g-mext/ some academic project which aims utilization of satellite image and FOSS4G for beginners and non-specialist user].
The major his product is [http://habs.dc.affrc.go.jp Historical Agro-Environmental Browsing System (HABS)], which is commended [http://psgsv2.gsi.go.jp/koukyou/G-award/list_award1.html the first Cyber Japan Award].

;OSGeo Experience [[File:OSGeo_user.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Community_Members]]:
:* [http://www.osgeo.jp/ OSGeo Japan Chapter] Board member since 2008
:* member of [http://www.gisa-japan.org/ GIS Assosiation of JAPAN]
:* member of [https://sites.google.com/site/foss4gsig/ FOSS4G special interest group] in GIS Assosiation of JAPAN

;Contact:
: Email: wata909 AT gmail DOT com
: Skype: wata909

;Profile last updated
:2013-07-11

== Asia:Korea ==

==Asia:Philippines==

== Australia ==
{{User:camerons}}
{{User:NathanW}}

== Canada ==
{{User:Dmorissette}}

== Europe:Czech Republic ==

== Europe:France ==

=== [[User:Djay|Gérald Fenoy]] ===
[[Image:Gérald Fenoy.jpg|thumb|right|100px]]

Founder and CEO of [http://www.geolabs.fr GeoLabs SARL].

Location: Lattes, France.

;OSGeo Experience [[File:OSGeo_translate.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Community_Members]] [[File:OSGeo_coder.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#Developers_and_Committee_Members]][[File:OSGeo_psc.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#Voted_position_in_an_OSGeo_community]][[File:OSGeo_user.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Community_Members]] [[File:OSGeo_charter.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Charter_Members]]

* [http://www.zoo-project.org ZOO-Project] Developper and PSC Chair,
* Creator of the original [http://www.postgis.fr french web site for PostGIS],
* Provide training, use and develop (WEB-)GIS applications based on OSGeo Libraries / Applications,
* Active in the [http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Senegalease OSGeo Senegal Local chapter],
* Provide Gentoo packaging and patches for proj, geos, postgis, pgRouting, mapserver and gpsbabel,
* Active at all FOSS4G international events since 2006.

;Contacts

: Phone: +33670082539
: Skype: gfenoy
: Mail: gerald DOT fenoy AT geolabs DOT fr
: IRC: djay

[[Category:OSGeo Charter Member]]
[[Category:OSGeo Member]]

== Europe:Germany ==
{{User:Arnulf Christl}}
{{User:Pebau}}

== Europe:Greece ==

== Europe:Italy ==
{{User:Madi}}

== Europe:The Netherlands ==
{{User:Ticheler}}
{{User:BarendKobben}}
{{User:Just}}

== Europe:Portugal==

== Europe:Romania ==

== Europe:Spain ==
{{User:Lluís}}
{{User:vehrka}}
{{User:Michogar}}
{{User:Delawen}}
{{User:Adiez}}
{{User:Jsanz}}

== Europe:United Kingdom ==
{{User:Ian}}

== Latin America:Argentina ==

== Latin America:Brazil ==

== Latin America:Chile ==

== Latin America: Colombia ==

== Latin America:Mexico ==

== United States ==
{{User:EliL}}

=== [http://www.redefinedhorizons.com/printingpress/landon-blakes-bio/ Landon Blake] (AKA - The Sunburned Surveyor) ===

[[File:landon_blake_portrait.jpg|100px|thumb|right|Landon Blake]]

Owner, [http://www.redefinedhorizons.com Redefined Horizons]

Location: Stockton, California, United States of America

Landon Blake is a land surveyor and GIS programmer with a focus on OpenJUMP and CAD customization.

* Web Page: [http://www.redefinedhorizons.com]
* Blog: [http://www.redefinedhorizonsblog.com]
* Twitter: [https://twitter.com/mapit4u]
* LinkedIn: [http://www.linkedin.com/in/landonblake]

;OSGeo Experience
* Volunteer Editor of the OSGeo Journal
* Board Representative for the OSGeo California Chapter

;Contact:
: Email: sunburned dot surveyor at gmail dot com
: Phone (Home): 209-464-2612
: Phone (Cell): 209-298-7521
: Skype:

;Profile last updated: 07 14 2013

= Past OSGeo Advocates =
This section lists prior listed Advocates who have not recently updated their profiles.

== Africa:Ghana ==
{{User:Eyedol}}

== Africa:South Africa ==
{{User:Sokolic}}
{{User:Timlinux}}

== Asia:India ==
{{User:ravivundavalli}}

== Asia:Japan ==
{{User:Yoichi}}

== Asia:Korea ==
{{User:Sanghee}}

==Asia:Philippines==
{{User:Maning}}

== Australia ==
{{User:jive}}

== Canada ==
{{User:Aross}}
{{User:Gzeiss}}
{{User:Mdavis}}
{{User:Pwramsey3}}

== Europe:Czech Republic ==
{{User:Jachym}}
{{User:KarelCharvat}}

== Europe:France ==
{{User:Djay}}
{{User:JRM}}
{{User:grizonnetm}}
{{User:NBozon}}
{{User:volaya}}

== Europe:Germany ==
{{User:Arnulf Christl}}
{{User:Astrid_Emde}}
{{User:misev}}
{{User:Stefan_A._Tzeggai}}
{{User:Thomas_Baschetti}}

== Europe:Greece ==
{{User:Kalxas}}
{{User:ArArgyridis}}
{{User:kotzino}}

== Europe:Italy ==
{{User:Aaime}}
{{User:Aghisla}}
{{User:Lucadelu}}
{{User:Madi}}
{{User:Maxi71}}
{{User:epifanio}}
{{User:Moovida}}
{{Talk:Markus_Neteler}}

== Europe:The Netherlands ==
{{User:Just}}
{{User:Milovanderlinden}}
{{User:Genuchten}}

== Europe:Portugal==
{{User:Lutra}}

== Europe:Romania ==
{{User:Vasile}}

== Europe:Spain ==

== Europe:United Kingdom ==
{{User:Ian}}
{{User:Ianturton}}
{{User:JoCook}}
{{User:Stevenfeldman}}
{{User:Sanand}}

== Latin America:Argentina ==
{{User:Maurimiranda}}

== Latin America:Brazil ==
{{User:Fsc7}}

== Latin America:Chile ==
{{User:Perriger}}

== Latin America: Colombia ==
{{User:Eamado}}

== Latin America:Mexico ==
{{User:Aborrell}}

== United States ==
{{User:Alex Mandel}}
{{User:Brian Hamlin}}
{{User:Dnewcomb}}
{{User:Amyonthemap}}
{{User:warmerda}}
{{User:Helena}}
{{User:Surveyor}}
{{User:Mark Lucas}}
{{User:mpg}}
{{User:pmbatty}}
{{User:Rburhum}}
{{User:Sdlime}}
{{User:Woodbri}}

= Understanding OSGeo roles =

Below is an explanation of roles which Advocates might have been involved in as part of OSGeo:

====[[File:OSGeo_board.png]] [[File:OSGeo_exboard.png]] OSGeo Board Members====
: We only have 9 active OSGeo board members in the world, which have been peer selected based upon their outstanding leadership in the greater OSGeo community.

====[[File:OSGeo_charter.png]] OSGeo Charter Members====
: Charter membership is obtained through a strongly contested selection process. Members tend to be developers and leaders in one or more OSGeo projects, and/or OSGeo business leaders, and have a deep understanding in many of the OSGeo projects and principles of Open Source.

==== [[File:SolKatz.png]] Sol Katz Award ====
: Every year, OSGeo presents the prestigious [http://www.osgeo.org/solkatz Sol Katz Award] to one individual who has demonstrated leadership and contributed significantly to advance open source ideals in the geospatial realm.

====[[File:OSGeo_chair.png]] [[File:OSGeo_psc.png]] Voted position in an OSGeo community====
: These people hold a position of responsibility within one of the OSGeo sub-communities. This may be a chair of an OSGeo committee or board member of a Regional Chapter, or a member of a project's Project Steering Committee (PSC).

====[[File:OSGeo_coder.png]] [[File:OSGeo_committee.png]] Developers and Committee Members====
: This is where the real work gets done developing and coordinating development of OSGeo Software.

====[[File:OSGeo_user.png]] OSGeo Community Members====
: These people are actively involved in one or more OSGeo communities, acting as practitioners, users, promoters or supporters of OSGeo software. These people tend to have a practical understanding about how OSGeo software works.

====[[File:OSGeo_translate.png]] OSGeo Translators====
: These people have translated documentation for OSGeo-Live, and/or OSGeo projects. They usually have an established understanding of OSGeo topics and can present them in local languages.

= Process for becoming an OSGeo Advocate =

Anyone fitting one of the [[OSGeo_Advocate#Understanding_OSGeo_roles|OSGeo Advocate categories]], may put themselves forward as an OSGeo Advocate. To do so, you will need to:
* Create an OSGeo wiki account, to edit this wiki (See "login" link in top right of this page).
* Add a portrait photo of yourself using the [http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Special:Upload Upload file] link in left margin in each page.
* Create a new wiki page http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/User:YourOSGeoWikiUserName, and populate as per [[User:Template]], (copy and paste from the [http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php?title=User:Template&action=edit source] so that you see comments in the template).
* You can then add your profile on [[OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Advocates|this wiki page]], under your Region:Country, names ordered alphabetically by First name, using the following:
{{User:<YourOSGeoWikiUserName>}}

= Annual Refresh of Advocate list =
* The list of OSGeo Advocates will be refreshed annually, after the annual voting of OSGeo Charter Members. This will be achieved by removing lapsed Advocates, then moving all Current Advocates into the Past Advocate section. All Advocates will be invited to update their profile, and move their profile back into the current Advocates section.

= Expenses =

This OSGeo Advocate list has been designed to help event organisors find local authoritative speakers. Events wishing to import keynote speakers should anticipate covering expenses of these speakers. Note that OSGeo is a volunteer driven organisation without paid positions of authority and OSGeo doesn't budget to cover travel expenses. Note also that unlike proprietary companies, a company promoting Open Source software don't earn license fees when a delegate is convinced to start using the free software.

When budgeting for keynote speakers expect to cover the following expenses:
* Travel, typically including:
** airfare
** visa
** travel insurance (including overseas medical, trip disruption, lost luggage, etc)
** meals during travel
** transit costs to local and host airports
* Accommodation
** standard 3 or 4 star hotel within walking distance of the event
** high speed internet
* Per diem costs
** 3 meals a day
* Speakers fee
** typically $US 1000 per day. (Note that OSGeo volunteer speakers usually have a full time job and will be loosing wages for the duration of the event)

For a rough guide of travel costs refer to the [http://aoprals.state.gov/web920/per_diem.asp US Department of State costs]

Individual speakers may waive any of these costs if attracted to the event for other reasons, and final costs are to be negotiated with the selected speaker.

= Other Resources =
Links to other organizations running a similar process.
* http://www.ogcnetwork.net/node/1585

Geoservices REST API

2013-05-16T13:46:42Z

Gfleming: /* Signed */

This wiki page aims to collate community concerns related to the adoption of the "Geoservices REST API" document as a standard of the [http://www.opengeospatial.org/ Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)]. The page has been collaboratively edited, and delivered by the board of the [http://osgeo.org OSGeo Foundation (OSGeo)] to the OGC and OGC voting members on Wednesday 15 May 2013.

The original document delivered can be found here: http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Geoservices_REST_API

= Cover Letter from the OSGeo Board =

The board of the [http://osgeo.org Open Source Geospatial Foundation] (OSGeo) is presenting this letter to the OGC. The letter highlights concerns about the "GeoServices REST API" from many people within the OSGeo community. As always, if there is anything the OSGeo board can do to help, then please let us know.

Signed: Jeff McKenna (OSGeo president),
Peter Batty,
Jáchym Čepický,
Michael Gerlek,
Anne Ghisla,
Mark Lucas,
Daniel Morissette,
Cameron Shorter,
Frank Warmerdam

= Open Letter to OGC and voting members =

May 2013

We, the undersigned, have concerns that approving the "Geoservices REST API" as an OGC standard, will have detrimental impacts on interoperability within the spatial industry.

We strongly urge that the proposed "Geoservices REST API", as it stands in May 2013, be rejected as an OGC standard.

People have listed different reasons for concern. These concerns are described below.

== Signed ==
''Please add your name here if you agree with the above statement. Include name, work title (if appropriate), very brief title/involvement in OSGeo if appropriate. (Link to OSGeo profile if appropriate). You may sign as a group, such as the Project Steering Committee of XXX project if you wish, or as Your Name on behalf of YYY company.''

