We are pleased to announce the establishment of the Open Source Geospatial Laboratory at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom. The laboratory is one of the members of a worldwide network developed under the auspices of the ICA-OSGeo Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
In 2011, the International Cartographic Association (ICA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) with the aim to develop global collaboration opportunities for academia, industry and government organisations in the field of open source GIS software and data. The MoU aims to provide expertise and support for the establishment of Open Source Geospatial Laboratories and Research Centres across the world and will support the development of open source geospatial software technologies, training and expertise.
The University of Southampton is one of the top research universities in the UK and has strong research in geospatial science. The University of Southampton Open Source Geospatial Laboratory (OSGL) has been established by the GeoData Institute and Geography and Environment AU in collaboration with other initiatives in the UK and further afield. The initiative brings together staff from various disciplines (Engineering, Geography, Electronics and Computer Science) across the university.
The current members of the lab are Prof.Pete Atkinson, Prof. David Martin, Jason Sadler, Chris Hill, Julia Branson, Craig Hutton, Andrew Murdock, Duncan Hornby, Andrew Harfoot, Gemma Gubbins, Homme Zwaagstra, Jeremy Austin, Ian Waldock, Oles Kit, Mike Clark, Samantha Cockings, Robin Wilson, Kirk Martinez, Kate Parks, Simon Blainey and Richard Treves.
The Laboratory will engage in open source research for geospatial software and data, using open source geospatial software and data as tools and contributing to the development of tools, standards and data through research. The lab will seek to exploit new opportunities for research, often in partnership with other OSGLs and members of the ICA-OSGeo initiative. The Laboratory will also deliver open source geospatial training and CPD programs.
The website of the new lab is at http://www.osgl.soton.ac.uk/
Official announcement at http://www.osgeo.org/node/1355