<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">IMO:</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">I'm a spatial information specialist
with 27 years experience in the spatial industry. </font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">I have extensive experience in a wide
variety of disciplines, including: management, IT</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">development and administration, GIS,
remote sensing, surveying and cartography. This</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">experience has been gained in both Government
and in the Private Sector in most states of</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Australia and also in Papua New Guinea.
</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">I'm currently working as an IT Solutions
Architect with the Department of Primary Industries in Melbourne, Victoria.</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">I've been using Open Source software
for over seven years, primarily Debian on servers and Ubuntu on the desktop.
I'm impressed by the quaility and depth of OS software.</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">I've been a interested in the potential
of OS Spatial for several years now and have been trying to get the big
picture of what is happening and if it can be applied in a corporate sense.
I like what I see and am currently fostering a project to establish an
open source 'advanced spatial' environment to serve some of our data via
open standards (OGC). This environment will allow us to extend our existing
capabilities.</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">I can see huge potential for the use
of OS spatial in Australia and New Zealand. As examples:</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">- we are starting to develop a community
around the BlueNet version of GeoNetwork </font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif"> to use as a compliant ANZLIC
Metadata Profile of ISO 19115/19139. We need to foster this community</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif"> and get other interested parties
involved if possible. I understand that a number of private companies</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif"> and other government departments
are interested.</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">- in the Geoscience community there
is work happening around the GeoServer application in order to </font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif"> serve GeoSciML (a complex feature
model) via WFS. Much of the actual development work is being done</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif"> by Rob Woodcock's group at CSIRO,
with science input from organisations such as ours. We intend </font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif"> implementing a Production version
of Geonetwork that results from this work in order to serve our geoscience
data.</font>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">How can we help foster such communities?
Perhaps there is a role here for OSGeo-AustNZ?</font>
<br>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">I consider that I'm an advocate of the
use of both Open Source software and of Open Standards with the aim of
opening up access to spatial information for greater use, particularly
in the application of 'enterprise' decision support solutions.</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">I'm afraid that some of my colleagues
may be getting sick of my 'spreading the word'.... ;-)</font>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Bruce</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif"><br>
</font><font size=2><tt><br>
</tt></font>
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