# [[User:camerons|Cameron Shorter]], Geospatial Solutions Director at [http://lisasoft.com LISAsoft], core contributor & coordinator of [http://live.osgeo.org OSGeo-Live], OSGeo Board member
# [[Mark Lucas]], Founding member and board of directors for OSGeo foundation, Principal Scientist for RadiantBlue Technologies Inc.
# [[User:Woodbri|Stephen Woodbridge]], Director of [http://imaptools.com iMaptools.com], Contributor and/or PSC of [http://mapserver.org Mapserver], [http://pgrouting.org/ pgRouting], [http://www.pagcgeo.org/ PAGC], and [http://www.postgis.org/ PostGIS]
# [[User:rouault|Even Rouault]], Geospatial developer, OSGeo Charter Member, core contributor and PSC member of [http://gdal.org GDAL/OGR], contributor of [http://mapserver.org Mapserver], [http://trac.osgeo.org/proj/ PROJ.4], [http://trac.osgeo.org/geotiff/ libgeotiff], [http://shapelib.maptools.org/ shapelib], [http://www.remotesensing.org/libtiff/ libtiff]
# Gerhard Triebnig, Managing Director at [http://eox.at EOX IT Services GmbH]
# [[User:pcreso|Brent Wood]], Environmental Information Delivery Programme Leader, NIWA, New Zealand. OGC member, Aust/NZ OSGEO chapter member, NZOSS Council member
# [[User:Schpidi|Stephan Meissl]], CTO at [http://eox.at EOX IT Services GmbH], contributor to [http://mapserver.org Mapserver], PSC chair of [http://eoxserver.org EOxServer]
# [[User:ticheler|Jeroen Ticheler]], Director of [http://geocat.net GeoCat], project founder and PSC chair of [http://geonetwork-opensource.org GeoNetwork opensource]
# [[User:Just|Just van den Broecke]], Director at [http://www.justobjects.nl Just Objects], contributor to [http://heron-mc.org Heron Mapping Client], secretary of [http://osgeo.nl OSGeo Dutch Local Chapter], member at [http://www.opengeogroep.nl OpenGeoGroep]
# [[User:milovanderlinden|Milo van der Linden]], member at [http://www.opengeogroep.nl OpenGeoGroep]
# [[User:surveyor|Landon Blake]], GIS Department Manager/Land Surveyor at [http://www.ksninc.com KSN], OSGeo California Chapter Board Representative.
# [[User:dmorissette|Daniel Morissette]], President at [http://mapgears.com/ Mapgears], OSGeo Board member, core contributor and PSC member of [http://mapserver.org Mapserver] and [http://gdal.org GDAL/OGR]. Former OGC TC member and involved in the implementation of several OGC WxS specs in MapServer.
# [[User:blammo|Bob Basques]], GIS Systems Developer at the City of Saint Paul, MN. [http://gis.ci.stpaul.mn.us Public Works GIS (GISmo)], Technical Director at [http://www.sharedgeo.org SharedGeo], OSGeo Charter Member, OSGeo TCMUG local chapter member, Co-founder and PSC member of [http://www.geomoose.org GeoMoose] project.
# [[User:vehrka|Pedro-Juan Ferrer Matoses]], PM at Omnium Strategic Intelligence, Spain, OSGeo Charter Member, OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter Liaison officer.
# Bevan Rudge, Director Lucion Limited, IT Advisor at Conservation Strategy Fund, Esri client
# [[User:Delawen|María Arias de Reyna]], software engineer at [http://geocat.net GeoCat], Spain, member of OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter.
# [[User:Aghisla|Anne Ghisla]], OSGeo Board Member, Italy, member of OSGeo Italian Local Chapter.
# [[User:Michogar|Micho Garcia]], Freelance and member of [http://geomati.co geomati.co], Spain, member of Spanish Local Chapter
# [[User:Madi|Margherita Di Leo]], OSGeo Charter Member, Post-doctoral researcher at the European Commission, JRC, Italy
# [[Jorge Sanz]], GIS Consultant at [http://www.prodevelop.es Prodevelop], OSGeo Charter Member, OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter Member, Spain
# [[Pablo Sanxiao]], CTO and co-founder at [http://www.icarto.es iCarto], OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter Member, Spain
# [[User:Fsteggink|Frank Steggink]], GIS software developer at [http://www.vicrea.nl Vicrea], The Netherlands, member of the Dutch Local Chapter
# [[User:Olivier.courtin|Olivier Courtin]], [http://www.oslandia.com Oslandia] co-founder, core contributor or/and PSC member of [http://mapserver.org Mapserver] and [http://www.postgis.org/ PostGIS]. OGC TC member.
# [[User:Bolosig|Wladimir Szczerban]], OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter Member, Spain
# [[User:AnitaGraser|Anita Graser]], GIS specialist with AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, OSGeo Charter member and QGIS team member.
# [[User:Vmische|Volker Mische]], geospatial software engineer, creator of GeoCouch
# [[User:Ivansanchez|Iván Sánchez]], OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter Member, head of [http://www.openstreetmap.es OpenStreetMap Spain], [http://osmfoundation.org OpenStreetMap Foundation] member, [http://hot.openstreetmap.org/ Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team] member, [http://www.idee.es/ Spanish SDI working group] member
# [[User:Gabi|Gabriel Carrión]], Strategy Manager at [http://www.gvsig.com gvSIG association]
# [http://strk.keybit.net Sandro Santilli], OSGeo Charter Member, [http://postgis.net PostGIS] and [http://trac.osgeo.org/geos GEOS] PSC member and core hacker.
# [[User:Javiarch|Javier Diaz]], member of Geoinquietos Bs As [http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Category:Geoinquietos_Buenos_Aires], member of the Organizing Committee FOSS4G Bs As 2013 [http://www.foss4g-ba.org/]
# [[User: JoCook|Jo Cook]], Consultant at [http://isharemaps.com| Astun Technology], former Director of OSGeo, Charter Member, founder of UK Local Chapter, Deputy Chair of [http://2013.foss4g.org| FOSS4G 2013]
# [[User: Fpenarru | Francisco José Peñarrubia]], CTO and co-founder at [http://www.scolab.es SCOLAB]. Members of [http://www.gvsig.com gvSIG Association]
# [[User: Ganesh|Shanmugam Ganeshkumar]], Director of [http://www.geoicon.com GeoICON], member OSGeo Malaysia Chapter
# [[User:Barryrowlingson|Barry Rowlingson]], Senior Researcher, Lancaster University and Software Sustainability Institute Fellow
# [[User: Sfkeller|Stefan Keller]], University of Applied Sciences, Rapperswil (Switzerland), Member of Swiss OSM (SOSM) and QGIS association and of organizing committees of pgConf.DE and FOSSGIS 2013, and member of eCH (e-government standards of Switzerland)
# [[User: AndyBMapMan|Andrew Bailey]], OSGeo member, Astun Technology
# [[User: Sanand|Suchith Anand]], OSGeo Charter member, OSGeo Education member, FOSS4G 2013 LOC member
# [[User: krefftc|Carlos Krefft]], GIS software developer at [http://www.cstars.miami.edu CSTARS - University of Miami], OGC and OSGeo Member.
# [[User:Steko|Stefano Costa]], OSGeo member, GFOSS.it member and former board member, Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali (Italy)
# [[User:pebau|Peter Baumann]], [http://www.jacobs-university.de/lsis Jacobs University], OGC member, WCS.SWG chair, editor of 10+ specs (disclaimer: this is an expression of my personal opinion and not in any way endorsed by OGC)
# [[User:pmbatty|Peter Batty]], CTO of Geospatial Division at [http://www.ubisense.net Ubisense], OSGeo board member, former CTO of [http://intergraph.com Intergraph] and [http://www.gedigitalenergy.com/gis.htm GE Smallworld], Technical Committee member of OGC in its formative years c 1995-97
# [[User: BarendKobben | Barend Köbben]], OSGEO Chartered Member, OSGeo.nl Dutch chapter treasurer, Senior Lecturer at [http://www.itc.nl ITC-University of Twente]
# [[User: pcav | Paolo Cavallini]], [http://www.faunalia.it Faunalia], OSGeo member, GFOSS.it member and former president, QGIS-PSC
# [[User: fthamura| FRans Thamura]], [http://www.osgeo.or.id Indonesia], OSGeo Indonesia, organizer]
# [[User: Endofcap| Sanghee Shin]], Founder and CEO of [http://www.gaia3d.com Gaia3D], OSGeo Charter Member, Representative of [http://www.osgeo.kr OSGeo Korean Chapter], Chairman of Open Source GIS Alliance Korea
# [[User: rentairo| Benni Purwonegoro]],Indonesia, IT-Spatial Engineer @ Geospatial Information Agency .
# [[User: jachym| Jachym Cepicky]], Czech Republic, member of OSGeo Board of Directors
# [[User: cappelaere| Pat Cappelaere]], Vightel Corporation
# [[User: JuergenFischer|Jürgen Fischer]], norBIT GmbH, QGIS core developer
# [[User: Maria|Maria Antonia Brovelli]], OSGeo Charter member, OSGeo Education member, GIS Professor and Vice Rector for the Como Campus at [http://www.polimi.it/en Politecnico di Milano], Italy
# [[User:Nachouve |Nacho Varela]], GIS Consultant, OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter Member, Spain
# [[User:vasile |Vasile Craciunescu]], OSGeo Charter member, OSGeo Romania Local Chapter Leader, Researcher at Romanian National Meteorological Administration, Romania
# [[User:badaveil |Abbas Abdul Wahab]], Asst. Director, Federal Department of Town & Country Planning, Peninsular Malaysia
# [[User:rbraam | Roy Braam]], Software Engineer @ [http://www.b3partners.nl | B3Partners]
# [[User:peteris | Peteris Bruns]], Latvia, GIS Consultant & Software Engineer @ [http://www.sungis.lv | SunGIS]
# [[User:Lutra | Giovanni Manghi]], Portugal, [http://www.faunalia.pt Faunalia], OSGeo member, OSGeo-Portugal
# [[User:Hfpmartins | Hugo Martins]], UK, [http://www.lutraconsulting.co.uk Lutra Consulting], WebGIS Developer, OSGeo-Portugal Member
# [[User:Sabb | Saber Razmjooei]], UK, [http://www.lutraconsulting.co.uk Lutra Consulting], Co-Founder
# [[User:Wellsp | Peter Wells]], UK, [http://www.lutraconsulting.co.uk Lutra Consulting], Co-Founder
# [[User:SGijzen | Sidney Gijzen]], The Netherlands, Researcher GIS @ [http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/Expertise-Services/Research-Institutes/alterra.htm Alterra, Wageningen UR]
# [[User:mfidelman | Miles Fidelman]], US, Principal, Protocol Technologies Group, LLC
# [[User:punkish | Puneet Kishor]], OSGeo Charter Member; [http://www.geology.wisc.edu Geology, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison]; [http://creativecommons.org/staff#puneetkishor Creative Commons]
# [[User:Toze | António José Silva]], Portugal, GIS Consultant, OSGeo-Portugal Member
# [[User:AndreMano | AndreMano]], Portugal, Natural History Society - GIS Department, OSGeo-Portugal Member
# [[User:maurimiranda|Mauricio Miranda]], Argentina, OSGeo Charter Member, OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter Board Member
# [[User:pmachado|Paulo Machado]], Portugal, Software Engineer @ PT Inovação
# [[User:alvaro|Alvaro Anguix]], Spain, General Manager at [http://www.gvsig.com gvSIG Association]
# [[Santiago Higuera]], CEO at [http://Mercatorlab.com Mercatorlab], OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter Board Member, Spain
# [[Alan Boudreault]], Developer at [http://mapgears.com/ Mapgears], contributor to [http://mapserver.org Mapserver] and [http://gdal.org GDAL/OGR].
# [[User:mikesaunt|Mike Saunt]], UK, Owner at [http://astuntechnology.com Astun Technology Ltd], OSGeo sponsor
# [[User:msmitherdc|Michael Smith]], OSGeo Charter Member, Physical Scientist US Army Corps of Engineers Remote Sensing GIS Center
# [[User:Kalxas|Angelos Tzotsos]], OSGeo Charter Member, Researcher at National Technical University of Athens
# [[User:Kimaidou|Michaël Douchin]], France, GIS consultant & software engineer at [http://3liz.com/ 3liz]
# [[User:PedroVenancio | Pedro Venâncio]], Portugal, GIS Analyst @ Municipality of Pinhel
# [[User:Jgrocha|Jorge Gustavo Rocha]], Portugal, GIS Professor at Universidade do Minho
# [[User:Danielkastl| Daniel Kastl]], Japan, [http://georepublic.info Georepublic], Founder
# [[Diodata|John Callahan]], US, Research Scientist and GIS/Remote Sensing Specialist, University of Delaware
# [[User:kjkalyan|Kalyan Janakiraman]], Senior Systems Analyst, Business Development Services, NSW Land and Property Information, Sydney, Australia
# [[User:goliadranger|Phillip Davis]], Director, National Geospatial Technology Center of Excellence, Texas, USA
# [[User:simonp|Simon Pigot]], contributor to and PSC member of [http://geonetwork-opensource.org GeoNetwork opensource] (speaking for myself, not an official view of my employer)
# [[User:jbryant|John Bryant]], Consultant, Mammoth Mapping, Dawson City, Canada and GIS/DB Admin, Jupiter Mines, Perth, Australia
# [[ChIossif|Christos Iossifides]], Remote Sensing Instructor, Laboratory Teaching Staff, Remote Sensing Instructor and Researcher, National Technical University of Athens
# [[User:tbowden|Tim Bowden]], Spatial Consultant, Perth, Australia
# [[User:Lucadelu|Luca Delucchi]], GIS Technician, Trento, Italy
# [[User:bartvde|Bart van den Eijnden]], GIS software developer, Utrecht, Netherlands
# [[User:eyedol|Henry Addo]], Software Developer at Ushahidi [http://ushahidi.com], contributor of [http://live.osgeo.org OSGeo-Live]
# [[User:iacovellas|Stefano Iacovella]], GIS consultant & software engineer, Rome, Italy
# [[User:Mtoonen| Meine Toonen]], Software Engineer @ [http://www.b3partners.nl B3Partners], The Netherlands
# [[User:arneke| Arne Kepp]], Software Engineer, Oslo, Norway
# [[User:Pirmin_Kalberer| Pirmin Kalberer]], Managing director [http://sourcepole.com/ Sourcepole], [http://fossgis.de FOSSGIS] member, Contributor of [http://gdal.org GDAL/OGR], [http://qgis.org QGIS], [http://mapfish.org/ Mapfish], [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuGIS UbuntuGIS], [http://live.osgeo.org OSGeo-Live], Switzerland
# [[User:hdus| Dr. Horst Düster]], Managing director [http://sourcepole.com/ Sourcepole], [http://fossgis.de FOSSGIS] member, Treasurer QGIS Project [http://qgis.org QGIS], Zürich, Switzerland
# [[User:rduivenvoorde| Richard Duivenvoorde]], Managing director & software developer [http://www.webmapper.net/ Webmapper], QGIS community member
# [[User:stevenfeldman|Steven Feldman]], Principal at [http://knowwhereconslting.co.uk KnowWhere Consulting] and Chair of the LOC for [http://2013.foss4g.org/ FOSS4G 2013]
# [[User:Edward_Mac_Gillavry| Edward Mac Gillavry]], Managing director & software developer [http://www.webmapper.net/ Webmapper]
# [[User:maximdubinin| Maxim Dubinin]], CEO at [http://www.nextgis.org/ NextGIS], head of [http://gis-lab.info GIS-Lab.info]
# [[User:flavour| Fran Boon]], PMC Chair at [http://sahanafoundation.org/ Sahana Foundation], CTO of [http://aidiq.com AidIQ]
# [[User:Ian| Ian Edwards]], Chair [http://www.osgeo.org/uk OSGeo:UK]
# [[User:Bishop|Dmitriy Baryshnikov]] Developer at [http://www.nextgis.org/ NextGIS], [http://gdal.org GDAL/OGR] committer, [http://wxgis.googlecode.com wxGIS] developer, [http://gis-lab.info GIS-Lab.info] community member
# [[User:cvanlith| Chris van Lith]], Director [http://www.b3partners.nl B3Partners], member of [http://www.opengeogroep.nl OpenGeoGroep]
# [[User:VincentP| Vincent Picavet]], co-founder of [http://www.oslandia.com Oslandia], founding member and treasurer of OSGeo-FR
# [[User:Stefan_A._Tzeggai| Stefan A. Tzeggai]], creator of [http://www.geopublishing.org/AtlasStyler AtlasStyler SLD editor], founder of [http://www.empirica-systeme.de empirica systeme gmbh]
# [[User:Rdewit| Roald de Wit]], Geospatial Software Engineer, Melbourne, Australia
# [[User:grizonnetm| Manuel Grizonnet]], working at the [http://www.cnes.fr/ French Space Agency], [http://www.orfeo-toolbox.org/otb/ ORFEO ToolBox library] developer
# [[User:RdeMoritoru| Toru Mori]], President & CEO, [http://www.orkney.co.jp Orkney, Inc.], Yokohama, Japan, Representative of OSGeo Japan Chapter, OSGeo Charter Member
# [[User:MarkusSchneider2|Markus Schneider]], TMC chair of the [http://www.deegree.org deegree project], CEO of [http://www.occamlabs.de Occam Labs]
# [[User:elena|Elena Mezzini]], Remote Sensing and GIS Technician, GFOSS.it member, Bologna, Italy
# [[User:Alexbruy|Alexander Bruy]], [http://nextgis.org NextGIS], QGIS core developer
# [[User:Dfurtado | Danilo Furtado]], Portugal, OSGeo member, OSGeo-Portugal
# [[User:Stranger | Andreas Schmitz]], Germany, deegree core developer and TMC member, CTO of [http://www.occamlabs.de Occam Labs]
# [[User:Olt | Oliver Tonnhofer]], Germany, [http://mapproxy.org MapProxy] core developer, founder & CTO of [http://www.omniscale.com Omniscale]
# [[User:Thomas_Baschetti | Thomas Baschetti]], Germany, Freelancer, Mapbender PSC Member, [http://fossgis.de FOSSGIS] member
# [[User:IanMayo | Ian Mayo]], GeoSpatial developer, UK
# [[User:imincik | Ivan Mincik]], CEO of [http://www.gista.sk GISTA s.r.o.], Slovakia
# [[User:edmar.moretti | Edmar Moretti]], Software developer, [http://www.i3geo.com i3GEO] core developer, Brazil
# [[User:Moreira | Diego Moreira]], GIS Analyst, Contributor of [http://qgis.org QGIS], Brazil
# [[User:Ginetto | Luigi Pirelli]], Freelance Analyst/Programmer, co-founder of Italian OSGEO Local Chapter [http://www.gfoss.it GFOSS.it], Italy
# [[User:kyle | Kyle Shannon]] Software Developer, contributor of [http://gdal.org GDAL/OGR], United States
# [[User:DMateos | David Mateos]], worker member at [http://www.terrativa.net Terrativa S. Coop.] and OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter Member, Spain
# [[Luis Franco]], researcher and GIS analyst at the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain
# [[User:groldan | Gabriel Roldan]], Software Developer, Argentina, OSGeo Charter Member, OSGeo Spanish Local Chapter Member
# [[User:kotzino | Dimitris Kotzinos]], OSGEO Charter Member, OSGEO Greek Chapter founder, Assistant Professor TEI of Serres, Greece
# [[User:Perriger|Stefan Steiniger]], owner of [http://www.geosteiniger.cl GEO Steiniger Ltda.], contributor to [http://openjump.org OpenJUMP GIS] and [http://www.opentripplanner.org OpenTripPlanner] and author of several FOSS4G overview articles, Canada/Chile
# [[User:Iwasaki | Nobusuke Iwasaki]], Senior Researcher, National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, Tsukuba, Japan, OSGeo Japan Chapter Board Member
# [[User:Johnson | Ross Johnson]], Land Information Officer, City of Ryde Council and NSW Committee member of Surveying & Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI)
# [[User:kumaran |Kumaran Narayanaswamy]], CEO & Managing Director of kCube Consultancy Services Pvt Ltd India.[http://www.kcubeconsulting.com], Member of India OSGeo Chapter.
# [[User:luis |Luis Fernando Bueno]], Professor at Federal University of Rondonia, researcher and GIS analyst, Brazil.
# [[User:MapperBob |Bob Bruce, FEC, P.Eng.]], Geomatics Engineer, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
# [[User:mlennert|Moritz Lennert]], Researcher in geography at the [http://www.ulb.ac.be/ Free University of Brussels (ULB)], [http://grass.osgeo.org GRASS-PSC]
# [[User:Ianturton|Ian Turton]], Software developer and open standards advocate, [http://geotools.org GeoTools-PSC]
# [[User:Djay|Gérald Fenoy]], OSGeo Charter member, Founder and CEO of GeoLabs SARL, France
# [[User:bitner|David Bitner]], OSGeo Charter member, OSGeo VP for Geodata, OSGeo Twin Cities Chapter, [http://sahanafoundation.org Sahana Software Foundation] Board of Directors, [http://www.metrogis.org MetroGIS] Coordinating Committee Chair, owner [http://dbspatial.com dbSpatial]
# [[User:Peter Loewe|Peter Löwe]], OSGeo Charter member, Senior Researcher at Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ, General Manager GISIX.com
# [[User:gfleming|Gavin Fleming]], OSGeo Charter member, owner of AfriSpatial.

