[Geo4All] Minutes - BOF GeoforAll (2019 FOSS4G)

Sun Sep 8 10:28:54 PDT 2019

Dear Sergio

Thank you for the feedback and comments. See below:

On Thu, Sep 5, 2019 at 6:57 PM SERGIO ACOSTAYLARA
<sergio.acostaylara at mtop.gub.uy> wrote:
>
>  Hi Victoria, Suchith,
>
> I'm glad to hear about these news and I'm thankful for those who contributed.
>
> About topic 1:
>
> In reference to GeoForAll Iberoamérica I must say that it is essential to have a website in Spanish and Portuguese; that's why we keep the wiki.

Noted. I will keep this listed as something to look into. I do not
have a suggestion or solution for this at the moment. But hopefully we
can address this in the near future.

>
> About topic 2:
>
> I completely agree with the idea of an annual report; I'm not sure about the idea of suspending o removing those who do not complete it. If it's possible, I would suggest to investigate a little about the reasons for not filling the report (for example, language barriers)

Yes, that an important thing to remeber. Hopefully, you or other
community members will be able to help to translate the annual report
for Spanish and Portuguese?

The suspension or removal will only happen for example after 2 years
of non response. This is however, not set in stone. I think for now,
we can just check how many labs respond and then discuss this in more
detail. Hope that will be acceptable.

> I don't understand what you mean in Other aspects to cover

I just meant that the annual report can also be used to collect some
other information, such as research interest of the group, ideas for
the next year etc...

>
> About topic 3:
>
> the list of educational resources exists but it's not simple nor friendly: I uploaded material but I'm afraid no one noticed...
> I would like to have more info regarding the ISPRS project mentioned

This catalogue is still a pilot, but you can access it here,
https://isprs.education/ Any comments or suggestion are welcome.

>
> About topic 5:
>
> I'm afraid I missed the discussions on the mailing list :-(
> need more info about this too!

Here is the links to the archive. Suchith might be the best person to
expand on this.
https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/geoforall/2019-August/005479.html
https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/geoforall/2019-August/005481.html
https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/geoforall/2019-August/005511.html

>
> About topic 6:
>
> regarding the competition I would like you to know that we organized one last year so we can share our experience

Great! It would be very helpful to learn for your experiences. I have
some upcoming work responsibilities, but hope to start working on this
in October. Lets chat a bit more about this then.

> regarding collaborations between labs I think this is essential: in GeoForAll Iberoamérica we are trying to achieve this through submitting joint projects to international calls. But maybe this can also be achieved without the need of this kind of calls. In this sense we need to have success stories so as to encourage others to follow this path. By the way, what is SIG?

Sorry for that, SIG is special interest group. The discussion in the
BOF was that maybe there can be some small grants for projects if two
labs are working together. This will however depend on the budget
approved for 2020.

Sharing success stories is a great idea. Will add a section on this
also to the annual report. Then we can maybe publish these in the
newsletter.

> regarding the nomination of student representatives we should remember that there are labs that are not academic

This will only be for academic labs or if applicable. The idea is just
to help with communication.

> regarding the Advisory Board I agree that it is not clear if it's active or no. Some of its members are there because they belong to institutions that had signed MoU with OSGeo but I'm afraid nobody has kept this updated. There is a mailing list that has very little activity (or simply it has zero activity). We also need to clarify its roles.

Yes, the roles defined need to be better defined. There should also
maybe be some rules about the advisory board meeting. Any suggestions
are welcome.

Thanks again for the input. Much appreciated.

