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<TITLE>FW: [OSGeo-Announce] OSGeo and Centre for Geospatial Science Sign MoU [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]</TITLE>
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<FONT FACE="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:11pt'>Fyi,<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:11pt'><B>From: </B>Frank Warmerdam <<a href="warmerdam@pobox.com">warmerdam@pobox.com</a>><BR>
<B>Date: </B>Tue, 28 Sep 2010 02:02:39 +1000<BR>
<B>To: </B><<a href="announce@lists.osgeo.org">announce@lists.osgeo.org</a>><BR>
<B>Subject: </B>[OSGeo-Announce] OSGeo and Centre for Geospatial Science Sign MoU<BR>
<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:11pt'>Nottingham, UK ,September 22, 2010 - The Open Source Geospatial<BR>
Foundation (OSGeo) and the Centre for Geospatial Science (CGS),<BR>
University of Nottingham have signed a Memorandum of Understanding<BR>
for the establishment of an Open Source Geospatial Lab (OSGL) and<BR>
to develop collaboration opportunities for academia, industry and<BR>
government organisations in open source GIS software and data in<BR>
the UK.<BR>
<BR>
Professor Mike Jackson, Director of the Centre of Geospatial Science,<BR>
said "The MOU between OSGeo and the Centre for Geospatial Science at<BR>
the University of Nottingham is an indication of the close collabor-<BR>
ation between the two organisations which has already underpinned two<BR>
very successful Conferences on open source research in the geospatial<BR>
domain. CGS is funding two research internships to help progress joint<BR>
research activities and welcomes both offers of funding for further<BR>
internee sponsorships and approaches from potential visiting scientists<BR>
who may wish to spend a period of time based at the Centre in Nottingham<BR>
to work on open source geospatial research."<BR>
<BR>
Arnulf Christl, President of OSGeo, said, "The Foundation has<BR>
successfully achieved it's first primary goal: To support Free and<BR>
Open Source Software projects in the geospatial realm. One of the<BR>
other two pillars of the foundation is supporting education which is<BR>
much harder for a developer driven organization to achieve on it's own.<BR>
Therefore this Memorandum of Understanding with CGS is a great success<BR>
from OSGeo's point of view and will mark the start of an ongoing strong<BR>
partnership with academia. In the long run this will enhance education<BR>
and research in the Open Source geospatial realm in a broader context<BR>
as other institutes recognize the opportunity and join forces."<BR>
<BR>
Tyler Mitchell, Executive Director of OSGeo said "Engaging academia at<BR>
several levels is crucial to meeting our common long term missions of<BR>
advancing open source geospatial technology. OSGeo's relationship with<BR>
CGS serves as a proactive template for how other institutions can also<BR>
engage with OSGeo at a more formal level. This will open up additional<BR>
exciting opportunities that we haven't even thought of yet."<BR>
<BR>
The MOU provides for the establishment of a research laboratory for<BR>
supporting development of open-source geospatial software technologies,<BR>
training and expertise. It also provides provision of internship<BR>
opportunities for high quality students. An Advisory Board/Steering<BR>
Committee coordinated by the OSGeo Board and CGS, is to be setup and<BR>
will be comprised of key members of OSGeo, OSGeo:UK, eminent academics,<BR>
industry leaders, etc. to give strategic input and direction for Open<BR>
Source Geospatial Lab and its open source activities.<BR>
<BR>
OSGeo is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2006 whose mission<BR>
is to support and promote the collaborative development of open source<BR>
geospatial technologies and data. Details at <a href="http://www.osgeo.org/">http://www.osgeo.org/</a><BR>
<BR>
The University of Nottingham is a world-class research intensive<BR>
University and in the top 1% of all universities worldwide. The Centre<BR>
for Geospatial Science is the key leader in the Open Source Geospatial<BR>
domain within the UK. CGS is actively involved in multiple Open Source<BR>
geospatial initiatives. Details at <a href="http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/cgs/">http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/cgs/</a><BR>
<BR>
The first phase of internships are now released at:<BR>
<BR>
<a href="http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/cgs/news/internships.aspx">http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/cgs/news/internships.aspx</a><BR>
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