= Summary =

The OGC candidate standard titled "GeoServices REST API" is currently, in May 2013, being considered to be approved as an Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standard. The vote to accept the document as a standard is unusually contentious. The controversy is the cause of this open letter.

The candidate standard was previously released for public comment and can be found [http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/requests/89 on the request for public comment page] (though public comment has been closed for now).

The candidate standard attempts to standardize a suite of web services such as a service which provides map images, a service which provides geospatial feature data, and a service which performs geospatial processing. The candidate standard focuses on interactions via a defined hierarchy of URLs and using predominantly a particular set of JSON schemas for the exchange of geospatial data.

== Criticism and Response ==

The '''criticism''' of the adoption of this particular document as an OGC Standard includes a wide variety of reasons such as:

* the OGC's process through which the document was developed which is thought to lack sufficient flexibility to respond to input from various stakeholders,
* the focus of the document on 'REST' and 'API' which is seen as not matching the ideas others have for these concepts,
* the names of the standard and of the services which are seen as potentially confusing,
* the functionality of the new services which are considered to duplicate that of existing services already standardized by the OGC such as WMS, WFS, WCS, and WPS,
* the addition of a new set of services based on new URL patterns and new JSON exchange formats which is seen as duplicating the efforts of other working groups bringing similar ideas to the updates of existing OGC services,
* the re-introduction in the new services of previously resolved interoperability issues which is seen as failing to build on the existing knowledge and experience,
* the use of the particular JSON schemas which are seen as having little industry acceptance and are incompatible with other widely used schemas, and
* the lack of implementation diversity which is thought to give the vendor of the one complete implementation an unusual commercial advantage on top of the vendor's already dominant position in the domain.

These issues have potential impacts on the use of 'Open Standards' by governments and companies, on the interoperability of software interacting with standards compliant OGC services, on the costs to developers and users of standards compliant software, on the understanding of 'Open Standards' by the public at large, and, possibly, on the reputation of the OGC as a champion of interoperability.

In particular there are concerns by some that adoption of the standard will likely result in a combination of the following:
# The cost to application developers, systems integrators, testers and sponsors to support all relevant OGC standards will be substantially increased.
# Consequently, organisations and/or applications may choose to only support one standard, or only support one standard fully.
# Sponsors (such as governments) who require compliance with OGC standards will discover that applications don't communicate together, due to applications supporting different OGC standards that essentially do the same thing.
# This will result in a diminished importance of OGC, as the "OGC standards" stamp of approval will not equate interoperability.
# After a while, in order to solve interoperability issues, a respected international organisation or program will likely take the initiative to mandate one standard as the preferred standard for all agencies to follow. To date, the OGC has provided this leadership.
# One standard taking prominance over the other will likely lead to the other being neglected or deprecated, resulting in many OGC compliant systems becoming legacy systems in the process. This should be considered an undesirable outcome for a standards organisation.

In '''response''' to these issues, the authors of the Geoservices REST API document have stated that:

* the process of the OGC has been followed completely,
* the specification actually is RESTful and does define an API,
* the name, due to the controversy, is open for modification
* the OGC does not forbid duplication of service functionality, already has duplication between the W*S and the S*S (sensor) family of standards, should not block progress in the name of 'one true way', and harmonization between the services can be considered in the future,
* the JSON format exists and functions, and
* there are alternative implementations for some of these services.

The authors also stress that the existence of a large user base shows the service is useful, and that the standardization of the services at the OGC may encourage new implementations.

The SWG has published two documents in response to various comments.
* [[file:OGC_12-642_GeoServices_REST_API_-_RFC_Comments_Response.pdf|OGC 12-646 Response to RFC Comments]] presents the responses from the Standards Working Group to the comments received from the public during the public Request for Comments (RFC).
* [[file:OGC_13-031r1_GeoServices_REST_API_-_Response_to_no_votes_r1.pdf|OGC 13-031r1 Response to 'no' votes]] presents the responses from the Standards Working Group to the reasons given by the organizations voting _no_ during the adoption vote.

= Positions on the vote =

The discussion raises a number of issues, many based upon complex technical concepts and implications. This makes it difficult for voting OGC members considering whether to support (or not) the "Geoservices REST API" as a standard. The following provides one analysis of the positions on the vote, aimed to simplify and summarize key points. However, it does not necessarily represent the opinions held by all signatories above.

; The pros for accepting the "Geoservices REST API" document as an OGC standard:

:* The OGC should be in the business of developing good standards, not in choosing which standards should be implemented.
:* The proposers of the document want to make a standard and have followed all the rules of the OGC. The work of any such group of members deserves serious, good faith consideration.
:* The need for an integrated suite of services using simple data, which is addressed (partially) by the document, is real. The proposed document is pushing the OGC on this issue.
:* The proposed document could be useful to a number of people.
:* The proposed document is not significantly more broken than the existing standards of the OGC. As one author of standards [http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/discuss/2013-May/011667.html notes]:
:''"I know how totally impossible it is to write a good standard, so the weaknesses in the existing document seem more acceptable."''

; The cons:

:* The OGC actually is, whether it should be or not, in the position of recommending interoperable standards for geospatial services. The proposed document is not good enough, has implementations dominated by one vendor's server implementation, and not publicly supported enough, to be considered at the same level as existing standards.
:* Adopting a standard implies a desire to maintain the standard, but OGC's desire to support this approach has been questioned by some. In particular, the lack of collaboration and willingness to accept recommendations from the community on this version of the "Geoservices REST API" document bodes ill for the future.
:* The overlap in functionality between the proposed services and the existing services, notably with the ongoing work to modularize the existing services, is almost 100 percent. However, compatibility is low.
:* There is already a published document: http://www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/geoservices-rest-spec.pdf so there is no need for the document to be adopted as an OGC Standard merely for interoperability with the ESRI implementation.
:* The document, as a new, separate effort, repeats mistakes which were made and since solved by the other services.
:* The document focuses on the past (notably with backwards compatibility and use of only GET/POST) not on the future.
:* The document needs a comprehensive editorial review and substantial rewriting for clarity.

; A conclusion:

Both simple answers are bad.

A simple acceptance of the standard would introduce a new set of 'OGC approved' open services. The OGC approval might enable governments to buy a XXXX-new-name-here-XXXX solution instead of a W*S or a S*S solution. The path forwards towards harmonizing the services is unclear. Fixing this document in addition to fixing the W*S services will be a pain.

Simply rejecting the solution would be bad for the OGC. It would place the OGC in the position of picking winners and losers in the standards business. It would mean that the OGC is stuck on the project of fixing the W*S standards to meet some nebulous future functionality without having any path to get there. It would discourage innovation and progress.

Is there any third way?

Well, actually, there is a different way of thinking of the issue. Overall, there appears to be a shared desire for an integrated suite of geospatial services, originally focused on a simple data model, built on the exchange of well defined resources in simple formats including JSON, accessible and usable using the core HTTP verbs, and discoverable through following HTML links and patterns of URL paths. The hope is that such a suite can be designed based on the best expertise of the OGC, can be widely supported by the community, and can be implemented and tested by multiple groups. Neither the proposed document, nor the current services meet this vision. So the work, ultimately, is on improving all the services at the OGC, first to modularize them, then to enable simple implementations, and finally to link those implementations into a functional suite. Since this is the work that is already happening, perhaps the vote is an unfortunate distraction and the productive way forward is merely to redouble the efforts to create the next versions of the standards.

= Issues with the document =

Beyond the controversy described above, there are issues with the Geoservices REST API document itself. Even if the standard deserves support, these issues could be considered blockers to the adoption of the current, May 2013, document.

The critique is incomplete because it quickly falls into a full editorial review of the text, something which takes a lot of time and effort and is beyond the scope and intent of this Open Letter.

The critique can be found at: http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Geoservices_REST_API_critique.

Note that some of these critiques hold the document to OGC's current, standards writing guidelines. The OGC has been striving to develop better standards so new standards must meet higher requirements than past standards. The lack of clarity in the proposed document is not substantially worse than many published standards but ought to be resolved in new standards.

= Further Concerns =

== Technical Concerns ==

* see [http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Geoservices_REST_API_critique#The_Technical_Approach this discussion] for detailed arguments why OGC WCS is superior to the "GeoServices REST API" Part 6. It concludes: ''In summary, the ESRI "Geoservice REST API" Imaging part is at a technological level where WCS departed from some 5 years ago. Inconciseness of the specification at large will make it difficult for third parties to come up with interoperable implementations. The components making up the ESRI "Geoservice REST API" provide natural blocks assignable to the matching SWGs. As for Part 6 of the ESRI "Geoservice REST API", if to become a standard it needs to be discussed in the WCS.SWG for harmonization, clarification, and improvement.''

== Methodological Concerns ==

* The Geoservices REST API can not be amended (other than editorial changes in the specification document), because of a requirement for backward compatibility with the ESRI implementation. This has limited improvements in this version of the candidate specification.

= Further Reading =
''Please add links to referenced documents, related news stories or blog posts here.''
* Call for comments on GeoServices REST API: http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/requests/89
* Responses from the Standards Working Group to the comments received from the public during the public Request for Comments (RFC): [[file:OGC_12-642_GeoServices_REST_API_-_RFC_Comments_Response.pdf|OGC 12-646 Response to RFC Comments]]
* Responses from the Standards Working Group to the reasons given by the organizations voting _no_ during the adoption vote: [[file:OGC_13-031r1_GeoServices_REST_API_-_Response_to_no_votes_r1.pdf|OGC 13-031r1 Response to 'no' votes]]

* Email archive of OSGeo discussions about GeoServices REST API: http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/discuss/2013-May/thread.html
* Adrian Custer's summary of technical issues (and original source of some content in this letter): http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/discuss/2013-May/011667.html
* "Is OGC Loosing its way?", letter to OGC Voters, from OGC Interoperability Movement Team Leaders, http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/discuss/2013-May/011632.html

[[Category: OGC]]
[[Category: Standards]]

Gavin Fleming

2013-05-16T13:46:04Z

Gfleming:

[[File:OSGeo_compass300.png|thumb|right|100px|Gavin Fleming]]

Owner, [http://www.afrispatial.com AfriSpatial]

Location: Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa 

Gavin is passionate about Open Source Software, Open Data and other Open philosophies that lead to interoperability, empowerment of people and helping maximise returns on government spending. He started his GIS career in 1996 after completing an MSc in genetics. His GIS experience includes thirteen years with the full suite of ESRI software but he started the FOSS GIS habit around 2002. He is a registered GISc Technologist and the [http://www.gissa.org.za/special-interest-groups/open-source GISSA FOSS SIG] chair. He worked at GIMS (now ESRI South Africa), CSIR, Mintek and SAEON before starting AfriSpatial.

;OSGeo Experience [[File:OSGeo_chair.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#Voted_position_in_an_OSGeo_community]] [[File:OSGeo_charter.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Charter_Members]] [[File:OSGeo_committee.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#Developers_and_Committee_Members]] [[File:OSGeo_user.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Community_Members]]

:* OSGeo Charter Member
:* [http://www.foss4g2008.org FOSS4G 2008] conference chair,
:* OSGeo [[ Africa_Local_Chapter | Africa Chapter]] chair
:* OSGeo Conference Committee

;Contact:
: Email: gavin AT afrispatial DOT co DOT za

;Spoken Language(s): English, Spanish, Afrikaans

;Profile last updated: 3 Sept 2012

[[Category:OSGeo Member]]

Live GIS History

2012-10-11T10:51:51Z

Gfleming: /s/lightening/lightning/

Live GIS History

2012-10-11T10:45:10Z

Gfleming: /* 17-19 October 2012, Latinoware */ 'lightening' spelt wrong in many places

Live GIS History

2012-10-11T10:43:45Z

Gfleming: /* October 2012, GISSA conference */ update post event

Gavin Fleming

2012-09-03T20:58:53Z

Gfleming:

===Gavin Fleming===

[[File:OSGeo_compass300.png|thumb|right|100px|Gavin Fleming]]

Owner, [http://www.afrispatial.com AfriSpatial]

Location: Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa (-33.744 S, 18.989 E)
{{#umAdmin: Gfleming}} {{#umUserMap: Gfleming}}

Gavin is passionate about Open Source Software, Open Data and other Open philosophies that lead to interoperability, empower people and help maximise returns on government spending. He started his GIS career in 1996 after completing an MSc in genetics. His GIS experience includes thirteen years with the full suite of ESRI software but he started the FOSS GIS habit around 2002. He is a registered GISc Technologist and the [http://www.gissa.org.za/special-interest-groups/open-source GISSA FOSS SIG] chair. He worked at GIMS (now ESRI South Africa), CSIR, Mintek and SAEON before starting AfriSpatial.

;OSGeo Experience [[File:OSGeo_charter.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Charter_Members]] [[File:OSGeo_committee.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#Developers_and_Committee_Members]] [[File:OSGeo_user.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Community_Members]]

:
:* [http://www.foss4g2008.org FOSS4G 2008] conference chair,
:* OSGeo [[ Africa_Local_Chapter | Africa Chapter]] chair
:* OSGeo Conference Committee

;Contact:
: Email: gavin AT afrispatial DOT co DOT za

;Spoken Language(s): English, Spanish, Afrikaans

;Profile last updated: 3 Sept 2012

[[Category:OSGeo Member]]

Gavin Fleming

2012-09-03T20:57:00Z

Gfleming: updated, aligned with template

===Gavin Fleming===

[[File:OSGeo_compass300.png|thumb|right|100px|Gavin Fleming]]

Owner, [http://www.afrispatial.com AfriSpatial]

Location: Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa (-33.744 S, 18.989 E)
{{#umAdmin: Gfleming}} {{#umUserMap: Gfleming}}

Gavin has applied GIS mainly in environmental fields since 1996, . I now use almost exclusively FOSS GIS in research, government and commercial applications.

Gavin started his GIS career in 1996 after completing an MSc in genetics. His GIS experience includes thirteen with the full suite of ESRI software but he started the FOSS GIS habit around 2002. He is a registered GISc Technologist and the [http://www.gissa.org.za/special-interest-groups/open-source GISSA FOSS SIG] chair. He worked at GIMS (now ESRI South Africa), CSIR, Mintek and SAEON before starting AfriSpatial. He is passionate about Open Source Software, Open Data and other Open philosophies that lead to interoperability, empower people and help maximise returns on government spending.

