FOSS4G 2009 Get Involved

Back to FOSS4G 2009...

You are excited to see FOSS4G come to Sydney and would like to get involved? Excellent. Here are some ideas and business drivers you can run past your boss.

Australian Universities

1. Provide students to help man the conference.
2. Help with the coordination and management.
3. Provide students to man the conference.
4. Supply Labs (UNSW). Computer labs are very popular as they give people the chance to get their hands dirty trying out the latest technology.
5. Provide presentations. Present case studies and research.
6. Shape program. Have representatives involved in the conference organisation and setting of the program. Ensure the program includes issues of relevance to your organisation.
7. Promotion. Promote FOSS4G through your organisation and publicity channels.
8. Sponsorship. Have your name associated with the conference through sponsorship or in kind contribution.

Government Agencies

OSGeo's theme is "User Driven" and Governments are a big geospatial user, so this conference has a strong focus on you. Your agency will have a lot to gain by having employees rub shoulders with the best Open Source developers in the world, and having them help solve your problems in real time. So what can a Government agency do to promote the conference:

1. Shape program. Have representatives involved in the conference organisation and setting of the program. Ensure the program includes issues of relevance to your organisation.
2. Provide presentations. Present case studies and research. This will encourage other agencies to follow in your footsteps which will increase sponsorship in your technologies.
3. Send attendees. I've heard of one organisation offering a trip to FOSS4G as a prize.
4. Supply Labs. Computer labs are very popular as they give people the chance to get their hands dirty trying out the latest technology. You may have access to computers which can be made available.
5. Live CD. Effective use of labs require a common environment which can be installed easily and used by all. Development or sponsorship of this would be an excellent contribution which has long lasting value.
6. Promotion. Promote FOSS4G through your organisation and publicity channels.
7. Sponsorship. Have your name associated with the conference through sponsorship or in kind contribution.

The increasing maturity of open source software and open source platforms offers significant potential benefits to the Australian Government and the wider community. Open source software development, using open standards, can support greater interoperability between systems and enable system sharing. It can offer original solutions to problems not addressed by proprietary software and it has the potential to lead to significant savings in Government expenditure on information and communications technology (ICT).

Australian Government Information Strategy Office, "A guide to Open Source Software for Australian Government Agencies", April 2005, http://www.agimo.gov.au/_sourceit/sourceit/oss .