Launch of ICA-OSGeo Lab in India at AGSE 2013 and Season’s Greetings from “Geo for All” Initiative

We are pleased to inform that the ICA-OSGeo Lab  was launched  at CEPT University , Ahmedabad, India on the concluding day of the AGSE 2013 conference[0], on 19th December 2013.  This Laboratory is part of the international ICA-OSGeo Open Source Geospatial Labs Network [1]. The aim of this worldwide network is to provide on global basis collaboration opportunities for academia, industry and government organizations in open source GIS software and data based on the Memorandum of Understanding [2] of the International Cartographic Association (ICA) and the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo). The aim of ICA-OSGeo “Geo for All” initiative is to bring more opportunities for geospatial education worldwide.

Dr. Anjana Vyas, chair of AGSE 2013 conference and Professor CEPT University, gave an overview about the future plans of Open Source Geo Lab at CEPT University , India and launched the website [3]. Photos of the event are at  [4] [5]. Guest speakers contributed to the discussions at the launch event. Dr. D Schroeder (HFT Stuttgart) gave his views on the benefits of open source and explained about its success stories in the field of Information Technology. He also added that the philosophy behind open source development is the importance of freedom to use the software.  Dr. FJ Behr (HFT Stuttgart) gave a talk on open source in the context of GIS and the need to promote  it. He included in his presentation about the OSGeo foundation , its mission , goals and its activities on a global scale and local scale. As Head of the first ICA-OSGeo laboratory in Germany he outlined the work and importance of the OSGeo Foundation.  M. G Koenig (TU Berlin) presented the power of the open CityGML standard as an example to visualize 3D data to support management and development of cities. He provided city GML as an example of open consensus driven OGC standard.

We congratulate Prof. Anjana Vyas and her team at  CEPT University for leading the establishment of  Open Source Geospatial Lab in India and working to provide opportunities for staff and students to learn the latest geospatial technologies. We are sure more universities in India will establish OSGeo labs and create geospatial education programs  to help to provide the supply of skilled labour that is needed to meet the requirements of Geo industry and drive the digital economy.

Google Oxera’s  report on the economic impact of Geo Services report [6] published in January 2013  estimates the revenues from global Geo services at $150 billion to $270 billion per year. This study is one of the first to consider Geo services as an industry in itself, encompassing all digital mapping and location-based services. It clearly shows the potential for thousands of skilled jobs being created by GIS. But unfortunately, the number of universities offering GIS programs in developing countries is very low and hence developing countries have been lagging behind in benefiting from the opportunities created by the global geo services. This is very disappointing that so many staff and students in the developing and poor countries and regions in our planet not having access to this rapidly growing area and we needed to take action so that everyone can study and benefit from geospatial opportunities. High cost proprietary GIS software packages are unaffordable for majority of users in developing and poor countries and has been a big stumbling block for developing and poor countries to take advantage of the immense opportunities provided by GIS technologies. Hence our “Geo for All” initiative is very timely as by using free and open source based GIS will help in the spreading geospatial education among the economically disadvantaged people and countries (removing the need for high cost proprietary GI  vendor softwares)  . Free and Open source GIS provides accessibility, low cost solutions and lowers the entry barriers for the use of geospatial technologies for all.Our key aim is to make it possible for students in developing and poor countries to be also able to get geospatial education.

On the same day (19th Dec) we also welcomed our 64th ICA-OSGeo lab at the University of Geneva. Big welcome to Dr. Gregory Giuliani, Prof.Anthony Lehmann , Dr.Nicolas Ray and colleagues at Institute for Environmental Sciences [7] at the University of Geneva, Switzerland.

As 2013 is nearly over, we take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your support and contributions which helped to build up the “Geo for All”    initiative. It has been amazing to see our humble initiative grow rapidly and this has been due to the dedication of all of you and we would like to thank you for your continued contribution. We have now put strong foundations for our “Geo for All” initiative from Australia to Uruguay and we are  looking forward to working with you all in 2014 to rapidly build upon this.

On behalf of everyone at “Geo for All” initiative, we wish you and your families very happy holidays and Happy New Year.

