Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] Candidate's Thoughts on OSGeo
On Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 10:50 PM, Alex Borrell borrella...@gmail.com wrote: I'd like OSGeo to increase its presence in not-developed areas in LatinAmerica (where I am :)), Asia and Africa. Charter members should carefully consider whom to vote - the board should be representative in terms of global coverage, software project diversity, educational efforts and fresh geodata management ideas. Best Markus ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.osgeo.org http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
[OSGeo-Discuss] Board Candidate's statement: Jo Cook
Dear All, Firstly, it's an honour to be even nominated, so many thanks to Antony and Saber for that! I recently heard someone say that in terms of the overall information technology sphere, geospatial is such a small niche part that it's like a pimple on IT's bottom. However, we've all heard the fact about the amount of corporate data with a geospatial component! If you take those two statements together, along with the slightly uncertain financial market at the moment, there's a lot of room for growth for geospatial technology, particularly open source. I think OSGeo should be facilitating that growth, as an enabler for coders and end-users alike. I think OSGeo does need to grow as an organisation- both in terms of sheer numbers, but also in terms of profile. I would like to get to the point where I don't have to start every discussion about OSGeo with a quick translation of what the name stands for, and what it's all about. I think opportunities at governmental level are being missed, or left to local chapters, whereas high-level involvement by OSGeo globally could be incredibly useful and persuasive. I want people (as individuals, companies, or even governments) to come to OSGeo to find out about good, sustainable, well-managed software, reputable training courses, meet-ups and mailing lists. OSGeo doesn't have to provide all of these things itself, but (at the risk of repeating myself) can act as an enabler- providing the infrastructure and the brand, drawing people in, to the benefit of everyone involved. We do still (unfortunately) need to prove that open source geospatial software is sustainable and viable- our proprietary friends have not stopped the FUD, and OSGeo is best placed to provide the reassurance that end-users need. The challenge is, how to do all of this with not a lot of cash! I don't propose any radical changes to how things work- I'd like to see whether there would be some benefit for spreading the pot of money for sponsoring events around a little more to raise the profile of the organisation outside of the US. I'd like to see more infrastructure in place to help local chapters (this is ongoing, so not a criticism), and I'd like to look at whether more can be done to promote company involvement in OSGeo- be that in terms of sponsorship or some other way. I guess these are both the goals I have for the organisation, and the kind of things I'd like to look at if I was elected. I'm not a coder, I'm a facilitator, and I want to make OSGeo a success by contributing in any way I can. Thanks for reading, Jo -- ***Jo Cook* Astun Technology Ltd, The Coach House, 17 West Street, Epsom, Surrey, KT18 7RL, UK t:+44 750 095 8167 iShare - Data integration and publishing platformhttp://www.isharemaps.com/ See the new Helpdesk and Customer portalhttp://support.astuntechnology.com/home * Over 35% of the 4 star council websites use iShare - SOCITM Better Connected 2010 See our customer commendations and awards http://www.isharemaps.com/ Company registration no. 5410695. Registered in England and Wales. Registered office: 120 Manor Green Road, Epsom, Surrey, KT19 8LN VAT no. 864201149. ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.osgeo.org http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
RE: [OSGeo-Discuss] Nomination for Michael Gerlek to OSGeo Board 2011
I'm on vacation right now, so this will have to be short -- I'll write something more up when I get home in a few days, but for now let me just make some bullet points: * Thank you to Aaron for the nomination. It's a privilege to be nominated, and doubly so to be in company of so many other nominees. * In addition to the stuff Aaron lists below, I'm working with Howard Butler the PDAL (nee libLAS) project for lidar and point cloud support. It's not a formal OSGeo project today, but as it matures it will hopefully become one someday. * I also worked at LizardTech for a decade, where I championed LizardTech's open source initiatives, including bringing open source libraries into their projects, financially sponsoring OSGeo annually, and rewriting the licenses for their closed-source libraries to be freely distributable within the open source world. * I know of nothing seriously broken within OSGeo today that I want to charge right in and start fixing. Tyler and the board members have done well over the past five years. However, there are two areas I’d like to focus on... * First, as Aaron notes below, I'm one of the folks who runs our local chapter. We've got a great group that meets monthly, and we've been able to put on some great activities -- such as arranging to give talks and panels at local conferences, and putting on our own day-long workshop/conference/sprint at a local university that was attended by many, many people. I'd like to see the board be proactive in getting more local chapters organized and running, as this sort of grass roots work at the individual level is often the best way to introduce people to open source and open data. I've got some ideas on how we could help jump-start things. * Second, I had the good fortune to serve as editor for the Open Sources column in GeoConnexions magazine. We produced two dozen columns over two years, all contributed by members of the OSGeo community, covering everything from libraries and apps to open data and open curricula. I have also just started a smaller, similar column for the Lidar News magazine. OSGeo should work with the media in our industry to identify more opportunities like this. Publishers always want quality content, it's something we can provide for little direct financial cost, and it is a good way to get our message out and seed development of other marketing-like content. Thanks for considering me for the board! -mpg -Original Message- From: discuss-boun...@lists.osgeo.org [mailto:discuss-boun...@lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Aaron Racicot Sent: Thursday, August 04, 2011 2:22 PM To: discuss Subject: [OSGeo-Discuss] Nomination for Michael Gerlek to OSGeo Board 2011 I would like to take this opportunity to nominate Michael Gerlek for the OSGeo Board. Michael (known to many as MPG) has been an active member of the OSGeo community from the very first planning meetings in 2006. He has been a Charter member of OSGeo since 2006 and has actively participated in many functions of OSGeo including leading the Visibility committee. Michael also co-founded CUGOS, the regional OSGeo chapter in the Pacific Northwest. He is actively involved in many open source GIS projects, and now dedicates himself to full time consulting work in the open source GIS space through his company Flaxen Geo Consulting. He has a long history in participating with the OGC and could bring unique experience in that arena to the board. Most importantly his participation in the OSGeo board would bring great industry insight, leadership experience, and a true dedication to furthering the OSGeo mission. I strongly encourage the OSGeo community to consider Michael as a valuable addition to the board and the OSGeo family. http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/User:Mpg Thanks for your consideration. Aaron -- Aaron Racicot Z-Pulley Inc. aar...@z-pulley.com 360-221-2441 ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.osgeo.org http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.osgeo.org http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
[OSGeo-Discuss] Fwd: GITA Education Commitee Datasets Survey
Survey (only 2 questions I think) re: datasets and industry you are in. Tyler Begin forwarded message: From: GITA Education Committee i...@gita.org Date: August 8, 2011 3:05:31 PM PDT To: tmitch...@osgeo.org Subject: GITA Education Commitee Datasets Survey Reply-To: i...@gita.org SmartUnsubscribesm The premier educational association for geospatial information and technology professionals! Dear Geospatial Industry Professional: The GITA Education Committee is examining the possibility of building GIS lessons to be posted on the GITA website. The first issue is about data and we need your help. Please fill out this very quick survey. Click here to begin the survey. GITA Education Committee Charter The Education Committee's mission is to foster the development and presentation of quality educational programs, best practices and materials to current and prospective members of the association, other organizations, and all those interested in using geospatial technology to help operate, maintain, and protect the infrastructure, which includes organizations such as utilities, telecommunication companies, and the public sector. Thank you for your time! Dr. Thomas Mueller 2011 GITA Education Committee Co-Chair GITA, 14456 East Evans Ave., Aurora, CO 80014 303-337-0513 Forward to a Friend SmartUnsubscribesm This email was sent to tmitch...@osgeo.org by i...@gita.org Update Profile/Email Address | SmartUnsubscribesm from this list | Privacy Policy ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.osgeo.org http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
[OSGeo-Discuss] Workshops filling up...
Some FOSS4G workshops are filling up fast. If you've been holding out to get registered, you might want to do it sooner than later in order to secure access to the workshops you most desire. OpenLayers app development is sold out, looks like Intro to PostGIS isn't far behind! Tyler___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.osgeo.org http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] Candidate's Thoughts on OSGeo
On 2011-08-09, at 12:56 AM, Markus Neteler wrote: Charter members should carefully consider whom to vote - the board should be We probably each have our own list of the most important things to consider, so I share mine as well. :) My votes will be less influenced by global coverage or software experience - the membership and project teams certainly covers those off very well in day-to-day work on the ground. Instead, speaking pragmatically, I am more focused on the skills, experience and interest needed to help run a growing international organisation. What those skills are may be open to debate, but for me: building partnerships, raising funds, extending our reach, supporting members/chapters, working with business, etc. Diversity and technical skills certainly help, but they are no guarantee for success when challenges come. Thankfully our excellent list of candidates is ripe with these skills and I'm glad, because I believe there are unique business challenges before the board over the next couple years. My two cents... Best wishes, Tyler___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.osgeo.org http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] Candidate's Thoughts on OSGeo
Some Views: Business initiatives and knack to push up OSGeo's reserves are for sure needed among qualities.. But a Global vision for billions (not money but people) at the margins of the developing world, makes it sustainable. GIS Usage vs GIS Development (software), is different in different parts of the world.. While coding for GIS development makes OSGeo tick with lots of enthusiasm, in the Developed world (US Europe Japan and Australia) much of the rest of the world (or 70% approximately) who are financially weak do not use FOSS4G tools, except for a few exceptions.. One of the main reasons is.. people just get the GIS software and dont spend for it (piracy) But it is only possible to translate GIS front ends to Local Languages (Freely) using FOSS4G tools. With this, all those who support FOSS4G tools wear the caps of social reformers.. So those, would Be Directors of OSGeo.. please add more Global perspective. Ravi Kumar From: Tyler Mitchell tmitch...@osgeo.org To: OSGeo Discussions discuss@lists.osgeo.org Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2011 3:00 AM Subject: Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] Candidate's Thoughts on OSGeo On 2011-08-09, at 12:56 AM, Markus Neteler wrote: Charter members should carefully consider whom to vote - the board should be We probably each have our own list of the most important things to consider, so I share mine as well. :) My votes will be less influenced by global coverage or software experience - the membership and project teams certainly covers those off very well in day-to-day work on the ground. Instead, speaking pragmatically, I am more focused on the skills, experience and interest needed to help run a growing international organisation. What those skills are may be open to debate, but for me: building partnerships, raising funds, extending our reach, supporting members/chapters, working with business, etc. Diversity and technical skills certainly help, but they are no guarantee for success when challenges come. Thankfully our excellent list of candidates is ripe with these skills and I'm glad, because I believe there are unique business challenges before the board over the next couple years. My two cents... Best wishes, Tyler___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.osgeo.org http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.osgeo.org http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] Candidate's Thoughts on OSGeo
I would like to thank Tyler Mitchell for nominating me, and I am honored to be standing with a great group of candidates, all of whom have a longer history of involvement with OSGeo than I do, I think. I have put in a lot of hours as FOSS4G chair over the past year though, so am trying to catch up to some degree! However, as a relative newcomer to open source geospatial software I feel can bring some different attributes to the board, and I think that having a variety of strengths and perspectives among the members of any board is a good thing. In past lives I have been CTO at two of the top three (closed source) geospatial software companies, Intergraph and Smallworld. This background means that I am pretty well known in the broader geospatial industry, so I often get invitations to do keynote talks at conferences or contribute articles to publications, etc. This gives me a good platform to spread the word about OSGeo, especially to audiences who are often fairly uneducated about open source. My strong background in the closed source world adds credibility when I tell this type of audience that they need to look seriously at open source. This recent blog post is typical of the sort of story I tell this kind of audience about my experience with open source: http://bit.ly/qgI4lE. This post also talks a little more about the work I am currently doing on development of web mapping applications for large enterprises, especially utilities and telecoms, using various open source products including PostGIS, MapFish and OpenLayers. I already do this kind of outreach and will continue to do so whether or not I'm on the board. But I think that being a board member would help add weight to the story I could tell about open source at events like these. Also as a board member I would like to help expand our outreach activities. At FOSS4G this year we have a one day event for newcomers, and I think that content and ideas from this could be packaged up and re-used elsewhere. Earlier this year I participated with several others in delivering an open source track at the GITA conference in the US, an established geospatial conference that had historically been focused mainly on closed source systems. I think we could get a much greater presence at small and large events around the world by maintaining a set of good quality presentation material, and a list of people interested in speaking, and proactively reaching out to event organizers (who are usually looking for good content). With my background and good connections in the industry I think I am also in a good position to help attract more sponsorship / funding for OSGeo, to help us maintain and expand our activities. My experience with FOSS4G this year has made me think that there is more that we can and should do to help future organizers avoid reinventing the wheel, and I would be interested in continuing to work with Jeff McKenna, Tyler Mitchell and others on some ideas on this area. One specific idea is to expand the Drupal based web site we have put together for this year's FOSS4G, which with a little more effort could handle the whole abstract submission and selection process in a much more streamlined way than we were able to do it this year, save future organizing teams a lot of effort and cut down the scope for errors in the process. I also think that we should look seriously again at the idea which has been discussed several times of having more regional FOSS4G events in addition to the global one (though there are various things to think through about how best to do this). I have served on the boards of multiple non-profit organizations, including 6 years on the board of GITA, a North American organization focused on geospatial education and conferences (who are also the conference organizers for FOSS4G). I have also served on the boards or advisory boards of several companies, and think I have a good ability to work with a broad range of people and help get things done. I appreciate your consideration of me as a candidate, and hope to see many of you at FOSS4G in my adopted home town of Denver (I am from the UK originally). Cheers, Peter. On Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 3:15 PM, Tyler Mitchell (OSGeo) tmitch...@osgeo.orgwrote: ** With a very encouraging list of nominees for the open board positions, it might help (at least me!) if some could share their thoughts about OSGeo and its future direction. As a potential director: * What important areas do you see OSGeo needing to fix or strive for in order to grow? * What challenges do you see for OSGeo in the short and long terms? * What kinds of goals do you have for the organisation? (It's not a presidential race, but curious on what you see as goals for the org). * What is needed for a board to be successful? ...For OSGeo to be a success? * Have you had to deal with similar challenges before? * Etc... I'm sure others have good questions too, but thought I'd share the ones on my mind
Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] Candidate's Thoughts on OSGeo
On 8/5/2011 5:15 PM, Tyler Mitchell (OSGeo) wrote: With a very encouraging list of nominees for the open board positions, it might help (at least me!) if some could share their thoughts about OSGeo and its future direction. Sorry for my delay in responding, Tyler – I was traveling. Like others, I should say that I too am honored to be nominated. The other nominees are quite impressive! My response to Tyler’s questions will, naturally, come from my perspective as a professor in a U.S. higher education institution, and also from my perspective of researching open source software projects (I have a book coming out in 2012 to be published by MIT Press where I studied open source collaboration issues). I teach in two programs: an environmental conservation program (undergrads and grad students) and also in a public administration/policy masters program. I also taught, most recently, high school teachers open source GIS. TYLER’S QUESTION: What challenges do you see for OSGeo in the short and long terms? Challenge 1. Increased awareness and adoption of OSGeo-related technologies (short and long term) My students are constantly asking me “why open source”? Why not teach us the dominant GIS software used by the organizations they will be interviewing with? Historically this has to do with dominant proprietary desktop GIS, but increasingly I am seeing more interest in Google’s free (as in cost), open standard web-based technologies. So I think this is a major, long term challenge. How does OSGeo-related technologies gain market share? Challenge 2. Continued improvements in the usability of OSGeo-technologies. Some of the resistance I run into is because of usability or technical problems students run into with the software we use. Things have definitely improved over the last 5 years since I started teaching this, but I still run into periodic problems and sometimes this is because of inconsistencies between computer platforms (e.g., Windows or Mac). This is a reflection based on my focus in particular on one desktop GIS package in particular. These technical problems result in students having sometimes a negative view of open source. In last year’s graduation ceremony, some students gave me an “open source proponent award.” The little trophy they gave me was in parts and they said I had to put it together myself. This was in fun and as a joke, but it also makes a statement about how end-users who are less technical sometimes feel about open source technologies. This is an issue found in many open source technologies – and not specifically OSGeo technologies. I'm not sure what the OSGeo board can do to help with this issue, but I believe it is an important issue. At the same time, I am extremely grateful and impressed at the OSGeo-related software groups and hope they don't see this comment as a negative one. Challenge 3. Better integration of OSGeo technologies specifically in the education sector. Education is a key way to make headway into open source geospatial technology adoption. But the challenge is how do we make headway in its use in educational programs at all levels? TYLER’S QUESTION: What kinds of goals do you have for the organisation? (It's not a presidential race, but curious on what you see as goals for the org). Goal 1: To encourage collaborative activities that helps to increase the adoption of OSGeo-related technologies. I personally think a focus on the use of these technologies in local governments might be an area of potential growth. In the US, proprietary technologies are embedded in national and state organizations, but there are many local governments that have little GIS capability. I think a focus on local governments might be a “growth industry” in developed countries like the US, and also is absolutely relevant in developing countries. So it might be a place to focus some serious attention. Goal 2: Better and increased communication between software groups and educators. As the chair of OSGeo's educational group, I don't really see much direct dialog between the software groups and our education group. I'd like to see that improved and see where we might be able to work together better. Goal 3: Help raise funding for the development of OSGeo-related educational and marketing material. TYLER’S QUESTION: What is needed for a board to be successful? ...For OSGeo to be a success? I think the OSGeo board’s primary role should play a strategic planning role in supporting OSGeo’s staff and helping them with OSGeo direction. As I see it, the board should be helping OSGeo identify cutting edge opportunities. For example, where are the niches OSGeo technologies can fill? Where might OSGeo’s projects compete? How do we differentiate OSGeo from proprietary competitors? How can OSGeo help coordinate activities between projects or encourage collaborative efforts across OSGeo toward strategic goals? So as
