United Kingdom Chapter Report 2012
Contact Name: Ian Edwards
Website: http://www.osgeo.org/uk
Key Accomplishments
2012 has been a very positive year for the UK chapter. We have exceeded 150 members on our mailing list and we continue to hold regular IRC meetings, helping our members to stay in touch. We also had another very successful event at OSGIS 2012 in Nottingham where the chapter's Annual General Meetings are held. Our stall at GISRUK was well received, with lots of Live DVDs and leaflets being handed out.
In June, our bid to host the annual international FOSS4G Conference was successful - FOSS4G will be coming to the UK in 2013! We are pleased to have a strong local organising committee and we are confident that we can deliver an exceptional event on behalf of the global OSGeo community.
In September, Jo Cook stepped down as the UK's chapter representative having been in post since the chapter's foundation in 2006. Ian Edwards has taken on the role for the following year. This will allow Jo, and other key members of the UK committee, to focus on preparations for FOSS4G in September 2013.
Areas for Improvement
FOSS4G 2013 will draw extra attention to the UK chapter and help us to continue to raise the profile of open source geospatial software in the UK. We anticipate that we will gain more members as a result of the event and we also anticipate that there will be new interest in the chapter following the event.
Opportunities to Help
We are always on the lookout for new members, and new events where we can promote OSGeo. If you would like to take an active role on the OSGeo:UK committee, or to find out more about the way we work, be sure to come along to our annual general meeting at the end of FOSS4G in Nottingham (Sunday 22nd September - OSGeo chapter meetings). You can also get in touch at anytime by emailing uk@osgeo.org.
Join the chapter mailing list and get involved! (http://www.osgeo.org/uk/mailing_list)
Outlook for 2013
The next year promises to be an exhilarating time for the UK chapter following our successful bid to host FOSS4G in the UK. We will continue our strong association with the UK's AGI, with chapter members being involved in regional events, and the annual AGI GeoCommunity conference being held immediately before FOSS4G. We are also very pleased that FOSS4G will be held in Nottingham and will build on the success of the four annual UK OSGIS events that OSGeo:UK have held in collaboration with the University of Nottingham.