;OSGeo Experience [[File:OSGeo_charter.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Charter_Members]] [[File:OSGeo_committee.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#Developers_and_Committee_Members]] [[File:OSGeo_user.png|link=OSGeo_Advocate#OSGeo_Community_Members]]

:
:* [http://www.foss4g2008.org FOSS4G 2008] conference chair,
:* OSGeo [[ Africa_Local_Chapter | Africa Chapter]] chair
:* OSGeo Conference Committee

;Contact:
: Email: gavin AT afrispatial DOT co DOT za

;Spoken Language(s): English, Spanish, Afrikaans

;Profile last updated: 3 Sept 2012

[[Category:OSGeo Member]]

OSGeo Advocate

2012-09-03T20:22:23Z

Gfleming: added Gfleming

Live GIS History

2012-08-06T10:13:32Z

Gfleming: added some South Africa events

Contacts

2012-04-20T08:31:01Z

Gfleming: /* Local Chapters */ added Africa

OSGeo Projects are freestanding entities, handled by their own Project Steering Committees. Each project has been asked to provide a representative [http://erinazar.org/ erin azar] to help coordinate OSGeo involvement. These volunteers are listed by project below:

== General ==
* General Foundation Info - info@osgeo.org - [mailto:info@osgeo.org]
* [[Board of Directors]] - [[Arnulf Christl]] - arnulf at osgeo.org
* Treasurer (AC/AP) - Daniel Morissette - treasurer at osgeo.org

== Software Projects ==
'''Web Mapping'''
* [http://www.degree.org/ deegree]: [http://wiki.deegree.org/deegreeWiki/StructuresAndProcedures PSC] - Contact: [[User:JensFitzke | Jens Fitzke]]
* [http://geomajas.org Geomajas]: [http://www.geomajas.org/community/project-steering-committee PSC] - Chair: Pieter De Graef (pieter.degraef at geosparc.com)
* [http://geoserver.org GeoServer]: [http://docs.geoserver.org/latest/en/developer/policies/psc.html PSC] - Chair: Jody Garnett (jody.garnett at gmail.com)
* [http://www.mapbender.org Mapbender]: [http://www.mapbender.org/index.php/Category:PSC PSC] - Chair: Karim Malhas
* [http://www.mapfish.org MapFish]: [http://trac.mapfish.org/trac/mapfish/wiki/Community/PSC PSC] - Chair: [[User:Elem | Eric Lemoine]]
* [http://mapguide.osgeo.org/ MapGuide Open Source]: [http://mapguide.osgeo.org/psc.html PSC] - Chair: Robert Bray (robert.bray at autodesk.com)
* [http://mapserver.org/ MapServer]: [http://mapserver.org/development/rfc/ms-rfc-23.html PSC] - Chair: Stephen Lime (sdlime at comcast.net)
* [http://openlayers.org/ OpenLayers]: [http://trac.openlayers.org/wiki/SteeringCommittee PSC] - Chair: [[User:Tschaub | Tim Schaub]]

'''Desktop Applications'''
* [http://grass.osgeo.org/ GRASS GIS]: [http://grass.osgeo.org/wiki/PSC PSC] - Chair: [[Markus Neteler]]
* [http://www.ossim.org/ OSSIM]: [http://trac.osgeo.org/ossim/wiki/ossimgovernance PSC] - Chair: Garrett Potts
* [http://www.qgis.org/ Quantum GIS]: [http://wiki.qgis.org/qgiswiki/Project_Organigram PSC] - Chair: Gary Sherman (sherman at mrcc.com)
* [http://www.gvsig.org/ gvSIG]: - [[GvSIG Technical Project Committee|PSC]] - Chair: [[Jorge Sanz]]

'''Geospatial Libraries'''
* [http://fdo.osgeo.org/ FDO]: [http://fdo.osgeo.org/psc.html PSC] - Chair: Greg Boone (greg.boone at autodesk.com)
* [http://www.gdal.org/ GDAL/OGR]: [http://trac.osgeo.org/gdal/wiki/GovernanceAndCommunity PSC] - Chair: Frank Warmerdam (warmerdam@pobox.com)
* [http://www.geotools.org/ GeoTools]: [http://docs.codehaus.org/display/GEOT/4+Project+Management+Committee PSC] - Chair: Jody Garnett (jody.garnett at gmail.com)
* [http://geos.osgeo.org/ GEOS]: [http://trac.osgeo.org/geos/wiki/PSC PSC] - Chair: [[User:Strk | Sandro Santilli]] (strk at keybit.net)
* [http://metacrs.osgeo.org/ MetaCRS]: [http://metacrs.osgeo.org PSC] - Chair: Frank Warmerdam (warmerdam@pobox.com)
* [http://postgis.org/ PostGIS]: [http://postgis.org/documentation/manual-svn/ch01.html#psc PSC] - Chair: [[User:Pwramsey3 | Paul Ramsey]]

'''Metadata Catalog'''
* [http://geonetwork-opensource.org GeoNetwork opensource]: [http://trac.osgeo.org/geonetwork/wiki/PSC PSC] - Chair: Jeroen Ticheler (Jeroen.Ticheler at geocat.net)

== Committees ==
* [[Education and Curriculum Committee]] - Charlie Schweik - cschweik at pubpol.umass.edu
* [[Finance Committee]] - Daniel Morissette - dmorissette at mapgears.com
* [[Incubation Committee]] - Jody Garnett - jody.garnett at gmail.com
* [[Public Geospatial Data Committee]] - David William Bitner - bitner at dbspatial.com
* [[Marketing Committee]] - Cameron Shorter - cameron.shorter at gmail.com
* [[SAC|System Administration Committee]] - Alex Mandel - tech_dev at wildintellect.com
* [[Website Committee]] - Christopher Schmidt - crschmidt at metacarta.com
* [[Conference Committee]] - Jeff McKenna - jmckenna at gatewaygeomatics.com
* OSGeo [[Journal]]

== Packaging ==
* [http://live.osgeo.org OSGeo-Live] - Cameron Shorter - cameron.shorter at gmail.com

== Local Chapters ==

Contacts list for the [[:Category:Local_Chapters|local chapters]]:
* [[Ottawa Chapter]] - Scott Mitchell - smitch at mac.com
* [[China]] - Chen Rongguo - chenrg at lreis.ac.cn
* [[Japan]] - Mr. Mori Toru - moritoru at orkney.co.jp
* [[Korea | Korean Language Chapter]] - [[User:Endofcap|Sanghee Shin]] - shshin at gaia3d.com or endofcap at gmail.com
* [[KSA Chapter]] - Awase Khirni Syed - awasekhirni at gmail.com
* [[India]] - P.S. Roy - psroy13 at gmail.com
* [[Brazil]] - Helton Uchoa - engenheiro.uchoa at gmail.com
* [[Taiwan]] - Sander Borghuis - s.borghuis at geo.uu.nl
* [[Spanish]] - [[Pedro-Juan Ferrer]] - vehrka at gmail.com
* [[Aust-NZ]] - Australia and New Zealand Chapter- Bruce Bannerman - bruce.bannerman.osgeo at gmail.com
* [[Finland]] - Ari Jolma - ajolma at osgeo.org
* [[Francophone]] - [[User:Yjacolin|yjacolin]]
* [[D-A-CH]] (German language) - [[User:Mlechner|Marco Lechner]]
* [[Nederlands | Dutch language Chapter]] - [[User:Just|Just van den Broecke]] - Kwartiermaker en primair contact
* [[California]] - Landon Blake - sunburned.surveyor at gmail dot com
* [[Quebec]] - [[User:Dmorissette|Daniel Morissette]] - dmorissette at mapgears dot com
* [[Portugal]] - Jorge Gustavo Rocha - [[Jorge_Gustavo_Rocha]], Giovanni Manghi - [[Giovanni_Manghi]]
* [[Greek]] - [[User:kotzino|Dimitris Kotzinos]] - kotzino at csd dot uoc dot gr
* [[Italy]] - [[User:epifanio|Massimo Di Stefano]] - IT -- epiesasha at me dot com
* [http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/California California Chapter] - Landon Blake sunburned dot surveyor at gmail dot com
* [http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Cascadia CUGOS - Cascadia Chapter US] - [[User:Racicot|Aaron Racicot]] - aaronr at cugos.org
* [[Twin_Cities]] - Twin Cities, MN -- David Bitner - bitner at dbspatial dot com
* [[Philippines]] - [[User:maning|Maning Sambale]] - emmanuel dot sambale at gmail dot com
* [[Africa Local Chapter]] - [[User:Gfleming|Gavin Fleming]]

== Infrastructure ==

* [[SAC:Primary Administrators]]

[[Category:Board]]
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Incubation]]
[[Category:Infrastructure]]
[[Category:PSC]]

Africa Local Chapter

2012-04-20T08:28:01Z

Gfleming: updated list membership total

The OSGeo Africa Local Chapter, which started out as a mailing list in 2005 after AfricaGIS2005, is now in the formal establishment process as per [[Local_Chapter_Guidelines]] after a successful FOSS4G 2008 in Cape Town. In April 2012 this mailing list had 510 members. The majority of these are from South Africa but there are substantial numbers from across Africa and several from around the world.

You'll find lively discussion from members across Africa covering technical issues, organising meetings, advocacy, training, work opportunities and more.

Please join the [http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/africa Africa] mailing list, and review the [http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/africa/ archive].

== Mission ==

The OSGeo Africa Chapter acts as a representative body and a forum for any issue relating to Free and Open Source GIS. By calling ourselves the Africa Chapter we mean to be inclusive to anyone who identifies with Africa. As countries or linguistic groups within Africa generate enough momentum to form their own local chapters, these will emerge and will coexist alongside or under the umbrella of the Africa Chapter. Since most African countries have arbitrary colonial boundaries in any case why perpetuate them in the borderless world of OSGeo? Perhaps the sub-groupings that make most sense are predominant linguistic groups such as Swahili, Arabic, English, French and Portuguese. As these do emerge, the current 'Africa' Local Chapter could morph into the 'Africa English Chapter' or the 'Southern Africa Chapter'.

== Objectives ==

Our objectives are to:
* Organise
* Develop skills
* Advocate FOSS GIS
* Build community

They are spelt out in our Roadmap below.

== A RoadMap for OSGeo Africa ==

=== What is needed ===

Some common refrains from amongst the people Tim spoke to at FOSS4G2008:

* we don't know what FOSS GIS products exist
* how do we choose between two or more competing FOSS GIS products that do the same thing
* how can we get training in FOSS GIS
* how do we migrate our existing set up to FOSS GIS
* how can we get (PAID and otherwise) support for FOSS GIS
* where can we get free data

There were also some heartwarming success stories of people who have already adopted FOSS in their businesses and municiplities etc. For me when I review the above laundry list of concerns and questions it becomes very obvious that we need to become organised.

=== Getting organised ===

We already have a 'home' with [http://www.gissa.org.za/gissa/sig/opensource/ GISSA] so we do not need to form a new association. At the moment that consists of turning the extant GISSA FOSS SIG (Special Interest Group) into the OSGeo Africa Local Chapter, with a seat on the GISSA National Council and access to the GISSA website, meetings and other resources. If the Chapter decides to set up an independent non-profit organisation, such as a Section 21 Company in South Africa, we are quite open to doing that in due course. But the link with GISSA enables us to move fast as we plan AFOSSGISS 2010.

I would like to take the initiative to propose that we form a 5 person working group to start to put things in place. Since I am proposing this, I obviously volunteer to be one of the members and I call on others on this list or beyond to answer this call to arms. The idea of the 5 person working group will be to bootstrap ourselves into an effective organisation which can make its presence felt both locally and beyond the shores of Africa. I also realise that this proposal may not be perfect so consider it a start that we can build on rather than a plan that has to be cast in stone. The main idea will be that each working group member will try to form a small team, typically of 5 members including the team member. One of these members would also double as official OSGeo liaison officer. Here follows a proposal for a team that will enable us to get organised and effective.

'''Advocacy Leader:'''

People don't know they have FOSS alternatives - we need to make them aware - including by making press releases, press materials, attending industry events, making contact with academic, municipal and state bodies and letting them know we exist and want to collaborate.

Volunteer: Tim Sutton <tim at linfiniti.com>

'''Education Leader:'''

We need to get FOSS GIS into schools, and provide open (e.g. creative commons) curricula. In the case of South Africa the National Curriculum Statement on Geography provides some (albeit vague) guidelines on how GIS should be included in the school curriculum (there is a link to this document on the GISSA website: [http://www.gissa.org.za/sig/education/school-gis School GIS]).

Volunteer: ?

'''Training Leader:'''

* We need to train people to use FOSS GIS.
* First we need to train create a tier of experts / power users, second they need to train people in their local areas.
* We need to start this ""soon"".
* We need to do this on a free / cost recovery basis.
* We need to establish suitable venues in each regional center that can be used for training.
* We need to build up sets of Free (unencumbered) data that can be used by anyone
* We need to build up training materials that can be used to ease the process of training people.

Volunteer: ?

'''Professional Support Leader:'''

We need to create a body of professionals who can provide on the ground support - there is a huge business opportunity here - we need to take advantage. We will call this the OSGeo Africa Professional Association (or something along those lines). The group will among other things provide a directory of FOSS support and solution providers (along with their location). The group will act as an advisory body to organisations wishing to deploy FOSS GIS. We are floating the idea of forming a Cooperative to organise ourselves professionally See under 'Cooperatives development' in the left panel of http://www.dti.gov.za/.

If you or your organisation provide any type of professional service already, get your details onto the OSGeo [[SPD|Service Provider Directory]] as a start.

Volunteer: Brendon Wolff-Piggott <brendon AT integratedgeodata.co.za>

'''Community Leader:'''

We need to build a community - this means building up a responsive, friendly mailing list. We also need to curate our area on the OSGeo wiki and build up other online resources that will allow new and established members in the OSGeo AFRICA community to find up to date relevant and helpful information to address their needs.

Volunteer: Gavin Fleming (also proposed as official OSGeo liaison representative)

=== Skills development strategy ===

I'm thinking that since we are starting pretty much from ground zero we need to structure things in a 'knowledge ladder':

4 - Becoming a FOSSGIS developer
3 - Becoming a FOSSGIS Expert
2 - Becoming a FOSSGIS User
1 - FOSSGIS Familiarisation

My suggestion is that we do a first round of workshops which basically introduce a FOSSGIS software stack to users so the can understand what can be achieved with FOSSGIS. Following that we can continue with a next round where we start building skills in particular products e.g. a day training on postgis, followed by a day on QGIS etc etc. Of course we need not expect everyone to reach level 4. although it is my hope that we can build a caucus of FOSSGIS developers in Africa so that we can play a role in shaping the future of FOSSGIS and also building up our own local skills.

The workshops can be repeated as demand dictates. Currently there is interest in Jhb, Cape Town, and now with your email Durbs. I thing the folks in East London may be interested too. It would be great if we can establish regional user groups that can eventually do the local organisation for workshops and then presenters can visit different regions and not have to manage all the arrangements solo. But to start lets aim to do 3 or 4 introductory workshops and work on from there. Workshops would be carried out at no charge for as long as we can sustain it - and we could look at ways to raise funds in order to make it sustainable - possible the likes of SITA etc could help out since what we doing would very much further the goals of skills development within FOSSGIS in South Africa. We should also look at how we can extend these activites further afield since other African countries can equally benifit.

== Our logo ==

[[Image:OSGeoAfrica logo75dpi.png]] Low res version

[[Image:OSGeoAfrica logo300dpi.png‎|500px|thumb]] 300dpi version

== Role Players ==

Everyone can be a role player - this list is just a way to keep track of the various people involved - feel free to add yourself!

