[OSGeo-Announce] The Open Source Geospatial Foundation and the International Cartographic Association (ICA) signs Memorandum of Understanding

Frank Warmerdam warmerdam at pobox.com
Thu Oct 20 12:42:50 EDT 2011


Nuremberg, Germany
September 27, 2011

The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) and the International
Cartographic Association (ICA) have signed a Memorandum of  Understanding
with the aim of developing on a global basis collaboration opportunities
for academia, industry and government organizations in 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 for supporting development of open-source geospatial
software technologies, training and expertise. In the first phase five
laboratories will be established, one each in Asia, Europe, Africa, the
Americas and Australasia which will act as nodes for future  expansion. It
also aims to provide support for building-up and supporting development of
open source GIS teaching and training materials, joint organization of open
source GIS events, workshops through the ICA network for wider participation
globally etc.

Professor Georg Gartner, President of the ICA, said "The International
Cartographic Association (ICA) is committed to  supporting society and
governments by collaboratively facilitating initiatives and programmes that
establish and grow the capacity to deliver timely, comprehensive and useful
geospatial information. This MoU responds to the challenges and issues related
 to the use of open source cartographic and GI software and data.  In
considering this response, it is pertinent to note that ICA is interested in
contributing to this initiative, and will champion the advancement of the
initiative through their various individual and collaborative efforts.”

Arnulf Christl, President of OSGeo, said  "The Open Source Geospatial
Foundation (OSGeo) is committed to support and build the highest level Open
Source geospatial technology. It is our pleasure to be able to serve as a
platform and multiplier for the cartographic domain, an area which needs
creativity beyond pure technology. This MoU intends to bridge the gap between
technology and cartographic requirements and we very much look forward to work
with members of the International Cartographic Association to improve this.
A very much hands-on objective of this MoU is to jointly organize walk-in
events where cartographic professionals can access and use a set of software
unencumbered by proprietary restrictions and vendor lock-in.Both organizations
are also interested in supporting young academics by lowering the barrier to
good cartography through collaborative efforts on both sides."

Dr Suchith Anand, Chair of ICA Commission on Open Source Geospatial
Technologies welcomed this excellent initiative and said "this will be
landmark opportunity for both OSGeo and ICA in building up synergies and
bringing opportunities for lots of people worldwide to learn and benefit from
geospatial technologies especially in developing countries. This will build
upon the Open Source Geospatial Lab UK initiative started at the University
of Nottingham.  We are also pleased to announce that Open Source Geospatial
Lab Malaysia is now being established by Dr. Tuong Thuy Vu. We are pleased to
see many Universities are rapidly following this example (such as University of
Girona in Spain). Over the next few months we will be building collaborations
with key Universities and research organisations  worldwide  for the
establishment of Open Source Geospatial Research Laboratories and Research
Centres for development of open-source geospatial software technologies,
training, expertise and building up momentum in Open Source GIS education
and research worldwide."

OSGeo http://www.osgeo.org/  is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2006
whose mission is to support and promote the collaborative development of open
source geospatial technologies and data.

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

Full text of the MoU is available at:
  http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/MOU_ICA


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