[Foss4g2009] 250 word description of foss4g for ACS

[Cameron Shorter]

Bruce,
I've written a 250 word description about FOSS4G for the Australian 
Computer Society.
Available at:
https://svn.osgeo.org/osgeo/foss4g/2009/documents/propaganda/articles/What 
is FOSS4G - CIO Network.doc

Can you please review, and assuming it is ok, forward onto your ACS contact.


    FOSS4G 2009 – Witness the Geospatial trends shaping today's IT industry

*20-23 October, 2009 in Sydney, Australia. http://2009.foss4g.org *

The international conference for Free and Open Source Software for 
Geospatial (FOSS4G) will showcase the technologies, standards, case 
studies and geospatial trends up-heaving today's IT industry.

The past 5 years has seen an explosion of location based applications, 
driven through ubiquitous mobile platforms, extensive access of no-cost 
maps and data, crowd sourcing, development and uptake of solid spatial 
standards, integration of cross-agency data through Spatial Data 
Infrastructures, development and commercialisation of Geospatial Open 
Source software, cloud computing and more.

At FOSS4G you will see the best international Developers, Policy Makers, 
Sponsors, Decision Makers and Geospatial Professionals show off the 
latest geospatial applications, standards, government programs, business 
processes and case studies.

It will be a compelling event for anyone who needs to know how 
Geospatial technologies are shaping tomorrow's IT landscape.


    Highlights from FOSS4G 2009 include:

*Presentations*: Insightful and honest presentations from the world’s 
best in the Geospatial field.

*Workshops and Tutorials:* Interactive and hands-on walkthroughs of 
Geospatial Open Source Software.

*The Climate Change Integration Plugfest (CCIP):* A demonstration of 
standards based interoperability between Open Source and Proprietary 
geospatial applications based on a Climate Change Scenario.

*Birds of a Feather:* Semi-organised meetings between like-minded groups.

*Installfest:* Unstructured period where community members will be 
helping delegates install a wide variety of FOSS software on delegates’ 
laptops.

*Code Sprint*: Weekend after FOSS4G: Passionate programmers + pizza + 
caffeine + whiteboards + wireless = great software advancements.


-- 
Cameron Shorter
Geospatial Systems Architect
Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254

Think Globally, Fix Locally
Geospatial Solutions enhanced with Open Standards and Open Source
http://www.lisasoft.com