{| border=1
|-
!Who
!Email
!Where
!Organisation
!Website
|-
|Tim Sutton
|tim at linfiniti.com
|Jhb, will travel
|linfiniti consulting ( http://linfiniti.com )
|-
| Stefaan Dondeyne
| stefaan_dondeyne at yahoo.co.uk
| Mozambique?
| Teaching QGIS in Mozambique
|-
| Brendon Wolff-Piggott
| brendon at integratedgeodata.co.za
| Pretoria, will travel
| [http://www.integratedgeodata.co.za integrated geodata solutions]
|-
| Gavin Fleming
| gavinjfleming at gmail.com
| Paarl, Western Cape
| [http://www.saeon.ac.za SAEON]
|-
| Jean-Francis AHANDA
| jeanfrancisahanda at opensolutions-cameroun.com
| Yaounde,Cameroon
| Open Solutions Cameroun
| [http://www.opensolutions-cameroun.com]
|-
| Graeme McFerren
| graeme dot mcferren at gmail dot com
| Jhb/Pretoria
| GIS Researcher, [http://www.meraka.org.za Meraka]
| [http://grimmeister.wordpress.com Southern Tip blog]
|-
| Alex Siyengo
| alex dot siyengo at gmail dot com
| Lusaka,Zambia
| GIS Researcher,volunteer at Southern Africa Telecentre Network
| [http://www.satnetwork.org]
|-
| Jude Mwenda
| judemwenda at gmail dot com
| Nairobi,Kenya
| GIS Developer,Freelance
| [http://www.africangeogeek.com]
|}

== Events ==

{|border=1
|-
| '''When'''
| '''Where'''
| '''Topic'''
| '''Programme'''
| '''Notes'''
|-
| 29 November 2008
| Johannesburg
| Demo & Workshop covering PostGIS, GeoServer, uDig, QGIS
| [[AfricaEvents29November2008| Programme Here]]
| Our first local community event!
|-
| 27 June 2009
| Johannesburg
| Introduction to QGIS
| [[AfricaEvents27June2009| Programme Here]]
| Our second local community event!
|-
| 13-17 July 2009
| Cape Town
| IGARSS 2009
| [[IGARSS_2009]]
| We put up the OsGeo banner and handed out brochures
|-
| 14 August 2010
| Bridge House School, Franschhoek
| QGIS day
| [[QGISDay14Aug2010 | details here]]
| Our first OSGeo event in the Western Cape since FOSS4G 2008!
|-
| Postponed
| Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa
| AFOSSGIS 2010
| http://afossgis.org/
| Our first large-scale Local Chapter meeting
|}

= Service Providers =

OSGeo wiki has a comprehensive list of Service Providers offering support services around FOSS GIS software. For you convenience, here are quick links to African providers.

{|border=1
|-
|'''Country'''
|-
|[SouthAfrica http://tinyurl.com/osgeo-southafrica-providers]
|-
|[Cameroon http://www.opensolutions-cameroun.com]
|}

= Gallery of Projects and Case Studies =

Click here to see the [[ Africa Gallery | gallery]].

[[Category:Local Chapters]]
[[Category:Africa]]
[[Category:FOSS4G2008]]

FOSS4G 2012 Beijing Milestones

2012-04-05T15:18:21Z

Gfleming: added ref to 2008

== Milestones for previous events ==

For reference, here are links to the milestones from previous conferences:

* [http://2007.foss4g.org/important_dates/ 2007]
* [http://conference.osgeo.org/index.php/foss4g/2008/schedConf/timeline 2008]
* [http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_2009_Schedule 2009]
* [http://2010.foss4g.org/milestones.php 2010]
* [http://2011.foss4g.org/content/timeline 2011]

== 2011 Milestones ==

The following is based on last year's list, we need to review and adjust if necessary

* 29 Feb 2012: Web-site release (can be early, after spring festival)
* 29 Feb 2012: Announcement of Chinese Sponsors
* 15 Mar 2012: Release of Prospectus for Sponsors
* 15 Mar 2012: Early Bird Registration opens
* 31 Mar 2012: Call for Abstracts opens
* 31 Mar 2012: Call for Workshop and tutorials opens
* 30 Apr 2012: Abstracts submission deadline
* 30 Apr 2012: Call for Workshop and tutorials closes
* 1 May 2012 to 15 May 2012: Voting for Technical Session Abstract
* 31 May 2012: Abstract acceptance
* 31 May 2012: Workshop acceptance
* 31 May 2012: Call for Full papers for Academic Session
* 15 Jun 2012: Early Registration deadline
* 1 Jul 2012: Announcement of Keynote Speakers
* 1 Jul 2012: Full papers for Academic Session submission deadline
* 10 Jul 2012: Release of Conference Program
* 10 Jul 2012: Issue for support letters for Visa commence
(Visa will be issued in 4 working days at Chinese Embassy or Consulate)in resident countries.

Talk:Open Source and Open Standards

2011-04-14T20:37:19Z

Gfleming: /* OSGeo’s position regarding Open Standards */

''This article is the collaborative work place for a White Paper to be published jointly by OGC and OSGeo. Please feel free to add comments, amend wording or open a conversation on the [http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss OSGeo Discuss] mailing list. The document should be a high level summary only and give links for further exploration of the topic. It should be under regular review to ensure up-to-dateness (check the history for latest edits and links to the stable download location).''

= Open Standards and Open Source =

: Carl Reed
: Chief Technology Officer
: The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)

: Arnulf Christl
: President
: The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo)

This White Paper will be published jointly by OGC and OSGeo. It is adapted partly from articles by Carl Reed published previously in Directions Magazine and GeoWorld. For a more comprehensive explanation of "openness", see another OGC White Paper by Carl Reed, "The Importance of Going Open". The Open Source aspect has been adapted from articles by Arnulf Christl in "FLOSS in Cadastre and Land Registration - Opportunities and Risks" in a publication by the FAO and FIG Commission 7 WG 7.3. For standardised definitions of Open Source and Free Software please refer to the Free Software Foundation (http://fsf.org) and the Open Source Initiative (http://opensource.org/).

People who don’t work in the software industry (and many who do!) often confuse the terms "open standards" and "Open Source". Below we look at what these terms mean and how they’re different.

== Open Standards ==
Communication means “transmitting or exchanging through a common system of symbols, signs or behavior.” Standards are a pre-requisite for communication, because standardization means “agreeing on a common system.” Geospatial software vendors, developers and users collaborate in the OGC's open, consensus process to develop and agree on standards that enable information systems to exchange geospatial information and instructions for geoprocessing.

A standard is like a blueprint that guides people who build things. A standard documents the use of rules, conditions, guidelines or characteristics for products or related processes and production methods. Standards can arise from a single company whose successful products become "de facto" standards (such as Microsoft’s Windows®). Standards can also be set by agreement among two or more software producers, or by government edict or a government-run process, or by representatives from multiple governments. Standards developed in governmental processes, such as those of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) or INSPIRE (http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/) in Europe, are called "de jure" standards. Alternatively, standards can be developed, as in the OGC, through an inclusive and open consensus process ordered by well defined policies and procedures. These are agreed upon by the public and private sector participants in the consensus process, and they typically agree to make their standards freely available in a non-discriminatory manner. Such standards are known as "open" standards.

Why do OGC members participate in this process? Some technology providers and users participate because their geoprocessing and geospatial information products and resources are worth more when those products and resources are part of a larger network. Some users participate because they want more choice in their selection of product vendors and better data sharing with other users. They also want to reduce their technology risk. That is, they want to ensure that the systems they buy or build will continue to provide value in years to come. Some solution provider members participate because they want more choice in their selection of platform partners. Some software producer (including Open Source developers) participate because it reduces their development costs and helps them better understand their customers' needs. There are many reasons to participate in a standards consortium like the OGC. This is substantiated by the fact that, with the growth of the Internet and Web, there are more standards consortia than ever before, and a higher percentage of IT stakeholders than ever before are participating in them. Additionally, the OGC's global membership has grown every year since the OGC was founded in 1994 and is currently more than 410 members.

The OGC defines open standards as standards that are:
# Freely and publicly available – They are available free of charge and unencumbered by patents and other intellectual property.
# Non discriminatory – They are available to anyone, any organization, any time, anywhere with no restrictions.
# No license fees - There are no charges at any time for their use.
# Vendor neutral - They are vendor neutral in terms of their content and implementation concept and do not favor any vendor over another.
# Data neutral – The standards are independent of any data storage model or format.
# Defined, documented, and approved by a formal, member driven consensus process. The consensus group remains in charge of changes and no single entity controls the standard.

The OGC's open standards are specifications for interfaces and encodings that enable interoperability between geoprocessing systems from different developers, whether employed by proprietary product vendors, independent integrators, application developers or active in Open Source projects.

The OGC's open standards are free, publicly available specifications for interfaces, encodings and best practices. They are not software.

== Open Source ==

Open Source refers to software which has been made available under a free software license with the
rights to run the program for any purpose, to study how the program works, to adapt it, and to
redistribute copies, including modifications. These freedoms guaranteed by Open Source licensing
enables a public, collaborative development model that promotes early
publishing and frequent releases.

It is sometimes helpful to understand Open Source is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of "free" as in "free speech", not as in "free beer". It means that the program's users have the four essential freedoms (from the Free Software Foundation web site at: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html):

* The freedom to run the program, for any purpose.
* The freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make it do what you wish. Access to the source code (Open Source) is a precondition for this.
* The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor.
* The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others.

The [http://www.opensource.org/ Open Source Initiative] has developed a set of 10 requirements of any software license that is to be considered an Open Source license under the [http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd Open Source Definition]. The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) supports geospatial projects which release their software under Open Source Definition compliant licenses.

Beyond the license there are a wide variety of different styles in which Open Source can be developed. Best practices for Open Development have been developed by in the open source community by authors such as Eric Raymond ([http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/ The Cathedral and the Bazaar]), and Karl Fogel ([http://producingoss.com/ Producing OSS]) and groups such as the [http://apache.org Apache Project]. These best practices include "release early, release often", "contributor meritocracy", consensus based decision making and open communication among project contributors.

These practices are followed to varying degrees by different Open Source communities. OSGeo has codified guidelines on how a project should be run in the [http://www.osgeo.org/incubator Incubation Process]. Projects wishing to join the Foundation have to abide by these rules. Users can rest assured that OSGeo projects are licensed correctly, function in an open, collaborative way and adhere to high quality standards.

=== Proprietary Software and the Difference ===
Software that does not follow all four basic principles of the Free Software definition is considered to be proprietary (or privative) software. The most important difference from Free and Open Source Software lies in the distribution terms which are typically codified in the license terms. Development style, quality processes, stability of the software, availability of service, support and maintenance are not inherently tied to the license, they have to be evaluated individually on a case by case comparison. Software is not better or worse just because of the license terms.

Sometimes the term Open Source is applied to software which is available as source code but where the distribution terms are proprietary, hence not offering the aforementioned four freedoms. This is not Open Source and not Free Software. Especially in the web and Java world and with open formats it is becoming increasingly difficult to only ship binary code. No matter what, the software must be shipped with an Open Source or Free Software license to qualify as such. This is an important distinction to easily identify real Open Source software.

== Open Data ==
Software development is the main undertaking developed and distributed using Open Source principles, but there are other examples. Recently the term "Open Data" is being used to describe the accessibility of data. Especially in the geospatial domain this is a very important aspect with lots of core data under the control of public administrations. But "Open Data" is still far from being as clearly defined as Free and Open Source Software. There are still quite a few open issues around data licensing, copyright and accessibility.

The most prominent open geospatial data project is OpenStreetMap (http://www.openstreetmap.org/) which set out to create a map of the world. Michael Goodchild coined the term "volunteered geographic data" to describe projects like this but it lacks one important aspect: The mission of OpenStreetMap includes the guarantee that the "volunteered" data is also freely available in readable source format for anyone. This is an important difference to other projects which also collect data from volunteers but deny full access to this data. This kind of "crowd sourced" data still lacks a good set of licenses but OpenStreetMap is making good progress (in a very open and community oriented way) to find a license that is compatible with as many legal systems and community requirements as possible.

== Similarities and differences – open standards and Open Source ==
There are definite similarities to the design and development processes for the open standards and Open Source communities. An open consensus process is often important to both types of activity, though some very successful Open Source projects are led by a single “benevolent dictator,” and consensus in both activities is usually “rough consensus.” However, there are also fundamental differences. An open standards organization must comply with anti-trust law and work to ensure a balance of interest in the standards development process. Further, a standards organization must have a very well defined and rigorous intellectual property policy to insure that the standards are unencumbered by patents or any other essential claims. Standards organizations usually need to commit more staff and financial resources than Open Source organizations to ensure that the IPR policy is enforced and that standards developed by the members remain royalty free. But this distinction is not definitive, as sometimes Open Source organizations like OSGeo run into intellectual property issues.

Another way to explain the difference is that software very often implements open standards but open standards do not usually depend on Open Source software. Software and applications can be built on a solid foundation of open standards, regardless of whether the software and applications are proprietary or Open Source.

If we expand the definition of Open Source to include information system architectures, then there is one OGC document that can be thought of as Open Source, though it is not licensed with Open Source licenses. A reference architecture is an Open Source architecture intended to provide architecture developers with a template and implementation guidance. The OGC Reference Model (ORM), a reference architecture, serves as a model and planning tool for organizations planning software and system purchases. It helps people see which OGC standards are relevant to their organizations' needs.

Note that the term “public domain” has been applied to both open standards and Open Source software, but this term is problematic because "public domain" has no legal meaning outside of the Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence systems. Also, in the Anglo-Saxon legal framework, "public domain" means that you can do anything with it, including using it in a proprietary context.

== The OGC’s position regarding Open Source software ==
''Leave this as is, or if needed feed back to OGC for a double check''

As a matter of policy, the OGC board of directors and staff don't favor either proprietary software or Open Source software, and we can safely say that most OGC members, even the leading software vendors, recognize value in having Open Source software available in the market. (One reason is that most information and communication technology business, even the business of software vendors, is not centered around selling proprietary licenses, but around selling services, consulting, integration, training etc.) From the OGC perspective, any developer who implements OGC standards in software or online services is doing the right thing. We don't care if the implementation is part of a proprietary product for sale or an Open Source product to be shared. We care about interoperability – the ability to share geospatial software systems or information.

Our goal is to facilitate the development, deployment and maintenance of OGC standards that help to make geospatial or location based content and services ubiquitous – to improve the ability of decision makers to address the many pressing social, environmental and economic issues they face. What's important, from the OGC’s point of view, is not the purchasing and licensing details of software products, but their adherence to a shared, open, non-proprietary system for communicating geographically.

Openness – both open standards and open software – benefits markets. Vendors of proprietary software have found, in general, that, despite their early fears of open software and open standards, business has increased in a more open and complex “business ecosystem” that includes more providers, more partnerships and more customers.

The OGC invites participation by all kinds of players. All kinds of commercial and non-commercial interests come together in our process, and we welcome a diversity of implementations. All our members are engaged in building the heterogeneous parts of the global spatial data infrastructure (GSDI). What's important, from our point of view, is not the purchasing and licensing details of the heterogeneous parts, but their shared, open, underlying, non-proprietary system of communicating geoprocessing instructions and geospatial information.

== OSGeo’s position regarding Open Standards ==
As a matter of policy, OSGeo does not prescribe to its projects the implementation of open standards but it does encourage their use. Innovation often happens outside existing standards. Also many innovations later become standards, ideally simply because they are good. Open Source innovations lend themselves ideally to standardization processes because they are not inhibited by patents or proprietary licenses.

OSGeo encourages project developers to adopt open standards. These include networking standards (HTTP), data processing standards (SQL), format standards (PNG) and many more. In the geospatial domain many of these standards are maintained and developed by the OGC resulting in a natural close relationship. In this way OSGeo members have helped to identify standards requirements which have been included into OGC standards following the OGC's policy and procedures.

OSGeo members have also contributed reference implementations for OGC standards. These are software applications that exemplify proper implementation of the standards in interfaces and encodings. Reference implementations are important resources for other programmers, who can study the source code and adapt it to suit their own applications.

== Memorandum of Understanding ==
In 2009, the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) and the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to coordinate in advancing open geospatial standards and Open Source geospatial software. As stated on the OSGeo home page, one of the Foundation’s goals is "To encourage the implementation of open standards and standards-based interoperability in foundation projects." The OSGeo's overall goal is to encourage the use and collaborative development of community-led Open Source geospatial software projects, and most of these depend on open standards like those from the OGC. Wider use of OGC standards increases interoperability, innovation and market growth, and this benefits developers and users of both Open Source and proprietary software.

