We are pleased to announce that the first Open Source Geospatial Lab in Switzerland is established at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI)  http://www.supsi.ch/home_en.html

In a society marked by profound changes, the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI)  produces, develops and disseminates knowledge and expertise as propellant forces fundamental to support the economic, social, technological and artistic progress, and to contribute to the cultural and ethical growth of both society as a whole and its individual members. In this context, the Institute of Earth Sciences (IST) is a historical research and education institution, integrated in SUPSI and mainly involved in activities strictly related to the environment and its characteristics. It is composed of specialists in management of surface water and groundwater, natural hazards assessment, geological analyses, environmental databases, natural resource monitoring and geographic information systems (GIS). The geomatics division at the IST is particularly active in the field of the open source software, open standard and management of real time data collected from automatic monitoring network.

This open source geospatial laboratory is a joint initiative of the International Cartographic Association (ICA) and the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo). The lab will be led by Professor Massimiliano Cannata. He also leads the Division of Geomatics http://www.supsi.ch/ist_en/settori-attivita/geomatica.html

Massimiliano is also an OSGeo Charter member and an active member of the open source geospatial community. His laboratory is also the developer of the Free and Open Source Sensor Observation Service Data Management System( istSOS ) which implements the SOS standard. Details at http://istgeo.ist.supsi.ch/software/istsos/

OSGeo is a not-for-profit organisation founded in 2006 whose mission is to support and promote the collaborative development of open source geospatial technologies and data.

ICA is the world authoritative body for cartography, the discipline dealing with the conception, production, dissemination and study of maps.