[Europe] Urgent: Status of [OSGeo Europe]

[Till Adams]

Dear Dirk and @OSGeo Europe again,


I now had the time to look little deeper into what Dirk wrote. Sorry for
bothering you again, but I think we are in a situation, where decisions
need to be taken:

First of all, regarding our presentation at OSGeo's AM: I would say,
that we have nothing really interesting (and new) to present to the
community, so I would propose to skip the part of OSgeo-Europe and
instead of that, take a look on ourselves:

If you browse to the end of Dirks email (see below), he claerly says,
what needs to be decided:

Option a: Restart of OSgeo Europe with "fresh" people, new ideas and new
power

Option b: give up and execute liquidation

I totally agree with Dirk, that "Opition b" is the least option we all
want. But - as you all should know - it is impossible to power a
community without people. Don't understand me wrong: This is not
fingerpointing to anybody !! -- I know that I did not give much input to
OSGeo Europe in the past two years - to say it carefully ;-).

The question is:
Is there still a community around OSGeo Europe? Are there people, that
have power, ideas and time for a re-start?

What about you?
Are you/we willing to dare a re-start of OSGeo-Europe?
Where are the "fresh" people with new ideas and a lot of power??

Maybe FOSS4G BA gives a good opportunity for a community meeting?

Please comment.

