China

China Chapter of OSGeo

About China OSGeo

Open Source Geospatial software (i.e. GRASS, GDAL, MapGuide and Mapserver) has become quite competitive with proprietary GIS in recent years. OSGeo is a global non-profit organization dedicating to global collaboration on supporting, building and promoting highest-quality open source geospatial software.

The China Chapter of OSGeo is formed by Chinese Active Users of Open Source Geospatial Software, hosted by National Remote Sensing Center of China, and co-sponsored by Autodesk Software (China) Co. Ltd. China OSGeo Chapter will earnestly follow the Local Chapter Guidelines stipulated by OSGeo and cooperate closely with OSGeo Board in promoting the use and development of OSGeo projects in China. The China OSGeo Chapter will strive to serve anyone interested in Open Source GIS and related issues, and to cover all the activities associated with Open Source GIS in China.

Mission

China OSGeo carries out numerous tasks addressed by OSGeo Foundation through its three committees - Supervisory Committee, Executive Committee and Technical Committee.

(1)Supervisory Committee:

• Officially representing China OSGeo to liaise with OSGeo Board, OSGeo Branches, Chinese Government Departments, or Academic Groups etc.
• Taking responsibility for the strategies in planning and developing China OSGeo, and networking with organizations to enlist participation and support for OSGeo.
• Committing financial accounting of running China OSGeo, i.e. budget application, financing donation.

(2)Executive Committee:

• Creating and managing China OSGeo official website (a new website will appear in a few dasy), for example, daily updating, meeting announcement, workshops and training, FAQ, mailing lists and wiki.
• Manage the mailing list "OSGeo-China" in Chinese (http://lists.osgeo.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/osgeo-china).
• Taking care of China Directory Listing and providing the members with networking opportunities for support and job opportunities.
• Increasing awareness about open source GIS solutions and promoting adoption in education, research, industry, government, and non-profit organizations though local technical supports.
• Encouraging local people to contribute to OSGeo projects or to release their outcomes as open source software with financial or practical assistance.

(3)Technical Committee:

• Software Internationalization and Localization
• Development of prototype applications to demonstrate Open Source geospatial capabilities to local and regional audiences
• Software Packaging and Customization for local and regional needs
• Training, Support and Development of e-Learning Contents in local languages
• Supporting open standards and open access to geospatial data

China OSGeo may not be limited to the above tasks, but all the activities should not be contrary or detrimental to the Mission and Objectives of OSGeo.

Objectives

Quarterly Committee Membership Meetings:

• Committee work reviewing
• Question and Discussion
• Proposal or planning

Collaborative Projects:

• Localization of OSGeo projects - MapGuide, GRASS, GDAL etc.
• Development of demo prototype illustrating how to use open source gis software
• Software documentation translation (from English to Chinese or verse visa)
• Development of e-Learning Content in Chinese
• Software re-packaging and customization for Chinese platform
• Free geospatial dataset downloading

Regional Events:

• Annual conference
• Workshops and Training
• Special Lectures
• Demonstrations

Communication:

• Networking Local Communities related to geo-issues
• Mailing Lists
• Wiki

Legal Status

The current legal state of China chapter is not an independent legal entity so far. It is a department of the National Remote Sensing Center of China (NRSCC). The NRSCC is a subdivision of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). For details, please look at its web site as: http://www.nrscc.gov.cn/english/about.asp.

Initial Membership

• China Chapter Representative - Prof. Rongguo Chen
• China Chapter Advisor - Prof. Venkatesh Raghavan, Osaka City University.
• Prof. Jiahong Li, National Remote Sensing Center of China.
• Prof. Chenghu Zhou, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research.
• Prof. Rongguo Chen, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research.
• Assoc. Prof. Xianfeng Song, Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.
• Mr. Kevin Zhu, Infrastructure Solution Division, Autodesk Software Inc.
• Mr. Hongxian Qin, Autodesk Software Inc.
• Mr. Jian Sun, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research.
• Mr. Pengwan Xia, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research.
• Mr. Ang Gao, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research.
• Mr. Xun Yan, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research.
• Ms. Chun Zhang, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research.

Contact Information

• Mr. Gao Ang
• Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research
• Chinese Academy of Science
• Tel: +86 10 64888970
• EMail: tomgaoang at gmail.com

Site Layout

China Chapter Portal: Information of Interest to Local Users, for examples, Meetings, Events, Chapter, Call for Papers, e-Learning, Tutorial, Reports, and Free Open Source Geographical Dataset.

Mailing Lists or Archives for Chinese Users:

• Desktop GIS - QGIS, OpenEV
• GIS workstation - GRASS, OSSIM
• GIS Development Toolkits - GDAL/OGR, geotools
• Geo-statistics - GNU R
• Web mapping servers - MapGuide Open Source, Mapserver, GeoServer
• Web map clients - MapBuilder
• Metadata servers - Isite
• Spatial Data Engine - PostGIS, myGIS
• C/S Database - PostgreSQL, mySQL, SQLite

Note: Enabled step by step when enlisting our professional participants

China Directory Listing: Companies, People, Universities, Research Institutes, Organizations, Government Departments etc. involved with or using OSGeo Projects.

China OSGeo Media Coverage: Links or snippets of media featuring activities of China OSGeo from various sources.

See also

• ChinaChapterLaunch 2006
• Chinese Glossary
• China datums

Links

• China OSGeo - (a new website will appear in a few days)
• China OSGeo Mailinglist - http://lists.osgeo.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/osgeo-china
• NRSCC - http://www.nrscc.gov.cn/
• IGSNRR - http://www.igsnrr.cas.cn/
• GUCAS - http://www.gucas.ac.cn/
• Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences - http://www.iga.ac.cn
• GDAL - http://gdal.osgeo.org/
• GeoTools - https://geotools.osgeo.org/
• GRASS - http://grass.osgeo.org/
• Mapbender - http://www.mapbender.org/
• MapBuilder - http://communitymapbuilder.org/
• MapGuide - https://mapguide.osgeo.org/
• MapServer - http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu/
• OSSIM - http://www.ossim.org/