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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-GB link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>On behalf of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) and the International Cartographic Association (ICA), i am pleased to announce about the Open Source Geospatial Lab initiative in South America. After the successful establishment of Open Geospatial Labs in Europe, Asia and Africa , we are happy to have the first such initiative in South America being established at the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR) in Brazil. Federal University of Paraná is regarded as the oldest Brazilian university. Details at <a href="http://www.ufpr.br/portalufpr/">http://www.ufpr.br/portalufpr/</a> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In 2011, the International Cartographic Association signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Open Source Geospatial Foundation with the aim to developing 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 to support the development of open source geospatial software technologies, training and expertise.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The Open Geospatial Lab at Federal University of Paraná will be led by Prof. Silviana Comboin . Silviana has strong research background in Geospatial Science, SDI and GI standards. Previously she was working at the Brazilian National Mapping Agency before moving to Federal University of Paraná as a professor at the Geomatics Department. She also coordinate the Standards Workgroup of the Brazilian NSDI (INDE). She also have a strong team and action plan in place for building this initiative for Brazil and South America. The initial team of Open Geospatial Lab at UFPR will comprise of Prof. Dr. Luciene S. Delazari ,Prof. Dr. Maria Cecilia B. Brandalize , Prof. Dr. Claudia Robbi Sluter , André Luiz Alencar de Mendonça and Gisele Canova (IBGE - Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>We are working to expand this ICA-OSGeo initiative <a href="http://www.osgeo.org/node/1230">http://www.osgeo.org/node/1230</a> globally in our aim to bring the benefits of geospatial technology to all. If you are interested in establishing Open Source Geospatial Lab at your university and build research and teaching collaborations please contact me and I will be pleased to discuss details.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Best wishes,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Suchith <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>Dr Suchith Anand</span><i><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class=MsoNormal>Nottingham Geospatial Institute<br>Nottingham Geospatial Building <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>University of Nottingham NG7 2 TU<br>Tel: (0)115 82 32750<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><a href="http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~lgzwww/contacts/staffPages/SuchithAnand/Suchith%20Anand.htm">http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~lgzwww/contacts/staffPages/SuchithAnand/Suchith%20Anand.htm</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><a href="http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/cgs/research/researchareas/opensourcegeospatialresearch.aspx">http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/cgs/research/researchareas/opensourcegeospatialresearch.aspx</a> <br><a href="http://elogeo.nottingham.ac.uk/">http://elogeo.nottingham.ac.uk/</a><br><a href="http://ica-opensource.scg.ulaval.ca/" target="_blank"><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>http://ica-opensource.scg.ulaval.ca/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Leading Open Geospatial Science through ICA Commission on Open Source Geospatial Technologies<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black'>Mission - Building up Open Source, Open Standards, Open Data research for bridging the digital divide</span><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><br/>
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