Along with general commitments to expand collaboration and promote the synergy between open standards and Open Source software in the geospatial domain, the Memorandum of Understanding provides for the assignment of up to six one-year Individual Memberships in the OGC.

== Ensuring Interoperability of Proprietary and Open Source Software ==
Members of the OGC would agree that, to quote from "The Importance of Going 'Open'" (http://portal.opengeospatial.org/files/?artifact_id=6211&version=2&format=pdf ), "It is incumbent upon buyers of geoprocessing software, data and services to carefully review their requirements and then draft interoperability architecture documents that lead to purchase of solutions that implement the appropriate OGC Standards. This can be done piecemeal, one upgrade or add-on at a time, or, if it is time for the organization to put a whole new solution in place, it can be done comprehensively, all at once. OGC and OGC's members can help by examining use cases and explaining where open interfaces can be specified into the architecture on which procurements will be based."

The OGC Reference Model (ORM), as mentioned above, serves as a model and planning tool for organizations planning software and system purchases, including – very significantly – components of various kinds that may not have been planned at the outset. The ORM may be used to guide the purchase of proprietary software or Open Source software or both. It helps people see which OGC standards are relevant to their organizations' needs.

Whether proprietary or Open Source software components are chosen to implement the parts of an architecture, there needs to be a way to ensure their interoperability. Interoperability depends on users and providers being able to know whether products and systems comply with the OGC interface and encoding standards that enable interoperability. The OGC Compliance & Interoperability Testing & Evaluation (CITE) program (http://portal.opengeospatial.org/files/?artifact_id=7586) provides a way to verify correct implementation of OGC standards. Geoprocessing products – purchased or obtained free – can carry the “Certified OGC Compliant” service mark, and it is incumbent upon those who contract for the purchase or development of geospatial components and systems to be sure that their procurement language – the terms spelled out in tenders and requests for quotes (RFQs) – asks bidding product and service providers to offer OGC-compliant products and architectures.
== Conclusions ==
Open standards and Open Source software are both important parts of today’s ICT ecosystem, but they are quite different things. The OGC facilitates an open standards process and promotes the use of open standards in both proprietary and Open Source software. The OGC also promotes the use of open standards in the production and publishing of geospatial data, regardless of the policies of the producers and publishers.

Providers of both proprietary and Open Source software join the OGC to further the development and market uptake of open standards in the world geospatial market, because open standards help both types of providers. This is true also for data providers.

Users of both proprietary and Open Source software join the OGC to be sure OGC standards meet their evolving requirements, and they also join to stay abreast of changing technology and remain innovative. Users of both kinds of software have an interest in being sure their systems are part of the growing global network of interoperable geospatial resources. The best way to gain such security is to be sure that their procurement language – the terms spelled out in tenders and requests for quotes (RFQs) – asks providers to offer products that carry the Registered OGC Compliant brand.

[[Category: Board]]
[[Category: OGC]]

Talk:Open Source and Open Standards

2011-04-14T20:31:14Z

Gfleming: /* Proprietary Software and the Difference */

''This article is the collaborative work place for a White Paper to be published jointly by OGC and OSGeo. Please feel free to add comments, amend wording or open a conversation on the [http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss OSGeo Discuss] mailing list. The document should be a high level summary only and give links for further exploration of the topic. It should be under regular review to ensure up-to-dateness (check the history for latest edits and links to the stable download location).''

= Open Standards and Open Source =

: Carl Reed
: Chief Technology Officer
: The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)

: Arnulf Christl
: President
: The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo)

This White Paper will be published jointly by OGC and OSGeo. It is adapted partly from articles by Carl Reed published previously in Directions Magazine and GeoWorld. For a more comprehensive explanation of "openness", see another OGC White Paper by Carl Reed, "The Importance of Going Open". The Open Source aspect has been adapted from articles by Arnulf Christl in "FLOSS in Cadastre and Land Registration - Opportunities and Risks" in a publication by the FAO and FIG Commission 7 WG 7.3. For standardised definitions of Open Source and Free Software please refer to the Free Software Foundation (http://fsf.org) and the Open Source Initiative (http://opensource.org/).

People who don’t work in the software industry (and many who do!) often confuse the terms "open standards" and "Open Source". Below we look at what these terms mean and how they’re different.

== Open Standards ==
Communication means “transmitting or exchanging through a common system of symbols, signs or behavior.” Standards are a pre-requisite for communication, because standardization means “agreeing on a common system.” Geospatial software vendors, developers and users collaborate in the OGC's open, consensus process to develop and agree on standards that enable information systems to exchange geospatial information and instructions for geoprocessing.

A standard is like a blueprint that guides people who build things. A standard documents the use of rules, conditions, guidelines or characteristics for products or related processes and production methods. Standards can arise from a single company whose successful products become "de facto" standards (such as Microsoft’s Windows®). Standards can also be set by agreement among two or more software producers, or by government edict or a government-run process, or by representatives from multiple governments. Standards developed in governmental processes, such as those of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) or INSPIRE (http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/) in Europe, are called "de jure" standards. Alternatively, standards can be developed, as in the OGC, through an inclusive and open consensus process ordered by well defined policies and procedures. These are agreed upon by the public and private sector participants in the consensus process, and they typically agree to make their standards freely available in a non-discriminatory manner. Such standards are known as "open" standards.

Why do OGC members participate in this process? Some technology providers and users participate because their geoprocessing and geospatial information products and resources are worth more when those products and resources are part of a larger network. Some users participate because they want more choice in their selection of product vendors and better data sharing with other users. They also want to reduce their technology risk. That is, they want to ensure that the systems they buy or build will continue to provide value in years to come. Some solution provider members participate because they want more choice in their selection of platform partners. Some software producer (including Open Source developers) participate because it reduces their development costs and helps them better understand their customers' needs. There are many reasons to participate in a standards consortium like the OGC. This is substantiated by the fact that, with the growth of the Internet and Web, there are more standards consortia than ever before, and a higher percentage of IT stakeholders than ever before are participating in them. Additionally, the OGC's global membership has grown every year since the OGC was founded in 1994 and is currently more than 410 members.

The OGC defines open standards as standards that are:
# Freely and publicly available – They are available free of charge and unencumbered by patents and other intellectual property.
# Non discriminatory – They are available to anyone, any organization, any time, anywhere with no restrictions.
# No license fees - There are no charges at any time for their use.
# Vendor neutral - They are vendor neutral in terms of their content and implementation concept and do not favor any vendor over another.
# Data neutral – The standards are independent of any data storage model or format.
# Defined, documented, and approved by a formal, member driven consensus process. The consensus group remains in charge of changes and no single entity controls the standard.

The OGC's open standards are specifications for interfaces and encodings that enable interoperability between geoprocessing systems from different developers, whether employed by proprietary product vendors, independent integrators, application developers or active in Open Source projects.

The OGC's open standards are free, publicly available specifications for interfaces, encodings and best practices. They are not software.

== Open Source ==

Open Source refers to software which has been made available under a free software license with the
rights to run the program for any purpose, to study how the program works, to adapt it, and to
redistribute copies, including modifications. These freedoms guaranteed by Open Source licensing
enables a public, collaborative development model that promotes early
publishing and frequent releases.

It is sometimes helpful to understand Open Source is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of "free" as in "free speech", not as in "free beer". It means that the program's users have the four essential freedoms (from the Free Software Foundation web site at: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html):

* The freedom to run the program, for any purpose.
* The freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make it do what you wish. Access to the source code (Open Source) is a precondition for this.
* The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor.
* The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others.

The [http://www.opensource.org/ Open Source Initiative] has developed a set of 10 requirements of any software license that is to be considered an Open Source license under the [http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd Open Source Definition]. The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) supports geospatial projects which release their software under Open Source Definition compliant licenses.

Beyond the license there are a wide variety of different styles in which Open Source can be developed. Best practices for Open Development have been developed by in the open source community by authors such as Eric Raymond ([http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/ The Cathedral and the Bazaar]), and Karl Fogel ([http://producingoss.com/ Producing OSS]) and groups such as the [http://apache.org Apache Project]. These best practices include "release early, release often", "contributor meritocracy", consensus based decision making and open communication among project contributors.

These practices are followed to varying degrees by different Open Source communities. OSGeo has codified guidelines on how a project should be run in the [http://www.osgeo.org/incubator Incubation Process]. Projects wishing to join the Foundation have to abide by these rules. Users can rest assured that OSGeo projects are licensed correctly, function in an open, collaborative way and adhere to high quality standards.

=== Proprietary Software and the Difference ===
Software that does not follow all four basic principles of the Free Software definition is considered to be proprietary (or privative) software. The most important difference from Free and Open Source Software lies in the distribution terms which are typically codified in the license terms. Development style, quality processes, stability of the software, availability of service, support and maintenance are not inherently tied to the license, they have to be evaluated individually on a case by case comparison. Software is not better or worse just because of the license terms.

Sometimes the term Open Source is applied to software which is available as source code but where the distribution terms are proprietary, hence not offering the aforementioned four freedoms. This is not Open Source and not Free Software. Especially in the web and Java world and with open formats it is becoming increasingly difficult to only ship binary code. No matter what, the software must be shipped with an Open Source or Free Software license to qualify as such. This is an important distinction to easily identify real Open Source software.

== Open Data ==
Software development is the main undertaking developed and distributed using Open Source principles, but there are other examples. Recently the term "Open Data" is being used to describe the accessibility of data. Especially in the geospatial domain this is a very important aspect with lots of core data under the control of public administrations. But "Open Data" is still far from being as clearly defined as Free and Open Source Software. There are still quite a few open issues around data licensing, copyright and accessibility.

The most prominent open geospatial data project is OpenStreetMap (http://www.openstreetmap.org/) which set out to create a map of the world. Michael Goodchild coined the term "volunteered geographic data" to describe projects like this but it lacks one important aspect: The mission of OpenStreetMap includes the guarantee that the "volunteered" data is also freely available in readable source format for anyone. This is an important difference to other projects which also collect data from volunteers but deny full access to this data. This kind of "crowd sourced" data still lacks a good set of licenses but OpenStreetMap is making good progress (in a very open and community oriented way) to find a license that is compatible with as many legal systems and community requirements as possible.

== Similarities and differences – open standards and Open Source ==
There are definite similarities to the design and development processes for the open standards and Open Source communities. An open consensus process is often important to both types of activity, though some very successful Open Source projects are led by a single “benevolent dictator,” and consensus in both activities is usually “rough consensus.” However, there are also fundamental differences. An open standards organization must comply with anti-trust law and work to ensure a balance of interest in the standards development process. Further, a standards organization must have a very well defined and rigorous intellectual property policy to insure that the standards are unencumbered by patents or any other essential claims. Standards organizations usually need to commit more staff and financial resources than Open Source organizations to ensure that the IPR policy is enforced and that standards developed by the members remain royalty free. But this distinction is not definitive, as sometimes Open Source organizations like OSGeo run into intellectual property issues.

Another way to explain the difference is that software very often implements open standards but open standards do not usually depend on Open Source software. Software and applications can be built on a solid foundation of open standards, regardless of whether the software and applications are proprietary or Open Source.

If we expand the definition of Open Source to include information system architectures, then there is one OGC document that can be thought of as Open Source, though it is not licensed with Open Source licenses. A reference architecture is an Open Source architecture intended to provide architecture developers with a template and implementation guidance. The OGC Reference Model (ORM), a reference architecture, serves as a model and planning tool for organizations planning software and system purchases. It helps people see which OGC standards are relevant to their organizations' needs.

Note that the term “public domain” has been applied to both open standards and Open Source software, but this term is problematic because "public domain" has no legal meaning outside of the Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence systems. Also, in the Anglo-Saxon legal framework, "public domain" means that you can do anything with it, including using it in a proprietary context.

== The OGC’s position regarding Open Source software ==
''Leave this as is, or if needed feed back to OGC for a double check''

As a matter of policy, the OGC board of directors and staff don't favor either proprietary software or Open Source software, and we can safely say that most OGC members, even the leading software vendors, recognize value in having Open Source software available in the market. (One reason is that most information and communication technology business, even the business of software vendors, is not centered around selling proprietary licenses, but around selling services, consulting, integration, training etc.) From the OGC perspective, any developer who implements OGC standards in software or online services is doing the right thing. We don't care if the implementation is part of a proprietary product for sale or an Open Source product to be shared. We care about interoperability – the ability to share geospatial software systems or information.

Our goal is to facilitate the development, deployment and maintenance of OGC standards that help to make geospatial or location based content and services ubiquitous – to improve the ability of decision makers to address the many pressing social, environmental and economic issues they face. What's important, from the OGC’s point of view, is not the purchasing and licensing details of software products, but their adherence to a shared, open, non-proprietary system for communicating geographically.

Openness – both open standards and open software – benefits markets. Vendors of proprietary software have found, in general, that, despite their early fears of open software and open standards, business has increased in a more open and complex “business ecosystem” that includes more providers, more partnerships and more customers.

The OGC invites participation by all kinds of players. All kinds of commercial and non-commercial interests come together in our process, and we welcome a diversity of implementations. All our members are engaged in building the heterogeneous parts of the global spatial data infrastructure (GSDI). What's important, from our point of view, is not the purchasing and licensing details of the heterogeneous parts, but their shared, open, underlying, non-proprietary system of communicating geoprocessing instructions and geospatial information.

== OSGeo’s position regarding Open Standards ==
As a matter of policy, OSGeo does not prescribe it's projects the implementation of open standards but it does encourage their use. Innovation often happens outside of existing standards. Also many innovations later become standards, ideally simply because they are good. Open Source innovations lend themselves ideally to standardization processes because they are not inhibited by patents or proprietary licenses.

OSGeo encourages project developers to adopt open standards. These include networking standards (HTTP), data processing standards (SQL), format standards (PNG) and many more. In the geospatial domain many of these standards are maintained and developed by the OGC resulting in a natural close relationship. In this way OSGeo members have helped to identify standards requirements which have been included into OGC standards following the OGC's policy and procedures.

OSGeo members have also contributed reference implementations for OGC standards. These are software applications that exemplify proper implementation of the standards in interfaces and encodings. Reference implementations are important resources for other programmers, who can study the source code and adapt it to suit their own applications.

== Memorandum of Understanding ==
In 2009, the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) and the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to coordinate in advancing open geospatial standards and Open Source geospatial software. As stated on the OSGeo home page, one of the Foundation’s goals is "To encourage the implementation of open standards and standards-based interoperability in foundation projects." The OSGeo's overall goal is to encourage the use and collaborative development of community-led Open Source geospatial software projects, and most of these depend on open standards like those from the OGC. Wider use of OGC standards increases interoperability, innovation and market growth, and this benefits developers and users of both Open Source and proprietary software.

Along with general commitments to expand collaboration and promote the synergy between open standards and Open Source software in the geospatial domain, the Memorandum of Understanding provides for the assignment of up to six one-year Individual Memberships in the OGC.

== Ensuring Interoperability of Proprietary and Open Source Software ==
Members of the OGC would agree that, to quote from "The Importance of Going 'Open'" (http://portal.opengeospatial.org/files/?artifact_id=6211&version=2&format=pdf ), "It is incumbent upon buyers of geoprocessing software, data and services to carefully review their requirements and then draft interoperability architecture documents that lead to purchase of solutions that implement the appropriate OGC Standards. This can be done piecemeal, one upgrade or add-on at a time, or, if it is time for the organization to put a whole new solution in place, it can be done comprehensively, all at once. OGC and OGC's members can help by examining use cases and explaining where open interfaces can be specified into the architecture on which procurements will be based."

The OGC Reference Model (ORM), as mentioned above, serves as a model and planning tool for organizations planning software and system purchases, including – very significantly – components of various kinds that may not have been planned at the outset. The ORM may be used to guide the purchase of proprietary software or Open Source software or both. It helps people see which OGC standards are relevant to their organizations' needs.