Best wishes,

Suchith

[0] http://agse2013-cept.in
[1]  http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/MOU_ICA
[2]  http://www.geoforall.org
[3] http://www.geomaticsindia-cept.org
[4]  https://docs.google.com/a/cept.ac.in/file/d/0Bw-0H_COGuskMm0wbHF1RDYtRVE/edit?pli=1
[5]  https://docs.google.com/a/cept.ac.in/file/d/0Bw-0H_COGuskNEpvZEc5SDBXVWc/edit?pli=1
[6]  http://www.oxera.com/Oxera/media/Oxera/downloads/reports/What-is-the-economic-impact-of-Geo-services_1.pdf
[7]  http://www.unige.ch/envirospace

 

Season’s greetings

As 2013 is nearly over, let me take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your support and contributions which helped to build up the “Geo for All” http://www.geoforall.org/   initiative. It has been amazing to see our humble initiative grow rapidly and this has been due to the dedication of all of you and I would like to thank you for your continued contribution.

I remember reading the Google Oxera report in the start of this year (Jan 2013) that estimated the revenues from global Geo services at $150 billion to $270 billion per year. This study is one of the first to consider Geo services as an industry in itself, encompassing all digital mapping and location-based services. Details at

http://www.oxera.com/Oxera/media/Oxera/downloads/reports/What-is-the-economic-impact-of-Geo-services_1.pdf

It clearly showed the excellent progress made by GIS and its significant contribution to jobs creation and digital economy. There was also a table listing the use of GIS in higher education (Table 5.2 ; Page 23) which clearly showed that very few universities in developing countries were currently running courses in GIS.  This is very disappointing that so many staff and students in the developing and poor countries and regions in our planet not having access to this rapidly growing area and we needed to take action so that everyone can study and benefit from geospatial opportunities. High cost proprietary GIS software packages are unaffordable for majority of users in developing and poor countries. Hence our Geo for All initiative is very timely as by using free and open source based GIS will help in the spreading geospatial education among the economically disadvantaged people and countries (without having to pay proprietary GIS vendors). In order to achieve UN Millennium Development Goals (in particular Goal 7) on themes like environmental sustainability, it is essential to provide free and open source geospatial tools to universities, government organisations etc in developing countries for helping them achieve these targets. Free and Open source GIS provides accessibility, low cost solutions and lowers the entry barriers for the use of geospatial technologies for all.

Today morning we welcomed our 64th ICA-OSGeo lab at the University of Geneva. Big welcome to Dr. Gregory Giuliani, Prof.Anthony Lehmann , Dr.Nicolas Ray and colleagues at Institute for Environmental Sciences http://www.unige.ch/envirospace  at the University of Geneva. I understand that they are also part of UNEP/DEWA/GRID-Geneva http://www.grid.unep.ch   (we already have UNEP Warsaw http://www.gridw.pl/  in our network , so it is good to see more collaborations developing at UN organisations).

Thank you to all of you, we have now put strong foundations for our “Geo for All” initiative from Australia to Uruguay and i am looking forward to working with you all in 2014 to rapidly build upon this. I also request all established labs to also help other universities in your region to establish Open Source Geospatial Labs as a new year resolution and be the ambassador of the initiative in your regions/country.

I wish you and your families very happy holidays and Happy New Year.

Best wishes,

Suchith

Open Initiatives in Agriculture

At the 10th Anniversary of Berlin declaration last month, staff of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation met me to discuss ideas and i shared some thoughts with them on the current developments in open access in Geospatial at http://aims.fao.org/zh-hans/community/interviews/enhancing-use-geospatial-technologies-agriculture-interview-drsuchith-anand-geo

AgriGIS research including the BBSRC funded GRASP http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ngi/research/geospatial-science/projects/grasp-gfs.aspx that we are doing at NGI will have open and free technologies at its heart.

Advisory Board of the “Geo for All” initiative

We are pleased to announce the Advisory Board of the “Geo for All” initiative.

* Professor Georg Gartner (ICA President & co-chair)
* Jeff McKenna (OSGeo President & co-chair)
* Professor Josef Strobl
* Professor Marguerite Madden
* Professor Mike Jackson
* Sven Schade
* Gavin Fleming
* Sergio Acosta y Lara
* Dr Chris Pettit
* Professor Venkatesh Raghavan
* Geoff Zeiss
* Jeroen Ticheler
* Phillip Davis
* Arnulf Christl
* Professor Maria Brovelli
* Dr Rafael Moreno

The ICA-OSGeo Lab network is a joint initiative of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) and the International Cartographic Association (ICA). The ICA and OSGeo Presidents will be the co-chairs and permanent members of the Advisory Board. Others will have 3 year term starting date of the Advisory Board being constituted (1 Dec 2013). The Advisory Board has brought together excellent range of expertise (academia, government, industry) and geographical distribution (we have nearly all continents covered). Also it brought together members from other key communities ISPRS, AGILE, INSPIRE, UNIGIS etc. which will make sure is it a fully inclusive global initiative. The Advisory Board will meet once every six months by telemeeting and AB members will keep an eye on the developments and provide strategic advice to the initiative through various forums.

