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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-GB link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Charlie, I agree on the importance to build collective action at the local and regional government levels. This is key for cost savings for governments who spend millions of dollars every year on proprietary GIS licences and are finding it difficult in current economic climate.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>I think UK government has started doing good work in this area which is good example for local governments in other countries also to follow on cost savings in IT. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-bodies-must-comply-with-open-standards-principles">https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-bodies-must-comply-with-open-standards-principles</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Suchith<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> Charles Schweik [mailto:cschweik@pubpol.umass.edu] <br><b>Sent:</b> 07 January 2014 13:10<br><b>To:</b> Suchith Anand<br><b>Cc:</b> ica-osgeo-labs@lists.osgeo.org; ica-opensource@lists.nottingham.ac.uk<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [Ica-osgeo-labs] Intergovernmental agreements to expand "Geo For All" initiative<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>Excellent news Suchith!<o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>I think a key area here will be trying to build collective action at the local and regional government levels. <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>It would be wonderful if in some manner we could start through out network a collaborative effort for GIS systems to support local governments. <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>In addition, we might consider building a similar effort that is connected to international NGOs, such as NGOs working in the area of public health or environmental management.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Cheers,<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Charlie Schweik<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>On Tue, Jan 7, 2014 at 5:31 AM, Suchith Anand <<a href="mailto:Suchith.Anand@nottingham.ac.uk" target="_blank">Suchith.Anand@nottingham.ac.uk</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>Dear All,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>Thanks to efforts of Chris Pettit and colleagues at the University of Melbourne <a href="http://www.abp.unimelb.edu.au/osgeolab" target="_blank">http://www.abp.unimelb.edu.au/osgeolab</a> ,the 3rd EU - Australia Research Infrastructure meetings and workshops in Nov 2013 <a href="http://science.org.au/events/conferences-and-workshops/euaustralia/FINAL%20booklet.pdf" target="_blank">http://science.org.au/events/conferences-and-workshops/euaustralia/FINAL%20booklet.pdf</a> have done excellent momentum for our initiative. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>I am pleased to inform that in the area of sustainable cities, we now have agreement to establish Open Source Geoscience Sustainable Cities virtual Lab at the University of Melbourne with linked laboratories across Australia and New Zealand, under the ICA-OSGeo Initiative (jointly by INSPIRE, AURIN, ICA-OSGeo).<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>The Joint EC- Australian Government Communique is at<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><a href="http://ec.europa.eu/research/infrastructures/pdf/Third%20European%20Australian%20Workshop%20on%20Research%20Infrastructure%20Communique.pdf" target="_blank">http://ec.europa.eu/research/infrastructures/pdf/Third%20European%20Australian%20Workshop%20on%20Research%20Infrastructure%20Communique.pdf</a> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>I thank both the EC and Australian Government for their strong support and look forward to work with everyone for expanding our “Geo for All” initiative. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>This is a key turning point for our initiative and we will look at using this model for further building high level governmental support for our initiative which is key for rapid expansion. We will do this in stages. In the next stage we will expand this idea to Brazil, Canada, China, India, South Africa, Japan and USA. I believe this will be an excellent way to build up the education and research collaborations internationally in Geospatial Science and bring opportunities in education to wider community.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>Best wishes,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>Suchith<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p>This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee and may contain confidential information. If you have received this message in error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it. Please do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this message or in any attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nottingham.<o:p></o:p></p><p>This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an attachment may still contain software viruses which could damage your computer system, you are advised to perform your own checks. Email communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored as permitted by UK legislation.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><br>_______________________________________________<br>ica-osgeo-labs mailing list<br><a href="mailto:ica-osgeo-labs@lists.osgeo.org">ica-osgeo-labs@lists.osgeo.org</a><br><a href="http://lists.osgeo.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ica-osgeo-labs" target="_blank">http://lists.osgeo.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ica-osgeo-labs</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><br clear=all><o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal>-- <br>Charlie Schweik<br><br>Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst<br>Department of Environmental Conservation - <a href="http://eco.umass.edu" target="_blank">http://eco.umass.edu</a><br>Center for Public Policy and Administration - <a href="http://masspolicy.org" target="_blank">http://masspolicy.org</a><br>Associate Director, National Center for Digital Government - <a href="http://ncdg.org" target="_blank">http://ncdg.org</a><br>Author, Internet Success: A Study of Open Source Software (MIT Press, 2012) - see <a href="http://tinyurl.com/d3e4545" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/d3e4545</a><br>Outsmart Invasive Species project: <a href="http://masswoods.net/outsmart" target="_blank">http://masswoods.net/outsmart</a> <o:p></o:p></p></div>
<br><p>This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee and may contain confidential information. If you have received this message in error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it. Please do not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this message or in any attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nottingham.</p><p>This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an attachment may still contain software viruses which could damage your computer system, you are advised to perform your own checks. Email communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored as permitted by UK legislation.</p>
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