Whether proprietary or Open Source software components are chosen to implement the parts of an architecture, there needs to be a way to ensure their interoperability. Interoperability depends on users and providers being able to know whether products and systems comply with the OGC interface and encoding standards that enable interoperability. The OGC Compliance & Interoperability Testing & Evaluation (CITE) program (http://portal.opengeospatial.org/files/?artifact_id=7586) provides a way to verify correct implementation of OGC standards. Geoprocessing products – purchased or obtained free – can carry the “Certified OGC Compliant” service mark, and it is incumbent upon those who contract for the purchase or development of geospatial components and systems to be sure that their procurement language – the terms spelled out in tenders and requests for quotes (RFQs) – asks bidding product and service providers to offer OGC-compliant products and architectures.
== Conclusions ==
Open standards and Open Source software are both important parts of today’s ICT ecosystem, but they are quite different things. The OGC facilitates an open standards process and promotes the use of open standards in both proprietary and Open Source software. The OGC also promotes the use of open standards in the production and publishing of geospatial data, regardless of the policies of the producers and publishers.

Providers of both proprietary and Open Source software join the OGC to further the development and market uptake of open standards in the world geospatial market, because open standards help both types of providers. This is true also for data providers.

Users of both proprietary and Open Source software join the OGC to be sure OGC standards meet their evolving requirements, and they also join to stay abreast of changing technology and remain innovative. Users of both kinds of software have an interest in being sure their systems are part of the growing global network of interoperable geospatial resources. The best way to gain such security is to be sure that their procurement language – the terms spelled out in tenders and requests for quotes (RFQs) – asks providers to offer products that carry the Registered OGC Compliant brand.

[[Category: Board]]
[[Category: OGC]]

Talk:Open Source and Open Standards

2011-04-14T20:30:00Z

Gfleming: /* Proprietary Software and the Difference */

''This article is the collaborative work place for a White Paper to be published jointly by OGC and OSGeo. Please feel free to add comments, amend wording or open a conversation on the [http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss OSGeo Discuss] mailing list. The document should be a high level summary only and give links for further exploration of the topic. It should be under regular review to ensure up-to-dateness (check the history for latest edits and links to the stable download location).''

= Open Standards and Open Source =

: Carl Reed
: Chief Technology Officer
: The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)

: Arnulf Christl
: President
: The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo)

This White Paper will be published jointly by OGC and OSGeo. It is adapted partly from articles by Carl Reed published previously in Directions Magazine and GeoWorld. For a more comprehensive explanation of "openness", see another OGC White Paper by Carl Reed, "The Importance of Going Open". The Open Source aspect has been adapted from articles by Arnulf Christl in "FLOSS in Cadastre and Land Registration - Opportunities and Risks" in a publication by the FAO and FIG Commission 7 WG 7.3. For standardised definitions of Open Source and Free Software please refer to the Free Software Foundation (http://fsf.org) and the Open Source Initiative (http://opensource.org/).

People who don’t work in the software industry (and many who do!) often confuse the terms "open standards" and "Open Source". Below we look at what these terms mean and how they’re different.

== Open Standards ==
Communication means “transmitting or exchanging through a common system of symbols, signs or behavior.” Standards are a pre-requisite for communication, because standardization means “agreeing on a common system.” Geospatial software vendors, developers and users collaborate in the OGC's open, consensus process to develop and agree on standards that enable information systems to exchange geospatial information and instructions for geoprocessing.

A standard is like a blueprint that guides people who build things. A standard documents the use of rules, conditions, guidelines or characteristics for products or related processes and production methods. Standards can arise from a single company whose successful products become "de facto" standards (such as Microsoft’s Windows®). Standards can also be set by agreement among two or more software producers, or by government edict or a government-run process, or by representatives from multiple governments. Standards developed in governmental processes, such as those of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) or INSPIRE (http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/) in Europe, are called "de jure" standards. Alternatively, standards can be developed, as in the OGC, through an inclusive and open consensus process ordered by well defined policies and procedures. These are agreed upon by the public and private sector participants in the consensus process, and they typically agree to make their standards freely available in a non-discriminatory manner. Such standards are known as "open" standards.

Why do OGC members participate in this process? Some technology providers and users participate because their geoprocessing and geospatial information products and resources are worth more when those products and resources are part of a larger network. Some users participate because they want more choice in their selection of product vendors and better data sharing with other users. They also want to reduce their technology risk. That is, they want to ensure that the systems they buy or build will continue to provide value in years to come. Some solution provider members participate because they want more choice in their selection of platform partners. Some software producer (including Open Source developers) participate because it reduces their development costs and helps them better understand their customers' needs. There are many reasons to participate in a standards consortium like the OGC. This is substantiated by the fact that, with the growth of the Internet and Web, there are more standards consortia than ever before, and a higher percentage of IT stakeholders than ever before are participating in them. Additionally, the OGC's global membership has grown every year since the OGC was founded in 1994 and is currently more than 410 members.

The OGC defines open standards as standards that are:
# Freely and publicly available – They are available free of charge and unencumbered by patents and other intellectual property.
# Non discriminatory – They are available to anyone, any organization, any time, anywhere with no restrictions.
# No license fees - There are no charges at any time for their use.
# Vendor neutral - They are vendor neutral in terms of their content and implementation concept and do not favor any vendor over another.
# Data neutral – The standards are independent of any data storage model or format.
# Defined, documented, and approved by a formal, member driven consensus process. The consensus group remains in charge of changes and no single entity controls the standard.

The OGC's open standards are specifications for interfaces and encodings that enable interoperability between geoprocessing systems from different developers, whether employed by proprietary product vendors, independent integrators, application developers or active in Open Source projects.

The OGC's open standards are free, publicly available specifications for interfaces, encodings and best practices. They are not software.

== Open Source ==

Open Source refers to software which has been made available under a free software license with the
rights to run the program for any purpose, to study how the program works, to adapt it, and to
redistribute copies, including modifications. These freedoms guaranteed by Open Source licensing
enables a public, collaborative development model that promotes early
publishing and frequent releases.

It is sometimes helpful to understand Open Source is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of "free" as in "free speech", not as in "free beer". It means that the program's users have the four essential freedoms (from the Free Software Foundation web site at: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html):

* The freedom to run the program, for any purpose.
* The freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make it do what you wish. Access to the source code (Open Source) is a precondition for this.
* The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor.
* The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others.

The [http://www.opensource.org/ Open Source Initiative] has developed a set of 10 requirements of any software license that is to be considered an Open Source license under the [http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd Open Source Definition]. The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) supports geospatial projects which release their software under Open Source Definition compliant licenses.

Beyond the license there are a wide variety of different styles in which Open Source can be developed. Best practices for Open Development have been developed by in the open source community by authors such as Eric Raymond ([http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/ The Cathedral and the Bazaar]), and Karl Fogel ([http://producingoss.com/ Producing OSS]) and groups such as the [http://apache.org Apache Project]. These best practices include "release early, release often", "contributor meritocracy", consensus based decision making and open communication among project contributors.

These practices are followed to varying degrees by different Open Source communities. OSGeo has codified guidelines on how a project should be run in the [http://www.osgeo.org/incubator Incubation Process]. Projects wishing to join the Foundation have to abide by these rules. Users can rest assured that OSGeo projects are licensed correctly, function in an open, collaborative way and adhere to high quality standards.

=== Proprietary Software and the Difference ===
Software that does not follow all four basic principles of the Free Software definition is considered to be proprietary software. The most important difference from Free and Open Source Software lies in the distribution terms which are typically codified in the license terms. Development style, quality processes, stability of the software, availability of service, support and maintenance are not inherently tied to the license, they have to be evaluated individually on a case by case comparison. Software is not better or worse just because of the license terms.

Sometimes the term Open Source is applied to software which is available as source code but where the distribution terms are proprietary, hence not offering the aforementioned four freedoms. This is not Open Source and not Free Software. Especially in the web and Java world and with open formats it is becoming increasingly difficult to only ship binary code. No matter what, the software must be shipped with an Open Source or Free Software license to qualify as such. This is an important distinction to easily identify real Open Source software.

== Open Data ==
Software development is the main undertaking developed and distributed using Open Source principles, but there are other examples. Recently the term "Open Data" is being used to describe the accessibility of data. Especially in the geospatial domain this is a very important aspect with lots of core data under the control of public administrations. But "Open Data" is still far from being as clearly defined as Free and Open Source Software. There are still quite a few open issues around data licensing, copyright and accessibility.

The most prominent open geospatial data project is OpenStreetMap (http://www.openstreetmap.org/) which set out to create a map of the world. Michael Goodchild coined the term "volunteered geographic data" to describe projects like this but it lacks one important aspect: The mission of OpenStreetMap includes the guarantee that the "volunteered" data is also freely available in readable source format for anyone. This is an important difference to other projects which also collect data from volunteers but deny full access to this data. This kind of "crowd sourced" data still lacks a good set of licenses but OpenStreetMap is making good progress (in a very open and community oriented way) to find a license that is compatible with as many legal systems and community requirements as possible.

== Similarities and differences – open standards and Open Source ==
There are definite similarities to the design and development processes for the open standards and Open Source communities. An open consensus process is often important to both types of activity, though some very successful Open Source projects are led by a single “benevolent dictator,” and consensus in both activities is usually “rough consensus.” However, there are also fundamental differences. An open standards organization must comply with anti-trust law and work to ensure a balance of interest in the standards development process. Further, a standards organization must have a very well defined and rigorous intellectual property policy to insure that the standards are unencumbered by patents or any other essential claims. Standards organizations usually need to commit more staff and financial resources than Open Source organizations to ensure that the IPR policy is enforced and that standards developed by the members remain royalty free. But this distinction is not definitive, as sometimes Open Source organizations like OSGeo run into intellectual property issues.

Another way to explain the difference is that software very often implements open standards but open standards do not usually depend on Open Source software. Software and applications can be built on a solid foundation of open standards, regardless of whether the software and applications are proprietary or Open Source.

If we expand the definition of Open Source to include information system architectures, then there is one OGC document that can be thought of as Open Source, though it is not licensed with Open Source licenses. A reference architecture is an Open Source architecture intended to provide architecture developers with a template and implementation guidance. The OGC Reference Model (ORM), a reference architecture, serves as a model and planning tool for organizations planning software and system purchases. It helps people see which OGC standards are relevant to their organizations' needs.

Note that the term “public domain” has been applied to both open standards and Open Source software, but this term is problematic because "public domain" has no legal meaning outside of the Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence systems. Also, in the Anglo-Saxon legal framework, "public domain" means that you can do anything with it, including using it in a proprietary context.

== The OGC’s position regarding Open Source software ==
''Leave this as is, or if needed feed back to OGC for a double check''

As a matter of policy, the OGC board of directors and staff don't favor either proprietary software or Open Source software, and we can safely say that most OGC members, even the leading software vendors, recognize value in having Open Source software available in the market. (One reason is that most information and communication technology business, even the business of software vendors, is not centered around selling proprietary licenses, but around selling services, consulting, integration, training etc.) From the OGC perspective, any developer who implements OGC standards in software or online services is doing the right thing. We don't care if the implementation is part of a proprietary product for sale or an Open Source product to be shared. We care about interoperability – the ability to share geospatial software systems or information.

Our goal is to facilitate the development, deployment and maintenance of OGC standards that help to make geospatial or location based content and services ubiquitous – to improve the ability of decision makers to address the many pressing social, environmental and economic issues they face. What's important, from the OGC’s point of view, is not the purchasing and licensing details of software products, but their adherence to a shared, open, non-proprietary system for communicating geographically.

Openness – both open standards and open software – benefits markets. Vendors of proprietary software have found, in general, that, despite their early fears of open software and open standards, business has increased in a more open and complex “business ecosystem” that includes more providers, more partnerships and more customers.

The OGC invites participation by all kinds of players. All kinds of commercial and non-commercial interests come together in our process, and we welcome a diversity of implementations. All our members are engaged in building the heterogeneous parts of the global spatial data infrastructure (GSDI). What's important, from our point of view, is not the purchasing and licensing details of the heterogeneous parts, but their shared, open, underlying, non-proprietary system of communicating geoprocessing instructions and geospatial information.

== OSGeo’s position regarding Open Standards ==
As a matter of policy, OSGeo does not prescribe it's projects the implementation of open standards but it does encourage their use. Innovation often happens outside of existing standards. Also many innovations later become standards, ideally simply because they are good. Open Source innovations lend themselves ideally to standardization processes because they are not inhibited by patents or proprietary licenses.

OSGeo encourages project developers to adopt open standards. These include networking standards (HTTP), data processing standards (SQL), format standards (PNG) and many more. In the geospatial domain many of these standards are maintained and developed by the OGC resulting in a natural close relationship. In this way OSGeo members have helped to identify standards requirements which have been included into OGC standards following the OGC's policy and procedures.

OSGeo members have also contributed reference implementations for OGC standards. These are software applications that exemplify proper implementation of the standards in interfaces and encodings. Reference implementations are important resources for other programmers, who can study the source code and adapt it to suit their own applications.

== Memorandum of Understanding ==
In 2009, the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) and the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to coordinate in advancing open geospatial standards and Open Source geospatial software. As stated on the OSGeo home page, one of the Foundation’s goals is "To encourage the implementation of open standards and standards-based interoperability in foundation projects." The OSGeo's overall goal is to encourage the use and collaborative development of community-led Open Source geospatial software projects, and most of these depend on open standards like those from the OGC. Wider use of OGC standards increases interoperability, innovation and market growth, and this benefits developers and users of both Open Source and proprietary software.

Along with general commitments to expand collaboration and promote the synergy between open standards and Open Source software in the geospatial domain, the Memorandum of Understanding provides for the assignment of up to six one-year Individual Memberships in the OGC.

== Ensuring Interoperability of Proprietary and Open Source Software ==
Members of the OGC would agree that, to quote from "The Importance of Going 'Open'" (http://portal.opengeospatial.org/files/?artifact_id=6211&version=2&format=pdf ), "It is incumbent upon buyers of geoprocessing software, data and services to carefully review their requirements and then draft interoperability architecture documents that lead to purchase of solutions that implement the appropriate OGC Standards. This can be done piecemeal, one upgrade or add-on at a time, or, if it is time for the organization to put a whole new solution in place, it can be done comprehensively, all at once. OGC and OGC's members can help by examining use cases and explaining where open interfaces can be specified into the architecture on which procurements will be based."

The OGC Reference Model (ORM), as mentioned above, serves as a model and planning tool for organizations planning software and system purchases, including – very significantly – components of various kinds that may not have been planned at the outset. The ORM may be used to guide the purchase of proprietary software or Open Source software or both. It helps people see which OGC standards are relevant to their organizations' needs.

Whether proprietary or Open Source software components are chosen to implement the parts of an architecture, there needs to be a way to ensure their interoperability. Interoperability depends on users and providers being able to know whether products and systems comply with the OGC interface and encoding standards that enable interoperability. The OGC Compliance & Interoperability Testing & Evaluation (CITE) program (http://portal.opengeospatial.org/files/?artifact_id=7586) provides a way to verify correct implementation of OGC standards. Geoprocessing products – purchased or obtained free – can carry the “Certified OGC Compliant” service mark, and it is incumbent upon those who contract for the purchase or development of geospatial components and systems to be sure that their procurement language – the terms spelled out in tenders and requests for quotes (RFQs) – asks bidding product and service providers to offer OGC-compliant products and architectures.
== Conclusions ==
Open standards and Open Source software are both important parts of today’s ICT ecosystem, but they are quite different things. The OGC facilitates an open standards process and promotes the use of open standards in both proprietary and Open Source software. The OGC also promotes the use of open standards in the production and publishing of geospatial data, regardless of the policies of the producers and publishers.

Providers of both proprietary and Open Source software join the OGC to further the development and market uptake of open standards in the world geospatial market, because open standards help both types of providers. This is true also for data providers.

Users of both proprietary and Open Source software join the OGC to be sure OGC standards meet their evolving requirements, and they also join to stay abreast of changing technology and remain innovative. Users of both kinds of software have an interest in being sure their systems are part of the growing global network of interoperable geospatial resources. The best way to gain such security is to be sure that their procurement language – the terms spelled out in tenders and requests for quotes (RFQs) – asks providers to offer products that carry the Registered OGC Compliant brand.

