Italiano Chapter Report 2011

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Introduction

The italian GFOSS community is represented by the association GFOSS.it, OSGeo Italian Chapter, founded in 2007, counting around 90 members and 9 OSGeo Charter Members. GFOSS.it is carrying out activities both about free and open source software and about open data, particularly it seconds the release of geodata from public administrations under a suitable open license.

Key Accomplishments

The main activities carried out by the Italian Chapter during 2011, mainly community events, have been a great opportunity for discussion on new advances in GFOSS and on national geospatial solutions, as well as networking for developers, researchers and users.

Events

  • XII Meeting degli Utenti Italiani di GRASS - GFOSS [1] -- This is an annual three days conference targeted to researchers and developers on the field of open source GIS, especially GRASS GIS. The 2011 event took place in Trento University and included, as usual, both workshops and presentations.
  • GFOSS DAY 2011 [2] -- This is an annual two days conference, targeted mainly to professionals of public and private sector, as well as civil servants. The 2011 edition was held in Foggia. The first day, in the morning, workshops are held on several GFOSS software. This year workshops have been carried out using the OSGeo-Live environment, and a brief explanation about the project has been given to attendants.
  • Study-day about open data and document produced [3] - On 13th April 2011 in Bologna, GFOSS.it organised a Study Day (Giornata di Studio) on geographical open data. The participants, GFOSS.it itself, Emilia-Romagna Region and CSI Piemonte, produced a set of guidelines ready for application in the Italian context. Further associations are invited to adopt the guidelines and suggest improvements. The definitions are borrowed from Open Knowledge Foundation's Open Definition http://www.opendefinition.org . The aim of the guidelines is to encourage the creation of services based on open data from public administrations. The usage of internationally recognised licenses is highly recommended, as well as open formats and raw data access.
  • OSMit2011 [4] - This is the annual OpenStreetMap Italian conference, GFOSS.it was sponsor and two members of association were the organizers of this event.

Member activities

GFOSS.it collects donations for several GFOSS softwares, as well as for GRASS GIS and QuantumGIS community sprints, and its members are a constant presence at these events.
Members are also active in other fields and associations, such as archaeology, ecology, public administration, local Linux User Groups, thus improving the discussion and adoption of FOSSGIS outside the relatively small specialists circle.

Opportunities to Help

GFOSS.it manages translation efforts on various FOSS software including OSGeo-Live DVD, and is a hub for packagers for various Linux distributions. Volunteers are always welcome!
The GFOSS.it wiki is open to all FOSS contributors and collects useful information about Italian geospatial data, as well as tips for software installation and configuration.

Outlook for 2012

Events:

  • the XIII GRASS meeting will be held on Trieste on February 15-16-17 [5]; the annual meeting of GFOSS.it associates will elect the new Board of Directors and Chairman to be in charge during 2012-2013
  • a qualified representative of GFOSS.it members will attend the Italian annual Conference of Free SW on Ancona (June 22-23) [6]
  • GFOSS.it plans to sponsor and attend the SmartCities event in Bologna on July 6 [7]
  • the next GfossDay will be in Turin on November 14-15-16-17; for the first time this event will include the annual Open Street Map Italian conference (OSMit), thus signifying a strong interaction between the OSM and GFOSS communities [8].

References

[1] http://events.unitn.it/foss4g2011
[2] http://www.gfoss.it/drupal/gfossday2011
[3] http://www.gfoss.it/drupal/opendata
[4] http://conf.openstreetmap.it/
[5] https://sites.google.com/site/grassts/home
[6] http://www.confsl.org/confsl12/
[7] http://www.statigeneralinnovazione.it/online/progetti/diritti-digitali-e-dati-aperti-le-basi-per-citta-e-comunita-smart/
[8] http://www.gfoss.it/drupal/node/350

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