[Board] International Participation in OSGeo

[Seven (aka Arnulf)]

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Brian,
I very much share your vision to spread word, interest and know-how in
theses areas. Undeniably there is a big cultural difference in the way
that people work and collaborate in these parts of the world, something
that we will need to learn if we want to become more active. Regardless
of these potential diffculties we already have achieved some results and
there are more things coming up. Here are some of the current activities
going on which I know of.

OSGeo has been invited by GIS Development to organize the Open Source
block of the upcoming Map World Form in Hyderabad, India and invite
speakers, maybe conduct workshops, etc. OSGeo India has accepted the
invitation and we are currently planning to organize an OSGeo summit for
invited representatives of Indian government and industry to help
motivate using and supporting Open Source. This is the current top down
perspective.

The bottom up view is being helped by programs such as the Google Summer
of Code which also funded several students in India to work on OSGeo
projects. This has been ongoing since the first GSoC with OSGeo and
there is a small but growing group of spatially and Open Source aware
people involved in some of our projects. The students on the project I
helped are all still active even after the initial contact through GSoC.

There is alos some activity to be seen at the educational level with
universities evaluating to use more Open Source Geospatial in education.

This is very promising and indded we hope to be of help to grow the FOSS
idea that way. It will then depend a lot on motivated individuals who
manage to build a business model around geospatial FOSS and get going in
the local markets.

I am completely at a loss of how any of this could work in China. We
have a local chapter there but there is very little communication that I
know of and cultural barriers are also so much higher. It is good to
hear that Jeff seems to have more and better contacts in that area. It
always depends so much on individuals - and with OSGeo especially on
interested volunteers.

Best regards,
Arnulf.

Jeff McKenna wrote:
> Hello Brian,
> 
> Thanks for this insight into the current status of activity of OSGeo
> across the globe.  In fact right after the last FOSS4G, Arnulf and I had
> a similar discussion on doing some outreach to India (we both feel that
> meeting face to face with local chapters is a critical part of OSGeo's
> growth).  Ravi Kumar, another board member, has also been actively
> looking at events in India where OSGeo-India can participate in.  So, it
> seems we are building some momentum there.
> 
> Regarding China, I am in contact with several OSGeo-China members and
> they are very active - unfortunately not as visible as other chapters.
> (for example, they very quickly translated the Sol Katz Award wiki
> recently http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Sol_Katz_Award_cn)  Sometimes the
> quietness is a cultural issue, due to language or respecting the
> existing developer's code - but I find once you invite these other
> cultures to contribute they are more than willing to participate.  I do
> agree with you though that we need to make sure our outreach includes
> China.
> 
> I will be sure to mention these points during the upcoming face-to-face
> OSGeo Board meeting in Barcelona.  Thanks for the perspective.
> 
> -jeff
> 
> 
> 
> Brian Hamlin wrote:
>> Board Members and List Subscribers..
>>
>>   Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Silicon Valley, the
>> international confluence is unmistakable..
>> I am struck by the broad international demographic of OSGeo
>> participation as well..  For historical / political reasons, the
>> membership among Commonwealth countries is strong I think. Adding to
>> that the very strong contribution of the DACH countries, and France,
>> the Netherlands, and Italy (!), a good cross section of active OSGeo
>> participants can be seen...
>>
>>   OSGeo is on the brink of perhaps the biggest FOSS4G to date, in
>> Spain. The spanish speaking world is vast, and increasingly active in
>> FOSS. Of course, the Spanish Government's investment in Geo OSS is
>> well known, and bearing great fruit. However, it is not the excellent
>> opportunities in the Spanish language world that I write about today.
>>
>>   The largest population centers in the world are by far, India and
>> China. Before I cast stones regarding the Communist government in
>> China, I will confess that my own government, the United States of
>> America, has at times been a powerfully bad actor internationally,
>> using the largest military in the world, and a lot of cash, to shape
>> the world politically.. I understand there is a lot of legitimate
>> criticism there..
>>
>>   However, with that said, I say emphatically, that the Red Chinese
>> Government is repeatedly and obviously mining FOSS for its own ends,
>> while denying the right to use and benefit from Geospatial tech to its
>> own people.. I am sure there are different opinions about how to
>> respond, but I doubt there is much disagreement that this is the
>> case... In particular, I must speak out for the case of the Tibetan
>> people, and the legitimate government of Taiwan. At any rate, enough
>> about the Chinese Government.
>>
>>   Which brings us to India..
>>
>>   India is the home to a very substantial portion of the world's
>> population, and, is regarded across the world for its scholarship,
>> piety and intellectual achievements. Yet there seem to me to be
>> precious few developers there active in OSGeo projects !  I do not
>> understand this. If there is opportunity in India, some kind of
>> fundamentals have to be addressed. I dont know that they are, or how
>> to do it. But I suggest to you, the Board of OSGeo, that aside from
>> the growth potential in the Spanish language world, India in
>> particular is a sleeping giant.
>>
>>   Although I will not be attending FOSS4G 2010 in Barcelona, I wish
>> all attendees a splendid conference, great networking, and the best
>> possible foundation for the crucial developments to come. In
>> particular, I point out the opportunity to take meaningful action
>> regarding Climate Change.
>>
>>   very best regards from California
>>
>>   Brian Hamlin
>>   planetwork.net
>>   OSGeo California Chapter
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- --
Arnulf Christl

Exploring Space, Time and Mind
http://arnulf.us
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