Till







Am 31.08.21 um 16:46 schrieb Till Adams:
> Dear Dirk,
>
> thanks for the input - but: No, no one is going physically to BA, me
> neither. FOSS4G BA is an onlien conference ;-)
>
> All I could do is put your thoughtsi nto slides, record it and send it
> to Vicky, so that she can add it to the AM video.
>
> I will ask her for some more time and will do.
>
> Till
>
>
> Am 29.08.21 um 12:08 schrieb Dirk Frigne:
>> Hi Till,
>>
>> It took me a bit longer that I wanted. I hope it was worth the waiting...
>>
>>
>> Dear list,
>>
>> As a preparation for the AGM of Friday 01 October 11:00 AM AST or
>> 16:00 CET, I prepared some input.
>> Till will go physically to  Buenos Aires. I will not make it but I'll
>> try to connect online if possible.
>>
>> It would be good if Till could present the Local European Chapter on
>> stage during the AGM.
>>
>> It would also be good if there is a specific meeting about the future
>> of OSGeo Local Chapter, as we hit some damage during the last 2 years.
>>
>> For those new to the content, a short recap:
>>
>> *History* (See also:
>> https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Local_Chapter_EU_History + update)
>> (please feel free to update where I missed some activities or actions)
>>
>> the first ideas for OSGeo Europe Chapter were launched in 2014.
>> Actually the first idea’s started in 2013 on the FOSS4G CEE Conference
>> in Bucharest.
>>
>> In 2015 there was some need to promote open standards for ICT
>> procurement in Europe.
>> Proposal to start an initiative on the Foss4G conference in Bonn 2016.
>> Bylaws discussed and prepared during 2016 / 2017.
>>
>> *Birth of the organisation*
>> Bylaws signed 20 July 2021 during the FOSS4G conference in Paris.
>>
>> OSGeo was founded with a legal status as a non-profit organisation
>> based on Belgium law. We have 2 bankaccounts and a legal status with
>> rights and obligations.
>> One of the interesting rights is that we don’t have to pay value added
>> tax (VAT) when buying goods, but when we sell services we need to
>> apply for VAT.
>>
>> 2017 - 2018 was also the year I tried to find out how to behave as a ngo.
>>
>> Some contacts where initiated with UN Committee, discussions amongst
>> members how to work on a common tender, investigating what are the
>> obligations to report for the Belgian authorities in a way we could
>> recuperate the VAT.
>>
>> November 2017: preparation for first board meeting OSGeo Europe
>>
>> Board meeting 15 December 2017: no of the board members attended
>>
>> Jan- February 2018:
>>
>> Further administrative burden to check all the signatures and ID’s of
>> the board members,
>> the publication of bylaws of the organisation in the Belgian
>> registers. Opening the bank accounts.
>> (Since the terroristic attacks in Belgium, these procedures became
>> more difficult than before).
>> This took more time as expected.
>>
>> March 2018: Meeting in Brussels about the Copernicus program . Goal:
>> promote OSGeo and promote Copernicus @OSGeo.
>>
>> Jul 2018: FOSS4G Conference Guimrães:
>> Presentation of OSGeo EU initiative to promote OSGeo software and
>> projects on non FOSS events.
>>
>> Aug 2018: organisation of first initiative in collaboration with 5
>> OSGeo projects.
>> OSGeo Europe did the coordination of the INSPIRE 2018 event in Antwerp
>> and in return we could promote OSGeo on that event.
>>
>> 26 – 30 Aug: FOSS4G Bucharest: short status update by Joachim
>>
>> 19 September  2018  there was a first event with OSGeo on the INSPIRE
>> conference in Antwerp with a presentation about the eco-system of
>> OSGeo. OSGeo had one of the big boots during the conference.
>>
>> The goal was to promote OSGeo and the OSGeo projects, the companies
>> behind them and to create a European contact point for information to
>> the non FOSS world.
>>
>> With 5 paying contributors we had a budget of 10.000 EUR to organise
>> the event and the boot. By using the scale advantage, it was of
>> intrest to the participants, OSGeo Europe could present itself as host
>> and we had a small benefit of approx 1000 Eur to pay for the
>> administrative overhead (the accountant responsible for the official
>> registrations and publications).   
>>
>> Plans for organising more events in Germany, France and other
>> countries did not materialize.
>>
>> But then all activities on my part were paused due to ...
>>
>> *(Some personal notes)*
>>
>> Nov 2018 - Nov  2019: black out for me (literally …)
>>
>> Dec 2019 – Feb 2020: personally: try to find the energy to reboot the
>> Local Chapter but I still missed the energy to do so.
>>
>> And then there was Covid…
>>
>> Engagement in a community (like OSGeo) takes a lot of energy.
>> Luckily this energy is fuelled by attending the activities,
>> participating conferences, meeting other people and work together
>> promoting FOSS and stimulating the FOSS industry.
>> When this falls away, like it was in times of Covid this is even more
>> challenging (see the presentation
>> https://callforpapers.2021.foss4g.org/foss4g2021/talk/3MNBBB/).
>> For me personally, it was very hard to find the energy back.
>>
>> Personally I need a mission I want to work on.
>> The world is changing very fast, so the reasons I started engaging for
>> FOSS now more than 15 years ago,  changed over time.
>> One of the strengths of FOSS is that it starts from *‘givving’*. But
>> to be able to *‘give’* you need others who receive and who are glad
>> with the *‘gift’*. I need to find the right focus where my
>> contribution helps our community forward, preferably with other people.
