Hi all, We partnered with OSGeo some months ago to allow them to receive funding for a conference they were organising in India - the partnership was a great success, everything went well, they got the money we needed and have made great strides in their project since. I asked Rajan of OSGeo-India to draft a press release about the collaboration, and here's the first draft. Could I get comments on this, please, and suggestions for ways it might be improved? I actually think it's pretty good as-is, except that it doesn't go into the exact nature of the collaboration. Cheers, Dave. K. S. Rajan wrote:
I have made a first draft of the announcement/ press release, though I am not completely aware of the exact nature of the collaboration that was formed between OSGeo and GNOME. I hope it helps provide some start point that can be refined further. Also, if you feel like it is better to add some pics to this report then do let me know. Btw, Geoff has a small write up on his blog - http://geospatial.blogs.com/geospatial/2007/01/index.html Also, find ATTACHED the Report on the OSGeo-India activities at Map World Forum. The other activities in the last few months, after Map World Forum in Jan 2007, have been as follows - (1) OSGeo-India was represented and a presentation made at LINUX ASIA in Delhi. Feb 1-2, 2007 (2) OSGeo tools were showcased and hands on experience provided to delegates at a Special Session at National Conference on Biodiversity Conservation & Human Well-Being, at Osmania University, Hyderabad. Feb 8-10, 2007. (3) OSGeo-India will make 2 presentations at the GIS Session, organized as part of 'National Convention on Free Software' by the Free Software Foundation of India, at Hyderabad. Feb 3-4, 2007 ***** Version 1 of Press release - this is quite a general one and might need additions/modifications, especially since I haven't written anything about the concerned parties that released the funds like Redhat, Michael [TITLE] OSGeo Collaborates with GNOME OSGeo, a not-for-profit organization working towards providing support and development of open source tools and applications related in the field of Geospatial technologies, announces collaboration with GNOME foundation. This partnership between these two major organizations that aim to provide for free and open access to the software technologies will help strengthen the ongoing efforts of similarly minded bodies. Especially, it is an important milestone, since the current market for geospatial technologies is still flooded primarily by proprietary software systems. An outcome of this collaboration was on display during the recently held Map World Forum in India, where OSGeo-India, the Indian Chapter of OSGeo, put up an exhibition booth and also arranged a Workshop. These events helped to disseminate and educate the geospatial community of the enormous opportunities that free and open source geospatial software tools provide, the advances and the level of technology development in order to provide effective geospatial solutions. During the workshop different models of development and use of free and open source (FOSS) tools and its potential in the domains of academia, government (including organizations mandated with national development, and e-governance), and business were presented. It was one of the best attended sessions at the forum. OSGeo and OSGeo-India extend their thanks to GNOME in supporting these activities and also hopes that this collaboration will stand in good stead for both the parties, while working towards their respective organizational objectives. ***** End ***** ***** Version 2 of Press release - Please Note that this has been drafted keeping the Indian Media in mind. Look forward to your inputs on it. [TITLE] Open Source and GIS (in India) Recently, a national not for profit (NPO) society called OSGeo-India was launched at Hyderabad during the recently held Map World Forum, 2007. The society in India is an outcome of the efforts of a small group of volunteer scientists and researchers in India who want to bring the GIS technologies to public domain and help popularize the use of such technologies for national development. It is the first independent national Chapter created of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo.org) that was launched worldwide in early 2006. The goal of this society is to provide support and development of open source tools and applications related to the field of GIS and its allied sciences. One of its primary aims is to develop a community of both the users of such products and the developers who can contribute in developing high quality open source software. The society will work towards the goals of the foundation, both in the context of software development, e-governance, localisation (Indian language support for GIS tools) and building of awareness & outreach of such software systems. OSGeo-India collaborates with OSGeo.org and other similarly minded organizations like the GNOME Foundation. OSGeo-India thanks these organizations for the support that it has provided in giving shape to the Society here in India. OSGeo-India will have its headquarters at International Institute of Information Technology GIS and its tools are increasingly becoming relevant in variety of domains ranging from simple tools such as providing route maps to complex decision making needs of large governmental bodies and organizations. The GIS or geospatial community consists of not only the technical developers of this technology but also the users, content providers, and solution providers based on this technology. ***** End *****
-- Dave Neary dneary free fr
Attachment:
Report to OSGeo on MWF.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document