[[Category: Board]]
[[Category: OGC]]

Talk:Open Source and Open Standards

2011-04-14T20:27:49Z

Gfleming: /* Open Standards */

''This article is the collaborative work place for a White Paper to be published jointly by OGC and OSGeo. Please feel free to add comments, amend wording or open a conversation on the [http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss OSGeo Discuss] mailing list. The document should be a high level summary only and give links for further exploration of the topic. It should be under regular review to ensure up-to-dateness (check the history for latest edits and links to the stable download location).''

= Open Standards and Open Source =

: Carl Reed
: Chief Technology Officer
: The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)

: Arnulf Christl
: President
: The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo)

This White Paper will be published jointly by OGC and OSGeo. It is adapted partly from articles by Carl Reed published previously in Directions Magazine and GeoWorld. For a more comprehensive explanation of "openness", see another OGC White Paper by Carl Reed, "The Importance of Going Open". The Open Source aspect has been adapted from articles by Arnulf Christl in "FLOSS in Cadastre and Land Registration - Opportunities and Risks" in a publication by the FAO and FIG Commission 7 WG 7.3. For standardised definitions of Open Source and Free Software please refer to the Free Software Foundation (http://fsf.org) and the Open Source Initiative (http://opensource.org/).

People who don’t work in the software industry (and many who do!) often confuse the terms "open standards" and "Open Source". Below we look at what these terms mean and how they’re different.

== Open Standards ==
Communication means “transmitting or exchanging through a common system of symbols, signs or behavior.” Standards are a pre-requisite for communication, because standardization means “agreeing on a common system.” Geospatial software vendors, developers and users collaborate in the OGC's open, consensus process to develop and agree on standards that enable information systems to exchange geospatial information and instructions for geoprocessing.

A standard is like a blueprint that guides people who build things. A standard documents the use of rules, conditions, guidelines or characteristics for products or related processes and production methods. Standards can arise from a single company whose successful products become "de facto" standards (such as Microsoft’s Windows®). Standards can also be set by agreement among two or more software producers, or by government edict or a government-run process, or by representatives from multiple governments. Standards developed in governmental processes, such as those of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) or INSPIRE (http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/) in Europe, are called "de jure" standards. Alternatively, standards can be developed, as in the OGC, through an inclusive and open consensus process ordered by well defined policies and procedures. These are agreed upon by the public and private sector participants in the consensus process, and they typically agree to make their standards freely available in a non-discriminatory manner. Such standards are known as "open" standards.

Why do OGC members participate in this process? Some technology providers and users participate because their geoprocessing and geospatial information products and resources are worth more when those products and resources are part of a larger network. Some users participate because they want more choice in their selection of product vendors and better data sharing with other users. They also want to reduce their technology risk. That is, they want to ensure that the systems they buy or build will continue to provide value in years to come. Some solution provider members participate because they want more choice in their selection of platform partners. Some software producer (including Open Source developers) participate because it reduces their development costs and helps them better understand their customers' needs. There are many reasons to participate in a standards consortium like the OGC. This is substantiated by the fact that, with the growth of the Internet and Web, there are more standards consortia than ever before, and a higher percentage of IT stakeholders than ever before are participating in them. Additionally, the OGC's global membership has grown every year since the OGC was founded in 1994 and is currently more than 410 members.

The OGC defines open standards as standards that are:
# Freely and publicly available – They are available free of charge and unencumbered by patents and other intellectual property.
# Non discriminatory – They are available to anyone, any organization, any time, anywhere with no restrictions.
# No license fees - There are no charges at any time for their use.
# Vendor neutral - They are vendor neutral in terms of their content and implementation concept and do not favor any vendor over another.
# Data neutral – The standards are independent of any data storage model or format.
# Defined, documented, and approved by a formal, member driven consensus process. The consensus group remains in charge of changes and no single entity controls the standard.

The OGC's open standards are specifications for interfaces and encodings that enable interoperability between geoprocessing systems from different developers, whether employed by proprietary product vendors, independent integrators, application developers or active in Open Source projects.

The OGC's open standards are free, publicly available specifications for interfaces, encodings and best practices. They are not software.

== Open Source ==

Open Source refers to software which has been made available under a free software license with the
rights to run the program for any purpose, to study how the program works, to adapt it, and to
redistribute copies, including modifications. These freedoms guaranteed by Open Source licensing
enables a public, collaborative development model that promotes early
publishing and frequent releases.

It is sometimes helpful to understand Open Source is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of "free" as in "free speech", not as in "free beer". It means that the program's users have the four essential freedoms (from the Free Software Foundation web site at: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html):

* The freedom to run the program, for any purpose.
* The freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make it do what you wish. Access to the source code (Open Source) is a precondition for this.
* The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor.
* The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others.

The [http://www.opensource.org/ Open Source Initiative] has developed a set of 10 requirements of any software license that is to be considered an Open Source license under the [http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd Open Source Definition]. The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) supports geospatial projects which release their software under Open Source Definition compliant licenses.

Beyond the license there are a wide variety of different styles in which Open Source can be developed. Best practices for Open Development have been developed by in the open source community by authors such as Eric Raymond ([http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/ The Cathedral and the Bazaar]), and Karl Fogel ([http://producingoss.com/ Producing OSS]) and groups such as the [http://apache.org Apache Project]. These best practices include "release early, release often", "contributor meritocracy", consensus based decision making and open communication among project contributors.

These practices are followed to varying degrees by different Open Source communities. OSGeo has codified guidelines on how a project should be run in the [http://www.osgeo.org/incubator Incubation Process]. Projects wishing to join the Foundation have to abide by these rules. Users can rest assured that OSGeo projects are licensed correctly, function in an open, collaborative way and adhere to high quality standards.

=== Proprietary Software and the Difference ===
Software that does not follow all four basic principles of the Free Software definition is considered to be proprietary software. The most important difference to Free and Open Source Software lie the distribution terms which are typically codified in the license terms. Development style, quality processes, stability of the software, availability of service, support and maintenance are not inherently tied to the license, they have to be evaluated individually on a case by case comparison. Software is not better or worse just because of the license terms.

Sometimes the term Open Source is applied to software which is available as source code but where the distribution terms are proprietary, hence not offering the aforementioned four freedoms. This is not Open Source and not Free Software. Especially in the web and Java world and with open formats it is becoming increasingly difficult to only ship binary code. No matter what, the software must be shipped with an Open Source or Free Software license to qualify as such. This is an important distinction to easily identify a real Open Source software.

== Open Data ==
Software development is the main undertaking developed and distributed using Open Source principles, but there are other examples. Recently the term "Open Data" is being used to describe the accessibility of data. Especially in the geospatial domain this is a very important aspect with lots of core data under the control of public administrations. But "Open Data" is still far from being as clearly defined as Free and Open Source Software. There are still quite a few open issues around data licensing, copyright and accessibility.

The most prominent open geospatial data project is OpenStreetMap (http://www.openstreetmap.org/) which set out to create a map of the world. Michael Goodchild coined the term "volunteered geographic data" to describe projects like this but it lacks one important aspect: The mission of OpenStreetMap includes the guarantee that the "volunteered" data is also freely available in readable source format for anyone. This is an important difference to other projects which also collect data from volunteers but deny full access to this data. This kind of "crowd sourced" data still lacks a good set of licenses but OpenStreetMap is making good progress (in a very open and community oriented way) to find a license that is compatible with as many legal systems and community requirements as possible.

== Similarities and differences – open standards and Open Source ==
There are definite similarities to the design and development processes for the open standards and Open Source communities. An open consensus process is often important to both types of activity, though some very successful Open Source projects are led by a single “benevolent dictator,” and consensus in both activities is usually “rough consensus.” However, there are also fundamental differences. An open standards organization must comply with anti-trust law and work to ensure a balance of interest in the standards development process. Further, a standards organization must have a very well defined and rigorous intellectual property policy to insure that the standards are unencumbered by patents or any other essential claims. Standards organizations usually need to commit more staff and financial resources than Open Source organizations to ensure that the IPR policy is enforced and that standards developed by the members remain royalty free. But this distinction is not definitive, as sometimes Open Source organizations like OSGeo run into intellectual property issues.

Another way to explain the difference is that software very often implements open standards but open standards do not usually depend on Open Source software. Software and applications can be built on a solid foundation of open standards, regardless of whether the software and applications are proprietary or Open Source.

If we expand the definition of Open Source to include information system architectures, then there is one OGC document that can be thought of as Open Source, though it is not licensed with Open Source licenses. A reference architecture is an Open Source architecture intended to provide architecture developers with a template and implementation guidance. The OGC Reference Model (ORM), a reference architecture, serves as a model and planning tool for organizations planning software and system purchases. It helps people see which OGC standards are relevant to their organizations' needs.

Note that the term “public domain” has been applied to both open standards and Open Source software, but this term is problematic because "public domain" has no legal meaning outside of the Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence systems. Also, in the Anglo-Saxon legal framework, "public domain" means that you can do anything with it, including using it in a proprietary context.

== The OGC’s position regarding Open Source software ==
''Leave this as is, or if needed feed back to OGC for a double check''

As a matter of policy, the OGC board of directors and staff don't favor either proprietary software or Open Source software, and we can safely say that most OGC members, even the leading software vendors, recognize value in having Open Source software available in the market. (One reason is that most information and communication technology business, even the business of software vendors, is not centered around selling proprietary licenses, but around selling services, consulting, integration, training etc.) From the OGC perspective, any developer who implements OGC standards in software or online services is doing the right thing. We don't care if the implementation is part of a proprietary product for sale or an Open Source product to be shared. We care about interoperability – the ability to share geospatial software systems or information.

Our goal is to facilitate the development, deployment and maintenance of OGC standards that help to make geospatial or location based content and services ubiquitous – to improve the ability of decision makers to address the many pressing social, environmental and economic issues they face. What's important, from the OGC’s point of view, is not the purchasing and licensing details of software products, but their adherence to a shared, open, non-proprietary system for communicating geographically.

Openness – both open standards and open software – benefits markets. Vendors of proprietary software have found, in general, that, despite their early fears of open software and open standards, business has increased in a more open and complex “business ecosystem” that includes more providers, more partnerships and more customers.

The OGC invites participation by all kinds of players. All kinds of commercial and non-commercial interests come together in our process, and we welcome a diversity of implementations. All our members are engaged in building the heterogeneous parts of the global spatial data infrastructure (GSDI). What's important, from our point of view, is not the purchasing and licensing details of the heterogeneous parts, but their shared, open, underlying, non-proprietary system of communicating geoprocessing instructions and geospatial information.

== OSGeo’s position regarding Open Standards ==
As a matter of policy, OSGeo does not prescribe it's projects the implementation of open standards but it does encourage their use. Innovation often happens outside of existing standards. Also many innovations later become standards, ideally simply because they are good. Open Source innovations lend themselves ideally to standardization processes because they are not inhibited by patents or proprietary licenses.

OSGeo encourages project developers to adopt open standards. These include networking standards (HTTP), data processing standards (SQL), format standards (PNG) and many more. In the geospatial domain many of these standards are maintained and developed by the OGC resulting in a natural close relationship. In this way OSGeo members have helped to identify standards requirements which have been included into OGC standards following the OGC's policy and procedures.

OSGeo members have also contributed reference implementations for OGC standards. These are software applications that exemplify proper implementation of the standards in interfaces and encodings. Reference implementations are important resources for other programmers, who can study the source code and adapt it to suit their own applications.

== Memorandum of Understanding ==
In 2009, the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) and the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to coordinate in advancing open geospatial standards and Open Source geospatial software. As stated on the OSGeo home page, one of the Foundation’s goals is "To encourage the implementation of open standards and standards-based interoperability in foundation projects." The OSGeo's overall goal is to encourage the use and collaborative development of community-led Open Source geospatial software projects, and most of these depend on open standards like those from the OGC. Wider use of OGC standards increases interoperability, innovation and market growth, and this benefits developers and users of both Open Source and proprietary software.

Along with general commitments to expand collaboration and promote the synergy between open standards and Open Source software in the geospatial domain, the Memorandum of Understanding provides for the assignment of up to six one-year Individual Memberships in the OGC.

== Ensuring Interoperability of Proprietary and Open Source Software ==
Members of the OGC would agree that, to quote from "The Importance of Going 'Open'" (http://portal.opengeospatial.org/files/?artifact_id=6211&version=2&format=pdf ), "It is incumbent upon buyers of geoprocessing software, data and services to carefully review their requirements and then draft interoperability architecture documents that lead to purchase of solutions that implement the appropriate OGC Standards. This can be done piecemeal, one upgrade or add-on at a time, or, if it is time for the organization to put a whole new solution in place, it can be done comprehensively, all at once. OGC and OGC's members can help by examining use cases and explaining where open interfaces can be specified into the architecture on which procurements will be based."

The OGC Reference Model (ORM), as mentioned above, serves as a model and planning tool for organizations planning software and system purchases, including – very significantly – components of various kinds that may not have been planned at the outset. The ORM may be used to guide the purchase of proprietary software or Open Source software or both. It helps people see which OGC standards are relevant to their organizations' needs.

Whether proprietary or Open Source software components are chosen to implement the parts of an architecture, there needs to be a way to ensure their interoperability. Interoperability depends on users and providers being able to know whether products and systems comply with the OGC interface and encoding standards that enable interoperability. The OGC Compliance & Interoperability Testing & Evaluation (CITE) program (http://portal.opengeospatial.org/files/?artifact_id=7586) provides a way to verify correct implementation of OGC standards. Geoprocessing products – purchased or obtained free – can carry the “Certified OGC Compliant” service mark, and it is incumbent upon those who contract for the purchase or development of geospatial components and systems to be sure that their procurement language – the terms spelled out in tenders and requests for quotes (RFQs) – asks bidding product and service providers to offer OGC-compliant products and architectures.
== Conclusions ==
Open standards and Open Source software are both important parts of today’s ICT ecosystem, but they are quite different things. The OGC facilitates an open standards process and promotes the use of open standards in both proprietary and Open Source software. The OGC also promotes the use of open standards in the production and publishing of geospatial data, regardless of the policies of the producers and publishers.

Providers of both proprietary and Open Source software join the OGC to further the development and market uptake of open standards in the world geospatial market, because open standards help both types of providers. This is true also for data providers.

Users of both proprietary and Open Source software join the OGC to be sure OGC standards meet their evolving requirements, and they also join to stay abreast of changing technology and remain innovative. Users of both kinds of software have an interest in being sure their systems are part of the growing global network of interoperable geospatial resources. The best way to gain such security is to be sure that their procurement language – the terms spelled out in tenders and requests for quotes (RFQs) – asks providers to offer products that carry the Registered OGC Compliant brand.

[[Category: Board]]
[[Category: OGC]]

Gavin Fleming

2010-11-19T06:11:43Z

Gfleming: /* Location */

=Affiliations=
*Proprietor of [http://www.afrispatial.com AfriSpatial]
*Geoinformation Society of South Africa [http://www.gissa.org.za/special-interest-groups/open-source FOSS SIG] chair

=OSGeo Projects=
[http://www.foss4g2008.org FOSS4G 2008] conference chair, OSGeo [[ Africa_Local_Chapter | Africa Chapter]] chair

OSGeo Charter Member
=Location=
Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa (-33.744 S, 18.989 E)
{{#umAdmin: Gfleming}} {{#umUserMap: Gfleming}}

=About=
I have applied GIS mainly in environmental fields since 1996, starting the FOSS GIS habit around 2002. I now use almost exclusively FOSS GIS in research, government and commercial applications.
[[Category:OSGeo Member]]

Gavin Fleming

2010-11-19T06:02:02Z

Gfleming:

=Affiliations=
*Proprietor of [http://www.afrispatial.com AfriSpatial]
*Geoinformation Society of South Africa [http://www.gissa.org.za/special-interest-groups/open-source FOSS SIG] chair

=OSGeo Projects=
[http://www.foss4g2008.org FOSS4G 2008] conference chair, OSGeo [[ Africa_Local_Chapter | Africa Chapter]] chair

OSGeo Charter Member
=Location=
Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa (-33.744 S, 18.989 E)

{{#umAdmin: Gfleming}}
{{#umUserMap: Gfleming}}

=About=
I have applied GIS mainly in environmental fields since 1996, starting the FOSS GIS habit around 2002. I now use almost exclusively FOSS GIS in research, government and commercial applications.
[[Category:OSGeo Member]]