[Board] USGIF Conference and diatribe on where we are heading

[Mark Lucas]

Just got back from the 2011 Geoint Conference in San Antonio Texas.
http://geoint2011.com/

The USGIF is the conference for geospatial intelligence in the US.  This year there were over 5000 attendees (138 from overseas- mostly foreign military).

There over 250  booths and paying sponsors (> 100,000 sq ft of exhibit space) .  They have built this organization up to support a full time staff, multiple events throughout the year, media publications etc.
http://www.gotgeoint.com/

For the first time, we were able to get on the agenda with an OSS panel.  
http://geointv.com/archive/geoint-2011-breakout-demonstration-of-military-relevant-open-source-geospatial-software/

Open source software is suddenly interesting because of dramatic budget cuts that are planned for most of the agencies.

Most of the presentations are online at: http://geointv.com/

NSA and NGA both made announcements related to their focus on open source software.

As the US government shows increasing interest in open source software solutions the existing contractors will try to align themselves with those capabilities.  

Unfortunately, this comes at a time when the OSGeo has stepped back from a core staff and is uncertain about holding annual NA conferences.  Indeed, there almost seems to be a reluctance to focus on raising revenue for the organization - instead focusing on how to allocate what we have to code sprints, travel, etc.  

We want to support the building of open source geospatial software.  I would contend that we can do more if we (the board) focus on running the organization more like a business.

We already do a great job on supporting development.  If we add more attention to business models I believe that we have a window of opportunity to attract sponsorship from some of the many players that already support USGIF.  If the US government continues to move towards OSS, many contractors will want to brand themselves with an OSS approach, resources, development and operational support.

If we do not focus on this we will simply lose the opportunity to USGIF, MIL-OSS, OSFA, OSSI or other organizations that will aggressively step forward.

In either case OSGeo projects will become a valuable resource.  As I mentioned before, I was able to convince RadiantBlue to make a $30k investment as a platinum foss4g sponsor based on the trends we see developing.  I'd like to continue and expand that support, but can only do that if there is a business case to be made.

I feel that we have fallen backwards.  We failed to raise sponsorship and revenue in order to sustain and grow the organization.  That led to decision to cut expenses with the removal of the ED.  I get the feeling that some on the board are comfortable with the status quo.  It is probably clear that I'm in a different camp - we need to raise revenue, get back to where we can support core staff, and grow the organization on a couple of fronts.  A litmus test for me will be a decision on the annual NA conference.

I feel that this is a discussion we should quickly settle one way or the other and I'd appreciate any feedback in advance of the next board meeting.  Either way I'll continue to be a strong supporter and user of OSGeo projects - its just that we all need to decide where we are going to focus and put our energies.

Mark













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