Message for Press Briefing in Tokyo

[Venkatesh Raghavan]

Dear Board,

I have received info from Autodesk Japan office
that of Autodesk CEO Chris Bradshaw will be
in Tokyo next week. Coinciding with this
visit a Press Briefing is scheduled for the
16th of May, 2006 in which the establishment
of "OSGeo Japan Branch" will be announced.

As one of the members of preparatory committee
for setting up of "OSGeo Japan Branch", I have
been requested to attend the press briefing in
Tokyo and give a message or comment about
establishment of "OSGeo Japan Branch".

I am wondering if I can give such a message
in my capacity as Director of OSGeo. Does the
message need to be approved by the OSGeo board?

Below is the brief message that I have written.
Comments or corrections are welcome.

Regards

Venka

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Message

Open Source software has come to be a proven environment for building 
stronger software through open global collaboration. The Open Source 
Geospatial Foundation, or OSGeo, has been created support and build the 
highest-quality geospatial software. The foundation's goal is to 
encourage the use and collaborative development of community-led 
projects. The establishment of “OSGeo Japan Branch” would be another 
milestone in promoting distributed innovation in Open Source geospatial 
solutions. I sincerely hope that the “OSGeo Japan Branch” will play a 
stellar role in catering to user needs not only in Japan but also in the 
Asian region.

Apart from being a strong voice for OSGeo, some of the major tasks 
whereby “OSGeo Japan Branch” could enrich and enhance Open Source 
geospatial initiatives would be;

1) Software Internationalization and Localization
2) Development of prototype applications to demonstrate Open Source
　 geospatial capabilities to local and regional audiences
3) Software Packaging and Customization for local and regional needs
4) Training, Support and Development of e-Learning Contents in local and
　 regional languages
5) Support Open standards and Open access to geospatial data in region

On this momentous occasion, it my great privilege to offer this message 
of felicitation to “OSGeo Japan Branch”. I wish “OSGeo Japan Branch” a 
great success and look forward to pleasure of working together to 
nurture and promote Open Source geospatial solutions.

Prof. Venkatesh Raghavan
Director, OSGeo
Osaka City University, 3-3-138 Sugimoto,
Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka, 558-8585
Japan
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