>>
>> It is this exercise we should do again.
>>
>>
>> *Status of the ngo OSGeo Europe vzw*
>> To fulfil all the obligations the Belgian law describes, I asked a
>> account to help me with the legal stuff.
>> This costs some money.
>> Almost every year,  laws change in Belgium (and I think also in
>> Europe), this also has impact on  ngo’s.
>> The reporting becomes more demanding. f.i. a UBO-register is a new
>> obligation. (https://financien.belgium.be/nl/E-services/Ubo-register).
>> As we have an international board, this is a bit more complex than
>> with only Belgian id’s.
>>
>> Also, as intrest rates are below zero, banks that previously provided
>> free services now also charge a monthly fee. This also takes money
>> from our accounts.
>>
>> June 30, 2021 we closed our accounts with a claim on the VAT tax
>> department of dept to the accountant of 314,30 EURO. This is the
>> amount of money we get back from government because we aply to the VAT
>> rules.
>> But for the work done by the accountant the last 3 years, we have an
>> unpaid dept of 693,55 EURO. Every quarter this grows a bit.
>>
>> The status on the accounts is (OSGeo EU : 38,43 EUR, GRASS: 1389,57
>> EURO).
>>
>> The income of OSGeo Europe is zero.
>>
>> Without organising events that produce the necessary income and VAT
>> taxes that we can recuperate, this has no sense.
>>
>> So it is no rocket science that we only have 2 options (imho):
>>
>> Option a:
>> Find the money to pay for the current depts.
>> Find a way to get the minimal income to pay for the necessary Yearly
>> costs (+/- 1000 Euro / Year)
>> Organise elections for a new board
>> Define/update/reactivate the mission and activities OSGeo Europe wants
>> to do
>>
>> Option b:
>> Execute the liquidation of the ngo
>>
>> option b would be a real shame, since we've devoted a lot of energy
>> and community discussions to building this organization.
>> If there is no other option, then this is unfortunately the only way
>> to go.
>>
>> If option a is chosen, I want to organize the elections and help find
>> the new mission. I am also available to engage myself if I can
>> contribute to the mission and get the necessary energy from it.
>>
>> In case it becomes option b, I will take steps in October to organize
>> the liquidation.
>>
>> Any comments are welcome,
>> Thanks in advance for your contribution.
>>
>> Dirk
>>
>>
>> On 24/08/2021 09:07, Till Adams wrote:
>>> Hi Dirk,
>>>
>>> thanks for the "food" - that's a good idea. No, I am not going to
>>> Finland, it's tha AM on FOSS4G Buenos Aires ;-)
>>>
>>> Till
>>>
>>>
>>> Am 19.08.21 um 14:40 schrieb Dirk Frigne:
>>>> Hi Till,
>>>>
>>>> I will give you some food for tought, later today.
>>>> Good to hear you go to Finland!
>>>> I've not yet decided.
>>>>
>>>> Dirk
>>>>
>>>> On 19/08/2021 08:10, adams at osgeo.org wrote:
>>>>> Dear European chapter!
>>>>>
>>>>> I know there was not much activity, but at least we planned (and
>>>>> postproned) a FOSS4G Europe! Did any further activities under the
>>>>> European chapter umbrella take place and is someone willing to
>>>>> present them.
>>>>>
>>>>> In case no one wants to, I can also present them, as I will join
>>>>> the AM
>>>>> anyway - but I need some "food" for this ;-9
>>>>>
>>>>> Regards, Till
>>>>>
>>>>> Am 18.08.21 um 18:13 schrieb Astrid Emde (OSGeo Secretary):
>>>>>> Hello Europe Local Chapter,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> we invite you and your team to present the local chapter at the OSGeo
>>>>>> AGM 2021.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This year we will publish the OSGeo AGM video in advance of FOSS4G
>>>>>> [1].
>>>>>>
>>>>>> You find all important information about the AGM at [5].
>>>>>>
>>>>>> It would be great if someone could volunteer to present the status at
>>>>>> the AGM. Please send me an email and I will provide an upload link
>>>>>> for
>>>>>> the video.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Timeline
>>>>>> -----------------------
>>>>>> - 2021-08-30: upload your video and update the AGM slides [2]
>>>>>> - 2021-09-10: AGM 2021 complete video will be published
>>>>>> - 2021-10-01: 11h Argentinian Time Zone (14:00 UTC) Join the OSGeo
>>>>>> AGM
>>>>>> 2021 meeting at FOSS4G [3] [4]
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If you have questions or problems with the upload of your video
>>>>>> please
>>>>>> let us know secretary (at) osgeo (dot) org.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Stay safe,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Astrid Emde
>>>>>> OSGeo Secretary
>>>>>>
>>>>>> [1] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDvJEf8hXbyeVqaYaS8sLvw
>>>>>> [2]
>>>>>> https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1brbBb7-sKRI6U4dZ7LKnBT_-NnWzyS2TaZqVXzy8RDo/edit#slide=id.p4
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> [3] https://callforpapers.2021.foss4g.org/foss4g2021/talk/WDEW3P/
>>>>>> [4]
>>>>>> https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meetingdetails.html?year=2021&month=10&day=1&hour=14&min=0&sec=0&p1=51&p2=26&p3=49&p4=155&p5=217&p6=312&p7=250&p8=71&p9=248&p10=240
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> [5] https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Annual_General_Meeting_2021
>>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Europe mailing list
>>>>> Europe at lists.osgeo.org
>>>>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/europe
>>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
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