While there has been tremendous growth in geospatial technology over the last few decades, the number of universities offering courses in geospatial science has not kept pace. Free and open geographic information (GI) software helps make geospatial education available to students from economically poor backgrounds worldwide (removing the need for high cost proprietary GI software). Our key aim is to make it possible for students in developing and poor countries to be also able to get geospatial education. This initiative will bring more opportunities for geospatial education worldwide. Over 50 Open Source Geospatial Labs have already been established in universities around the world as part of this initiative in just two year’s time, and we will be establishing over 100 research labs worldwide by September 2014.

We will have over 500 labs established worldwide in the next five years making us the biggest geospatial education and research network in the planet and we now have a good team of experts to guide us for the future. Welcome to all members of the Advisory Board and we are looking forward for their advice and ideas for expanding this education initiative globally.

We thank all of you for your strong support for this education initiative and it is very happy for us that our initiative has now grown rapidly from very humble beginnings and is helping to widen the benefits of geospatial education opportunities to thousands of students worldwide.

10th Anniversary of Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities

The 10th Anniversary of the Berlin Open Access Declaration http://openaccess.mpg.de/286432/Berlin-Declaration was held in Berlin . The two day deliberations http://www.berlin11.org/ was a good opportunity to bring together all key players to reflect, share ideas and discuss future plans at a global level. There was also strong representation from UK by RCUK, senior academics from major universities, government and policy makers. David Willetts (Minister for science and universities) gave talk on UK’s policy on Open Access.

It was very inspiring event for me and it was really happy to see the momentum building up globally and to learn more about the latest developments and discuss ideas for future collaborations. It gives us more inspiration to further build up our Open Access initiative ELOGeo http://elogeo.nottingham.ac.uk/ for the benefit of the geospatial community worldwide. Thanks to Amir, Adam, Jeremy and to all the contributors and users of ELOGeo and also JISC for funding and supporting the ELOGeo initiative.
Thanks again to the initiators of the Berlin Declaration for their farsighted vision and noble aspiration to make knowledge and information resources available to everyone.

Building EU-Australia Research synergies

The 3rd EU – Australia Research Infrastructure meetings and workshop in Canberra in November was an excellent success. Professor Octavi Quintana (Director for the European Research Area, Directorate General for Research & Innovation, European Commission) led the EU delegation. For the Sustainable Cities research theme, i am pleased to see more research collaborations building esp. the aim to establish open source sustainability cities research labs in key universities in Australia. I believe this will be an excellent way to build up the education and research collaborations between EU and Australia in Geospatial Science.

I would like to thank Prof. Chris Pettit and Australian Academy of Sciences for inviting me and Open Source Geospatial Lab http://www.abp.unimelb.edu.au/osgeolab at the University of Melbourne and the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN) http://aurin.org.au/ for funding my visit and meetings.

First Open Source Geospatial Lab in Wales

We are pleased to announce that the first Open Source Geospatial Lab in Wales is established at the GIS Research Unit at the University of South Wales.

The GIS group at University of South Wales has been established for over 25 years and its research activity and outputs has given it an international reputation. It has developed highly successful lines of GIS research, as well as introducing new areas of activity and new collaborations. Notable progress has been made in areas such as accessibility modelling,landscape visualisation, spatial data generalisation, population estimation modelling and GIS-based optimisation techniques. Staff within the Centre have published over 100 papers in peer reviewed journals and Academic staff in the group are Programme Committee members for a number of UK and International conferences.

The GIS Research Unit will become part of the ICA-OSGeo Lab network of over 50 laboratories world-wide. This is in recognition of the unit’s on-going use and development of Free and Open Source GIS technology in teaching, research and consultancy. A particular focus is on the use of such technologies in the areas of health service planning, environmental management and the emergency services. The lab will be directed jointly by Dr. Mark Ware and Prof. Gary Higgs.

More details at http://gis.research.southwales.ac.uk/news/en/2013/nov/04/ica-osgeo-lab/