Hi Angelos,
thanks for the honest update on the situation. What is missing probably
for community members to fully appreciate the situation is the income
part of the budget (planned 2024, actual 2024, planned 2025). I can't
find it in OSGeo_Budget_2025)
Even
Le 10/03/2025 à 14:33, Angelos Tzotsos via Discuss a écrit :
Dear OSGeo community,
In February 2026, OSGeo will celebrate its 20 year anniversary. In
these two decades it has seen incredible growth, from the number of
incubated projects, to the proliferation of Local Chapters, to the
number FOSS4G conferences around the world, as well as the constant
increase in the number of participants to these conferences. Without a
doubt, the community has significantly expanded and, in many aspects,
it has become successful. However, the current situations brings
compelling challenges that the Foundation must address, one of which
is clearly the financial aspect.
The 2025 budget has been discussed and was recently approved
(https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeo_Budget_2025 /
https://www.loomio.com/d/W2qoQdbB/osgeo-budget-2025/1) and it brought
important cuts almost everywhere. To SAC, to OSGeo projects, to the
marketing committee and others. Furthermore, it is not the first year
that the requested amounts could only be partially approved, delayed
or even denied and every time, the decisions were not easily taken.
Thus, it is safe and sad to say that today, the OSGeo Foundation is
under-funded and without fundamental changes, the risk of collapse due
to its own success is real.
It has become more obvious after the COVID pandemic: the combination
of almost complete dependency on the financial success of the yearly
global conference, coupled with the lack of structure and agreements
between the OSGeo Foundation, Local Chapters and local and regional
FOSS4G conferences is having dangerous consequences on the budget.
Even more, given that the Foundation relies solely on volunteers
(except for a very limited amount of consulting fees for SAC) and that
it has no professional staff, is a significant hindrance when it comes
to attracting and retaining sponsors.
We want to assure the community that addressing this situation is a
top priority for the OSGeo board and we have started to work on
drafting potential changes on the current structure, financial setup
and status that would curve the current trajectory and would allow the
Foundation to serve its community on the long run. In the near future,
the board is planning a dedicated meeting for which your
participation, as well as your suggestions are more than welcomed.
On behalf of the OSGeo Board,
Angelos
--
http://www.spatialys.com
My software is free, but my time generally not.
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