OSGeo at Where PressEvent

The main Where 2.0 event page is here: OSGeo at Where 2.0

Logistics

• Wednesday, June 14
• Time: during lunchtime (~60 mins)
• Location: TBD
• Participants: 5 OSGeo folk. Members of the press will be invited. Room capacity is 20 people.

This will follow the keynotes on Wednesday morning so this is nice timing. There is nothing going on during this lunch hour and there is no exhibit hall during this time.

Michael Gerlek is coordinating this event, but will not be able to attend. We are looking for an on-site volunteer to help host and execute this event.

Kirsten Davidson (kirsten.davidson@autodesk.com) is the Autodesk coordinator for this.

Agenda

• moderator introduces self, 4 panel members

• moderator introduces theme: "What is Driving Open Source Adoption in GIS Today?"

• each panel member gives a 1-2 minute (no more!) opening

• <much active discussion ensues>
  • this is where the press gets to ask questions
  • moderator gently aids in keeping discussion alive, as needed
  • moderator may interject preplanned, leading questions

• at the end of the session, each panel member gets a 1 minute wrap-up

• moderator concludes, thanks panel and attendees

Discussion Topic

TOPIC: "What is Driving Open Source Adoption in GIS Today?"

This topic is suitably broad enough to be something readily consumable by the press and still give decent discussion, sound-bites/quotes, etc. Note we want to have some of the session be not too technical, as in addition to the usual GIS media there may well be mainstream tech press there from Big Media like San Jose Merc, WSJ, or NYT.

Some leading questions for the moderator:

• What role do Open Standards play? Where do players like OGC fit into the Open Source ecosystem?

• There has been recent interest in geo and GIS topics in the consumer space -- look at the blooming of interest in the past year or so in things like Google Earth / Google Maps, cheap GPS, a Mapping Hacks book, etc. How does Open Source help out in the consumer / prosumer space?

• What are the leading/popular/coolest/etc Open Source packages today?

• For the corporate manager, what should he or she be thinking about when considering adopting Open Source as part of his solution? Are there any risks or cautions?

• Can "closed" (proprietary) companies and Open Source work together? Where is that happening today?

• How do people make money off open source? Is it just about "selling support"? Are companies like Red Hat just well-publicized exceptions? Or are there any commercial success stories around "selling" open source in the GIS arena?

• When we talk about adopting Open Source in the GIS industry, aren't we really talking about more than just "source code that only programmers care about"? For example, are there end-user applications available, e.g. for GIS analysts, armchair cartography fans, etc?

• What about open "data" and related services and service architectures? Is the increase in these areas driving interest and adoption of "open source"?

Participants

• Rich Gibson (Moderator)
  • email: Rich@testingrange.com
  • URL: http://mappinghacks.com, http://geocoder.us
  • employer and title: Locative Technologies, Chief Scientist
  • city, state/province, country: Sebastopol, CA, USA
  • OSGeo affiliation: (none)
  • bio: Rich Gibson operates Locative Technologies, a Bay Area startup that provides geocoding and consulting services and other product development. He is a co-author, with Jo Walsh and Schuyler Erle, of Mapping Hacks, and co-author with Schuyler of Google Maps Hacks.

• Dave McIlhagga - President & CEO of DM Solutions
  • voice for: corporate provider of open source solutions (small team division)
  • dmcilhagga-AT-dmsolutions.ca

• Frank Warmerdam - President of OSGeo and GDAL Lead
  • voice for: OSGeo Foundation
  • voice for: developer community
  • warmerdam-AT-pobox.com

• Gary Lang - Vice President of Engineering at Autodesk
  • voice for: corporate provider of open source solutions (large team division), corporate acceptance and transition)
  • voice for: mainstream/close-source corporate acceptance of and transition to open source
  • gary.lang-AT-autodesk.com

• Schuyler Erle - (title)
  • voice for: developer community, open data, author, etc
  • schuyler-AT-nocat.net

To Do

• Need to a one-page handout for the press with names spelled properly, critical URLs, key messages, etc. mpg sent out request for following, due May 29th:
  • preferred email address
  • URL, if appropriate
  • employer and title
  • city, state/province, country
  • OSGeo affiliation (e.g. board member, etc)
  • short bio (~3 sentences)

• We are investigating getting lunch catered.

• Can someone record this, e.g. with a laptop? (mpg would like to edit into podcastable form) (I have a minidisk recorder that I normally carry with me. I can also bring a video camera if you wish...Rich Gibson)

• need press list

• Need on-site coordinator.