Frank Warmerdam wrote: > I'd like to see OSGeo support socially relavent organizations in use of open source > software
This is along the lines of what I'm working on so I figure this is a good time to chime in to get feedback. I'm involved in a discussion between the Society for Conservation GIS (SCGIS) and the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) to enhance an international Conservation GIS training program sponsored by SCGIS. The SCGIS has a scholarship program that brings international conservation practitioners to the States to receive ESRI training, ESRI software, attend the ESRI conference, and sometimes get free hardware. It is a great program but it's costly and only meets a fraction of the demand. In principle having an SCB/SCGIS partnership is a good idea but it shouldn't be ESRI-centric. I talked about OSGeo and this seemed to raise some interest (curiosity?) but I sense skepticism. The (inaccurate) perception that ESRI will donate software to any conservation group, largely negating advantages of FOSS4G, doesn't help. The SCB has over 10,000 members and I think this could be a great opportunity for OSGeo to increase global exposure and possibly use it to solicit grant money to support training and software development around the world. SCGIS has a small international network of user groups that can be used to expand this program and I'm trying to figure out if OSGeo could help build a similar or partnered network for open source offerings. The OSGeo education committee members are creating course materials that will be leveraged for this conservation-focused training. I addition to that we need to develop a network of trainers. How much interest is there among the OSGeo community/user groups to support and provide conservation-focused geospatial training? I'd like to hear from anyone but I'm particularly interested in hearing from people with connections outside of North America. Distance learning methods would help overcome the problem of distributing this training globally but there is a strong interest in sponsoring in-person workshops in addition to on-line offerings. Our group at the AMNH is working on addressing both of these needs. Any feedback is appreciated. All the best, Ned -- Center for Biodiversity and Conservation American Museum of Natural History Central Park West @ 79th St New York, NY 10024 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] tel: 212-313-7947 fax: 212-769-5292 Home office tel: 802-382-9080 Web site: http://geospatial.amnh.org/ _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.osgeo.org http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss