Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] FOSS GIS in India

[RAVI KUMAR]

Hi,
"If not for Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the
initiatives taken at Centre for Ecological Sciences,
the GRASS mirror site in India, would not have
been hosted"

Rightly said.
Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the initiatives
taken at Centre for Ecological Sciences, is a shining
example of usage and spread of FOSS GIS in India. 

Infact this publication (2004 FOSS GIS Seminar,
Bakgkok) was very inspiring.
"Geographic Resources Decision Support System for
land use, land cover dynamics analysis
Dr. Ramachandra T.V.
Uttam Kumar, CES, Indian Institute of Science"
http://gisws.media.osaka-cu.ac.jp/grass04/

The IISc also added GRDSS a GIS to the FOSS GIS
arsenal.

Hope this will not remain as one of those rare
examples, and other educational institutes will follow
and benefit from FOSS GIS.

Ravi Kumar




--- Sudhira H S <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> I would like to clarify on one aspect relating to
> GIS in educational
> institutes. If not for Indian Institute of Science
> (IISc) and the
> initiatives taken at Centre for Ecological Sciences,
> the GRASS mirror site
> in India
> 
> would not have
> been hosted. Besides I personally know couple of my
> friends here who are
> using QGIS and GRASS. Indeed for the last couple of
> training programmes on
> GIS and Remote Sensing delivered here, we used QGIS
> (with GRASS plug-in) for
> the lab sessions and we did away with MapInfo as
> well!
> 
> Regards,
> Sudhira
> 
> 
> > GIS in educational institutes:
> > Markus Neteler visited and did some work with Anna
> > University Chennai, in early nineties, and they
> still
> > show GRASS GIS in their syllabus. But
> unfortunately
> > there are no takers. There are more than a hundred
> (an
> > approximation) institutes and universities in
> India
> > that offer courses in Geomatics, Remotesensing,
> > including the IITs( top educational institutes of
> the
> > land). All of them teach proprietary GIS (ARC and
> > ERDAS) and  image processing software. The reason,
> > they are driven by the industry's needs, and it is
> a
> > fact that jobs are there for those well versed in
> > proprietary software.
> >
> >
> -- 
>

> Research Scholar, Ph.D.,
> Department of Management Studies and Centre for
> Sustainable Technologies,
> Indian Institute of Science,
> Bangalore - 560 012, Karnataka State, INDIA
>

> > ___
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> 



   

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[OSGeo-Discuss] Board Geographic Diversity

[Steve Lime]

Hi all: Perhaps this has been discussed before, but... Given the apparent 
desire to maintain geographic diversity amongst OSgeo leadership perhaps in the 
future we might consider regionally based board seats. That is, you have 
representatives from:

North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, South/Central America and Oceania

If the bulk of activity is in North America and Europe then given them two 
seats. Then you have nominations within a region and so on... Every other year 
different geographic regions would be up for re-election. As a voting member 
you'd vote for candidates in each region.

If organizational affiliation diversity is more important (government vs. 
higher education vs. private sector vs. hobbyist) than geographic diversity 
then the same idea would apply. We do that here in Minnesota for our state 
GIS/LIS consortium board. That board also has an at-large seat open to anyone.

Just a thought...

Steve
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Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] OSGeo Board Election Results

[Dave Patton]

Tyler Mitchell (OSGeo) wrote:


On 10-Aug-07, at 7:26 AM, Landon Blake wrote:


I wanted to add my agreement with a couple of the statements made on
this topic.

First of all, I agree with Gary, I don't think the benefit of releasing
the tallies outweighs the harmful side effects.


I'm just catching up on this thread, I didn't realise it was such a hot 
topic.  I'm all for debate about how to improve our processes, but I 
don't like the idea of changing a process after the fact.


I also agreed with the idea of not releasing a full ordered list with 
vote tallies.


There may be some limited set of statistics that could
be compiled and released, without being viewed as
'changing the process'? If practical, a limited set
for this year may crystallize the debate for next
year, by providing a 'target' (i.e. Were last years
voting stats enough? If not, what should be added?).

For example, one stat that I can think of would be the
total number of votes cast, and the percentage of those
votes represented by the elected members(collectively).

--
Dave Patton

Degree Confluence Project:
Canadian Coordinator
Technical Coordinator
http://www.confluence.org/

FOSS4G2007:
Workshop Committee
Conference Committee
http://www.foss4g2007.org/

Personal website:
Maps, GPS, etc.
http://members.shaw.ca/davepatton/
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Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] OSGeo Board Election Results

[Tamas Szekeres]

Hi All,

It seems I've generated an inadvertent influence by proposing this
option. I didn't want to embarrass any of the nominees on the contrary
seeing a little difference between x any y would show up more about
the results than knowing that x have been elected and y have not. But
indeed this behaviour could also be reflected by extracting some
statistical results as well, so eventually there's no need to publish
the votes one by one so as to find out more about the voting itself.

I would also support to enhance the process how the charter members
will get to know more about the nominees and the desired viewpoints to
be taken into account when voting, so as to make sure about the
benefit with the selection the OSGEO community will obtain.

Best regards,

Tamas Szekeres
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RE: [OSGeo-Discuss] OSGeo Board Election Results

[Landon Blake]

Tyler wrote: " I have thought about this too and agree.  We could even
open this up to receive ideas from the membership at large, then boil it
down to a reasonable set.

I had hoped there would be more discussion/debate about the candidates
before the voting started - there was barely any - but having a selected
set of required questions would help to serve the same purpose next
time."

I would be more than willing to help with this process before our next
election.

Landon

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tyler Mitchell
(OSGeo)
Sent: Friday, August 10, 2007 1:58 PM
To: OSGeo Discussions
Subject: Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] OSGeo Board Election Results


On 10-Aug-07, at 7:26 AM, Landon Blake wrote:

> I wanted to add my agreement with a couple of the statements made on
> this topic.
>
> First of all, I agree with Gary, I don't think the benefit of  
> releasing
> the tallies outweighs the harmful side effects.

I'm just catching up on this thread, I didn't realise it was such a  
hot topic.  I'm all for debate about how to improve our processes,  
but I don't like the idea of changing a process after the fact.

I also agreed with the idea of not releasing a full ordered list with  
vote tallies.  I didn't even provide the top 5 in order of rank,  
instead did it in alphabetical order.  Otherwise, all you would get  
is a relative ordering of people versus other people.  Did someone  
vote more for one person because of their geographical location?  Or  
because there were better known or better qualified?  Or because they  
thought they had the best chance of winning?  Or did they like  
everyone but chose them randomly?

You could infer a reason for the order, but it would be pure  
speculation without knowing from every voter what they were  
thinking.  So, in the end, I believe that the number of votes is  
meaningless except to appease curiosity.  If we eventually move to an  
online system for managing elections then I'm sure the topic will  
come up again, as will the questions of giving multiple votes to one  
nominee or for voting for yourself.  All good issue worthy of debate,  
in my opinion.

> Perhaps an interesting approach at the next election
> would be to have the nominees answer a set of questions selected from
> the charter members. We could post each nominee's answer to the
> questions on the wiki.

I have thought about this too and agree.  We could even open this up  
to receive ideas from the membership at large, then boil it down to a  
reasonable set.

I had hoped there would be more discussion/debate about the  
candidates before the voting started - there was barely any - but  
having a selected set of required questions would help to serve the  
same purpose next time.

Sincerely,
Tyler
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Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] OSGeo Board Election Results

[Tyler Mitchell (OSGeo)]

On 10-Aug-07, at 7:26 AM, Landon Blake wrote:


I wanted to add my agreement with a couple of the statements made on
this topic.

First of all, I agree with Gary, I don't think the benefit of  
releasing

the tallies outweighs the harmful side effects.


I'm just catching up on this thread, I didn't realise it was such a  
hot topic.  I'm all for debate about how to improve our processes,  
but I don't like the idea of changing a process after the fact.


I also agreed with the idea of not releasing a full ordered list with  
vote tallies.  I didn't even provide the top 5 in order of rank,  
instead did it in alphabetical order.  Otherwise, all you would get  
is a relative ordering of people versus other people.  Did someone  
vote more for one person because of their geographical location?  Or  
because there were better known or better qualified?  Or because they  
thought they had the best chance of winning?  Or did they like  
everyone but chose them randomly?


You could infer a reason for the order, but it would be pure  
speculation without knowing from every voter what they were  
thinking.  So, in the end, I believe that the number of votes is  
meaningless except to appease curiosity.  If we eventually move to an  
online system for managing elections then I'm sure the topic will  
come up again, as will the questions of giving multiple votes to one  
nominee or for voting for yourself.  All good issue worthy of debate,  
in my opinion.



Perhaps an interesting approach at the next election
would be to have the nominees answer a set of questions selected from
the charter members. We could post each nominee's answer to the
questions on the wiki.


I have thought about this too and agree.  We could even open this up  
to receive ideas from the membership at large, then boil it down to a  
reasonable set.


I had hoped there would be more discussion/debate about the  
candidates before the voting started - there was barely any - but  
having a selected set of required questions would help to serve the  
same purpose next time.


Sincerely,
Tyler
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RE: [OSGeo-Discuss] Hello

[Landon Blake]

Welcome to the list Andrew. I look forward to hearing what you have to
contribute to our discussions.

 

Landon

 



From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Andrew Ross
Sent: Friday, August 10, 2007 1:12 PM
To: discuss@lists.osgeo.org
Subject: [OSGeo-Discuss] Hello

 

Hi Everyone,

 

I am new to the list and I'd just like to take a moment to say hello to
everyone.

 

I work on the Engineering team at Ingres corporation from a home office
in Ottawa, Canada.

 

I'll try and jump into the discussions where I can participate. I'm sure
I'll inevitably be lurking a lot of the time.

 

I'm looking forward to the discussions and hopefully meeting you in the
future.

 

Thank you,

Andrew

 

 



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[OSGeo-Discuss] Hello

[Andrew Ross]

Hi Everyone,
 
I am new to the list and I'd just like to take a moment to say hello to
everyone.
 
I work on the Engineering team at Ingres corporation from a home office
in Ottawa, Canada.
 
I'll try and jump into the discussions where I can participate. I'm sure
I'll inevitably be lurking a lot of the time.
 
I'm looking forward to the discussions and hopefully meeting you in the
future.
 
Thank you,

Andrew

 

 
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Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] FOSS GIS in India

[H . S . Rai]

On 8/10/07, RAVI KUMAR <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> The students of computer-science (a general term)
> rarely develop code for
> GIS, as they are probably much in demand elsewhere. It
> is a fact that 'Google summer of code', may not be an
> option for young programmers,

Though generalisation will be difficult, but with my limited
interaction within my neighbourhood, I found student don't want to do
programing a lot. They want to do things with short cuts. They do
routine type of projects (salary automation, library automation) that
too without implementing actually. If they do challenging project,
solve problems of other departments in same institute, then thing may
improve dramatically.

Our education system is producing handicapped professional. They
cannot do programming without Visual Tools (line visual studio). They
want to use software without understanding fundamentals and related
theory. IMO, if one is strong in fundamental, then using free software
and proprietary software or shifting between will not be difficult.
Rather training on free software, make one better user of proprietary
software.

> including the IITs( top educational institutes of the
> land). All of them teach proprietary GIS (ARC and
> ERDAS) and  image processing software. The reason,
> they are driven by the industry's needs, and it is a
> fact that jobs are there for those well versed in
> proprietary software.

This is wrong message, but it is there. If one is proficient in one
software, will also be proficient in other similar software with a
little orientation. One who drive "Honda City" well also drive
"Mitsubishi Lancer" well. Educational institutes has responsibility to
make their students versatile, which may done by introducing FOSS
software and comparing features with proprietary software.

> Government Institutes:
> The Indian state and central governments spend lot of
> funds in GIS and they all work with proprietary
> software.

There are many factors. Progress of a department is shown like:

" purchased software costing $100,000 during last financial year",
with free software with will progress become zero :-(

Mindset problem:

"Free software cannot be good"

Well known fact: Openoffice can be use in place of MSoffice. But all
school, colleges mention only MSoffcie in their syllabus.

Ignorance: Even in the era of IT, there is ignorance. Software are not
purchase by doing a comparative study. During some training program,
in an institute of International repute, when I mentioned about GRASS
(to a expert who was delivering lecture on some project involving use
of ARC_GIS) refused to accept that some free software can do similar
work.

No thing succeed like success. We need successful projects. Need
groups, who can undertake projects, demand professional with FOSS
skills to work on projects. Implement with FOSS, publicise it well.

Only competent persons having confidence, can use FOSS. Persons with
partial training (handicapped) will find FOSS difficult to use.

-- 
H.S.Rai
===
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Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] FOSS GIS in India

[Sudhira H S]

Hi,

I would like to clarify on one aspect relating to GIS in educational
institutes. If not for Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the
initiatives taken at Centre for Ecological Sciences, the GRASS mirror site
in India  would not have
been hosted. Besides I personally know couple of my friends here who are
using QGIS and GRASS. Indeed for the last couple of training programmes on
GIS and Remote Sensing delivered here, we used QGIS (with GRASS plug-in) for
the lab sessions and we did away with MapInfo as well!

Regards,
Sudhira


> GIS in educational institutes:
> Markus Neteler visited and did some work with Anna
> University Chennai, in early nineties, and they still
> show GRASS GIS in their syllabus. But unfortunately
> there are no takers. There are more than a hundred (an
> approximation) institutes and universities in India
> that offer courses in Geomatics, Remotesensing,
> including the IITs( top educational institutes of the
> land). All of them teach proprietary GIS (ARC and
> ERDAS) and  image processing software. The reason,
> they are driven by the industry's needs, and it is a
> fact that jobs are there for those well versed in
> proprietary software.
>
>
-- 

Research Scholar, Ph.D.,
Department of Management Studies and Centre for Sustainable Technologies,
Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore - 560 012, Karnataka State, INDIA

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RE: [OSGeo-Discuss] OSGeo Board Election Results

[Landon Blake]

I wanted to add my agreement with a couple of the statements made on
this topic.

First of all, I agree with Gary, I don't think the benefit of releasing
the tallies outweighs the harmful side effects.

Secondly, I think it would be a great idea to release a map showing the
location of the board members that voted.

Thirdly, I know that I voted for the members that I was the most
familiar with. Perhaps an interesting approach at the next election
would be to have the nominees answer a set of questions selected from
the charter members. We could post each nominee's answer to the
questions on the wiki.

For example, we might ask the nominee what the GIS free software
community's greatest challenge is, and what role they think the OSGeo
should have in overcoming this challenge.

The Sunburned Surveyor

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Gary Sherman
Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2007 6:50 PM
To: OSGeo Discussions
Subject: Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] OSGeo Board Election Results

What purpose is served by displaying the results in this way? I see
absolutely no benefit, other than to create an ad-hoc popularity  
contest to see who beat out whom.

What lessons can be learned from having the tally known? How can it  
benefit
OSGeo in future elections? Will it deter people from running in the  
future?

The votes were not posted publicly, we know who won, leave it at that.

If the final tally by person is made public, will we next ask to see  
how each charter member voted?

This is beyond openness.

-gary

(Yes I was a candidate, yes I was not elected, no this has nothing to  
do with my position on this issue)


On Aug 9, 2007, at 11:20 AM, Frank Warmerdam wrote:

> P Kishor wrote:
>> In the spirit of openness, it would be worthwhile seeing where the
>> charter members thought it best to cast their votes. While
>> embarrassment is a possible consequence, I believe if I were running
>> for a Board member, and if I lost, I would still like to see the
>> votes... I am not interested in seeing who voted for who... I am more
>> interested in seeing the voting pattern as a reflection of the  
>> pattern
>> of interest, awareness, and even a need for doing more.
>
> Puneet (and Tamas, Bart, ...)
>
> I don't have a strong opinion on this.  If someone would like to take
> this issue formally to the board I would encourage you to write up a
> position in the wiki and add it as a topic for the next board meeting
> agenda at:
>
>   http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/Twenty_Eighth_Board_Meeting
>
> If so, I'd ask that you be available to speak on behalf of the issue
> for the next board meeting.  Alternatively, the topic could be  
> discussed
> at the AGM at FOSS4G (planned for late on the Monday I believe).  I
> can't seem to find a wiki page about the AGM, though I think one  
> exists.
>
> Of course, discussing here is fine too, but ultimately for action it
> is helpful for someone to "carry the ball".  I'm not going to be that
> person given a lack of enthusiasm about the idea.
>
> Best regards,
> -- 
> --- 
> +--
> I set the clouds in motion - turn up   | Frank Warmerdam,  
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
> and watch the world go round - Rush| President OSGeo, http:// 
> osgeo.org
>
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-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Gary Sherman
Chair, QGIS Project Steering Committee
Micro Resources: http://mrcc.com
   *Geospatial Hosting
   *Web Site Hosting
"We work virtually everywhere"
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-



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[OSGeo-Discuss] Re: FOSS GIS in India

[Lane DeNicola]

I can corroborate Ravi Kumar's observation on GIS in educational
institutes.  The Indian Institute of Remote Sensing in Dehradun
figured prominently in my dissertation research, and in a conversation
with the dean of the Institute (V. K. Dadwhal) in 2005 he explained
that IIRS had entertained the incorporation of FOSS GIS into their
curriculum, but the institutionalized norms (e.g. proprietary tools)
of the majority of the potential employers of IIRS graduates were by
far the dominant force in making their own selection of tools.

--Lane DeNicola

On 8/10/07, Ravi Kumar wrote:
> GIS in educational institutes:
> Markus Neteler visited and did some work with Anna
> University Chennai, in early nineties, and they still
> show GRASS GIS in their syllabus. But unfortunately
> there are no takers. There are more than a hundred (an
> approximation) institutes and universities in India
> that offer courses in Geomatics, Remotesensing,
> including the IITs( top educational institutes of the
> land). All of them teach proprietary GIS (ARC and
> ERDAS) and  image processing software. The reason,
> they are driven by the industry's needs, and it is a
> fact that jobs are there for those well versed in
> proprietary software.

-- 
Lane DeNicola
Faculty Fellow in the Humanities
Geography Dept. and Program in Science, Technology & Society
Syracuse University
http://www.nacresky.com/lad
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RE: [OSGeo-Discuss] OSGeo Board Election Results

[Michael P. Gerlek]

I too agree with Gary & Co.; I don't personally see the need to release
the results, and in
any case the "rules" for this past election were set and should not be
changed retroactively.

If we are interested in looking at geographic distributions -- and,
being geo geeks, who wouldn't be? -- then I'd suggest doing an analysis
of the set of charter members.  We have a statistically interesting
number of them, across three(?) elections, so one should be able to get
some insight into the question of geodiversity over time.

-mpg

 

> -Original Message-
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of RAVI KUMAR
> Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2007 9:54 PM
> To: discuss@lists.osgeo.org
> Subject: Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] OSGeo Board Election Results
> 
> Hi All,
> I agree with Kishor. Seeing the geographical
> distribution of votes will be relevant.
> Ravi Kumar
> --- P Kishor <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> > Hi Gary,
> > 
> > I was not the person who originally requested this,
> > but I did show
> > interest in this, so I am presenting my reason here,
> > for what they are
> > worth.
> > 
> > Actually, I am not even so much interested in seeing
> > who got how many
> > votes as I am in seeing the geographical
> > distribution of whence the
> > votes came from and where they went... if that could
> > be shown on the
> > map... or, if I can imagine it on a map.
> > 
> > For now, it is heavily weighted in North America and
> > Europe, and
> > rightly so... most of this technology was invented
> > in these regions,
> > most of the developers are from these regions, most
> > of the
> > implementations are in these regions, most of the
> > momentum in these
> > regions. In the long run, I would like to see OSGeo
> > spread its wings
> > on all corners of the globe. I am not trying to
> > hasten this process
> > artificially, but I am interested in seeing the
> > process itself, and
> > see it happen sooner rather than later... imagine...
> > if I could see a
> > time-lapse movie of open geospatial spreading around
> > the world!
> > 
> > For now, I am more interested in seeing where we
> > need to focus more,
> > encourage more activity, perhaps even do some
> > special hand-holding, if
> > required.
> > 
> > That is all of my reasoning. It is not crucial or
> > urgent, and there is
> > no other agenda -- if collectively it is decided
> > that not showing the
> > tally is better, I am cool with that as well...
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > On 8/9/07, Gary Sherman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > What purpose is served by displaying the results
> > in this way? I see
> > > absolutely no benefit, other than to create an
> > ad-hoc popularity
> > > contest to see who beat out whom.
> > >
> > > What lessons can be learned from having the tally
> > known? How can it
> > > benefit
> > > OSGeo in future elections? Will it deter people
> > from running in the
> > > future?
> > >
> > > The votes were not posted publicly, we know who
> > won, leave it at that.
> > >
> > > If the final tally by person is made public, will
> > we next ask to see
> > > how each charter member voted?
> > >
> > > This is beyond openness.
> > >
> > > -gary
> > >
> > > (Yes I was a candidate, yes I was not elected, no
> > this has nothing to
> > > do with my position on this issue)
> > >
> > >
> > > On Aug 9, 2007, at 11:20 AM, Frank Warmerdam
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > > P Kishor wrote:
> > > >> In the spirit of openness, it would be
> > worthwhile seeing where the
> > > >> charter members thought it best to cast their
> > votes. While
> > > >> embarrassment is a possible consequence, I
> > believe if I were running
> > > >> for a Board member, and if I lost, I would
> > still like to see the
> > > >> votes... I am not interested in seeing who
> > voted for who... I am more
> > > >> interested in seeing the voting pattern as a
> > reflection of the
> > > >> pattern
> > > >> of interest, awareness, and even a need for
> > doing more.
> > > >
> > > > Puneet (and Tamas, Bart, ...)
> > > >
> > > > I don't have a strong opinion on this.  If
> > someone would like to take
> > > > this issue formally to the board I would
> > encourage you to write up a
> > > > position in the wiki and add it as a topic for
> > the next board meeting
> > > > agenda at:
> > > >
> > > >  
> >
> http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/Twenty_Eighth_Board_Meeting
> > > >
> > > > If so, I'd ask that you be available to speak on
> > behalf of the issue
> > > > for the next board meeting.  Alternatively, the
> > topic could be
> > > > discussed
> > > > at the AGM at FOSS4G (planned for late on the
> > Monday I believe).  I
> > > > can't seem to find a wiki page about the AGM,
> > though I think one
> > > > exists.
> > > >
> > > > Of course, discussing here is fine too, but
> > ultimately for action it
> > > > is helpful for someone to "carry the ball".  I'm
> > not going to be that
> > > > person given a lack of enthusiasm about the
> > idea.
> > > >
> > > > Best regards,
> > > > -

[OSGeo-Discuss] FOSS GIS in India

[RAVI KUMAR]

Hi Frank,
here are some of my PERSONAL views.
Programming skills and GIS:
In developing countries like India, GIS and Software
(GIS) development in education rarely have much common
ground in general. So experts in GIS
need not necessarily be software developers.

The students of computer-science (a general term)
rarely develop code for
GIS, as they are probably much in demand elsewhere. It
is a fact that 'Google summer of code', may not be an
option for young programmers, as their interest is
primarily is to land a well paid job, which is again
industry(developed world) driven.

GIS in educational institutes:
Markus Neteler visited and did some work with Anna
University Chennai, in early nineties, and they still
show GRASS GIS in their syllabus. But unfortunately
there are no takers. There are more than a hundred (an
approximation) institutes and universities in India
that offer courses in Geomatics, Remotesensing,
including the IITs( top educational institutes of the
land). All of them teach proprietary GIS (ARC and
ERDAS) and  image processing software. The reason,
they are driven by the industry's needs, and it is a
fact that jobs are there for those well versed in
proprietary software.

Government Institutes:
The Indian state and central governments spend lot of
funds in GIS and they all work with proprietary
software.

Incentives and encouragement:
The OSGeo India is conducting capacity building
workshops to introduce FOSS GIS to those who are
already knowledgeable in proprietary GIS. The OSGeo
India is in touch with educational institutes and is
showing them the option of FOSS GIS, by even offering
some joint projects. However students are wary as they
find jobs, only if they are proficient with
Proprietary GIS. 

OSGeo as an encouragement can provide scholarships for
those excelling in FOSS GIS. The code developers may
be offered projects in FOSS GIS, and suitably
rewarded. Selected students can be offered visits to
GRASS Capital Trento, to Germany for Qgis and to
Canada where FOSS GIS has routes. 

Outsourcing FOSS GIS work:
Development of data-sets from paper maps as well as
code-development for customisation of FOSS GIS, may
also be considered as incentives for attracting young
talent.

Bright future for FOSS GIS:
We are aware that the projects will turn into
testimonials for FOSS GIS within an year or two, and
to sustain further development in the FOSS GIS
projects, students will be employed with knowledge in
FOSS GIS. 

Last word:
GIS is already entrenched in India, but can only reach
'GRASSroutes' through FOSS GIS.

Ravi Kumar



   

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