Regards
Victoria

> My two cents...
>
>
> Sergio Acosta y Lara
> Departamento de Geomática
> Dirección Nacional de Topografía
> Ministerio de Transporte y Obras Públicas
> URUGUAY
> (598)29157933 ints. 20329/20330
> http://geoportal.mtop.gub.uy/
> ________________________________
> De: GeoForAll <geoforall-bounces at lists.osgeo.org> en nombre de Suchith Anand <Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk>
> Enviado: martes, 03 de setiembre de 2019 17:03
> Para: Victoria Rautenbach; GeoForAll
> Asunto: Re: [Geo4All] Minutes - BOF GeoforAll (2019 FOSS4G)
>
>
> Hi Victoria,
>
>
> Thank you for sharing the meeting updates. Thank you to all colleagues who contributed.
>
>
> For topic 4. GeoForAll Mini Conference (World Commons Week). I volunteer to help you, so please let me know any help you need.
>
> For  Topic 5. on expanding STEM education opportunities for economically poor, bridging the Digital divide and welcoming Indigenous communities, I volunteer to reach out on behalf of GeoForAll to key organisations to explore collaborations. I will also volunteer a presentation on behalf of GeoForAll for the EO and Indigenous communities session at GEOWeek 2019.
>
>
> One topic I would like to add is the expanding collaborations with RUFORUM universities. We have a telemeeting arranged later this month. It will also help us discuss ideas on Train the Trainer programs focussing school teachers for widening STEM education opportunities for economically poor worldwide.
>
>
> I will keep you all updated.
>
>
> Best wishes,
>
>
> Suchith
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: GeoForAll <geoforall-bounces at lists.osgeo.org> on behalf of Victoria Rautenbach <victoria.rautenbach at gmail.com>
> Sent: 03 September 2019 12:53
> To: GeoForAll <GeoForAll at lists.osgeo.org>
> Subject: [Geo4All] Minutes - BOF GeoforAll (2019 FOSS4G)
>
> Dear All
>
> We had a BOF session on 28 August at the 2019 FOSS4G conference in Bucharest, Romania.
>
> Thank you to Andreea Marin for all the arrangements and coordinating the BOF. Much appreciated!
>
> Thank you to everyone that attended the meeting. Please add if I missed anything important.
>
> Below are a couple of notes from the BOF, if you have any questions or additional suggestion, please let me know (thank you to Cameron Green for taking minutes during the meeting).
>
> 1. GeoForAll website:
>
> The GeoForAll website is a bit hidden within the OSGeo website.
> Some information on the old GeoForAll website is not available anymore - Victoria will investigate this.
> The list of labs on the new OSGeo website and the wiki is not synchronised and not sure which list is most correct and updated.
> Work is being done on improving this, but it will be a long process.
>
> 2. Introduction of an annual report:
>
> All labs will be requested to complete an annual report and failure to do this may lead to suspension or removal of labs.
> The report will be short and in the form of a Google Form, for example.
> The report will assist in collecting updated information, e.g. contact person, for all labs and activities for the newsletter/
> The idea of the report was supported by the members present.
> Other aspects to cover:
>
> Methods of communication preferred, e.g. Telegram
> What the network would like from GeoForAll?
>
> 3. Educational resource catalogue:
>
> OSGeo website has a list of educational resources.
> University of Pretoria as part of an ISPRS project developed a searchable catalogue for educational resources. There is some discussion about linking to this catalogue. But will take some time before this will done.
>
> 4. GeoForAll Mini Conference (World Commons Week):
>
> Local and virtual events will take place.
> Victoria to follow up on the virtual event with Raphael Moreno.
>
> 5. Email topics on STEM, Digital divide and Indigenous knowledge:
>
> Discussions took place on the mailing list.
> Any volunteers or additional discussion to take place on the mailing list.
>
> 6. Other business:
>
> Possible competition or challenge for students and young professionals:
>
> Exact details will be discussed in the next couple of months
> Labs will be asked to encourage students to participate and to assist with judging
> Possible special category for under represented regions
> Any volunteers to help with the coordination can contact Victoria
>
> Collaborations between labs:
>
> Revitalise the previous SIGs or develop new SIGs.
> Encourage collaboration between labs.
> The annual report will be used to collect information about this.
>
> Improved communication with students in the network
>
> Information does not filter down to the students in some cases.
> Request that labs nominate a student representative.
>
> OSGeo Board and GeoForAll
>
> There was a suggestion that one of the OSGeo Board members take responsibility for GeoForAll. The GeoForAll chair should maybe be a Board member?
> Victoria will ensure that a substantial budget request is submitted. A draft will be circulated on the discussion list.
>
> Advisory board:
>
> Not clear if the advisory board is still active. Victoria will investigate if a new Advisory board should be appointed.
>
> Marketing:
>
> Review the brochures and design stickers for future events.
> There has been a request for a GeoForAll Certificate.
>
> General procedures
>
> Victoria is working on documenting the procedures and guidelines on the OSGeo wiki. Once done, it will be shared for comments.
>
>
> Regards
> Victoria
>
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 14, 2019 at 9:50 AM Suchith Anand <Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk> wrote:
> >
> > Dear colleagues,
> >
> >
> > I am grateful to all colleagues working for bridging the geospatial digital divide [1] .  We are planning GeoForAll meeting on 28th August 2019 (Wednesday)  18:00-19:30 (Bucharest time) at FOSS4G 2019 [2],[3]  to discuss and plan ideas for the future. It will be similar to FOSS4G 2018 GeoForAll meeting [4] and aimed  to bring together colleagues  from around the world to plan ideas for expanding Open Principles in Science and Education.
> >
> >
> > Andreea Marin (Faculty of Geography,University of Bucharest) [5]  will be the organiser for the GeoForAll meeting at FOSS4G 2019. Andreea worked to establish  the first Romanian Open Source Geospatial Lab at the University of Bucharest.
> >
> >
> > We welcome all colleagues attending FOSS4G 2019 to join the GeoForAll meeting and contribute your ideas.
> >
> >
> > If you are not able to attend the meeting, please share this information and start making use of all our teaching and software resources at https://www.osgeo.org/foundation-news/please-share-geoforall-teaching-research-resources-colleagues-students/
> >
> >
> >
> > If you wish to join GeoForAll please complete the form at https://www.osgeo.org/initiatives/geo-for-all/lab-submission/
> >
> >
> > All GeoForAll participants should contribute to Education, Research and Service for the betterment of humanity as the key guiding principle and work towards the vision of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development for building a better world.
> >
> >
> > Also join the mailing lists at https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/geoforall
> >
> >
> > You can contact GeoForAll chairs Dr. Victoria Rautenbach (South Africa) and Professor Helena Mitasova (USA)  or our Regional chairs [6] for any advice or help.
> >
> >
> > We are grateful to FOSS4G 2019 LOC  colleagues [7] for their work and efforts. Looking forward to you joining GeoForAll and contribute for expanding Open Principles in Science and Education. Let us all work together to help create a world that is more accessible, equitable and full of innovation and opportunities for everyone.
> >
> >
> > Best wishes,
> >
> >
> > Suchith
> >
> >
> >
> > [1] https://www.osgeo.org/foundation-news/bridging-the-geospatial-digital-divide/
> >
> >
> > [2] https://2019.foss4g.org/schedule/bird-of-a-feather/
> >
> >
> > [3] https://2019.foss4g.org/scheule/full-schedule/
> >
> >
> > [4]  https://2018.foss4g.org/geoforall/
> >
> >
> > [5] https://2019.foss4g.org/speakers/andreea-marin/
> >
> >
> > [6] https://www.osgeo.org/initiatives/geo-for-all/how-to-join-geo-for-all/
> >
> >
> > [7] https://2019.foss4g.org/about/committees/
> >
> >
> >
> >
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> >
> >
> >
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