[Ica-osgeo-labs] [OSGeo-Discuss] Short report on OpenGIS-Moscow

Wed Dec 2 03:58:55 PST 2015

Hi Jeff, @list,

many thanks from me as well for this report.

I talk as a representative of the upcoming global FOSS4G in 2016 in 
Bonn. For me all that shows again, that our plan to get attendance costs 
for everybody as low as possible is the right strategy (I had few 
requests of complaining companies, that our sponsorship packages are 
higher than they were in the past years). In the end a FOSS4G - whatever 
size or regional/global focus it has - is in the first instance an event 
for the attending people (of course there are also many other interests 
such as business, science, networking and so on).

Saying that, I'd like to open another building lot for Bonn's FOSS4G 
2016 (and also for upcoming events as well!) and perhaps this platform 
is the right one to start with.

The question is:
What can we do *more*, to sponsor students and also people from poorer 
countries attendance on a FOSS4G? As Jeff knows, I talked to Sanghee 
about that in Seoul, but my hope is, that we can do more than just 
having a donation account, where other attendees can spent money.

I wonder if there are any international funding programs (we care for 
the national ones anyway) known from anybody out there, where we (or 
better potential attendees) can apply for? Also, one important point to 
note is, that just cutting attendance costs for these group(s) is not 
the appropriate solution, as on the one side our costs remain (high) and 
also attendance fees are only part of the attendance costs.
When we have a clearer view on our incomes, we can do something on that 
side as well and we also can care for cheaper accommodations, but we 
can't cut prices for travel e.g..

What we already have planned is our "studentship & helper program" 
where we want to set up a group of students, with a 50/50 deal: 50% work 
for us on-site (registration, information, session-room helper) and 50% 
free participation on the conference, also including the gala event. But 
this addresses only to a number of let's say 30-40 students (not sure 
about the exact required number yet). But, BTW - everybody reading this 
can spread this word and indicate students to that opportunity. Just let 
them send an email to "info at foss4g2016.org".

So if anybody reading this has an idea bothering any of the thoughts 
above, feel free contacting me!

So far, Till

Am 2015-12-02 10:45, schrieb Suchith Anand:
> Hi Jeff,
>
> Thanks for sharing these updates on OpenGIS-Moscow. I am sure this
> event will help more universities in Russia  to establish dedicated
> Open Source Geospatial Labs for expanding geoeducation opportunities
> and share Geo4All ideas and principles.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Suchith
>
> ________________________________________
> From: Discuss [discuss-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] on behalf of Jeff
> McKenna [jmckenna at gatewaygeomatics.com]
> Sent: Monday, November 30, 2015 9:32 PM
> To: osgeo
> Subject: [OSGeo-Discuss] Short report on OpenGIS-Moscow
>
> Hello everyone,
>
> Last week I had the opportunity to attend the OpenGIS conference in
> Moscow, Russia (http://gisconf.ru).  The venue was really nice, the 
> huge
> headquarters of @mail.ru Group (http://mail.ru), Moscow's largest
> hi-tech company (2000 employees I believe), who in fact just 
> purchased
> an OpenStreetMap-based mapping application, MAPS.ME (http://maps.me).
>
> Much of the credit for the event must go to Maxim, the chair, and his
> company NextGIS (http://nextgis.ru/), who sponsored and dedicated so
> much effort; the entire organizing committee deserves much praise, 
> and
> you likely will recognize many of them from past FOSS4G events
> (http://gisconf.ru/organizers).
>
> Roughly 415 attendees for the second OpenGIS event (the first was 
> held
> in 2012, with around 100 attendees) which is just excellent.  This 
> was a
> free event, meaning no admission charge, and attendees paid for their
> lunches in the local cafeteria.  There were 2 tracks, one for FOSS4G
> software and the other for OpenStreetMap; OSM is very active here, 
> and
> many will be aware of the locally-developed "OsmAnd" application.
>
> The topics and talks were cutting-edge, this was a very knowledgeable
> group, and very interested in the OSGeo foundation.  There was quite 
> a
> buzz at the event, and I saw packed workshop "master classes" for 
> GRASS,
> QGIS, and other core projects, and everyone was very energetic.  
> There
> were many talks that mentioned their involvement in GeoForAll as 
> well, I
> couldn't be more impressed with their enthusiasm and passion for Open
> Source geo.
>
> Also of note is that like many other countries/municipalities across 
> the
> globe, their prime minister has signed a law that requires government
> agencies to use Open Source software, which must be in place by 
> January
> 2016, so there is a huge interested in FOSS.
>
> Many will also be interested to hear that there is already talk of an
> event for next year, in beautiful St. Petersburg.  So mark your
> calendars!  You don't want to miss that event.
>
> It was a special trip, I met so many vibrant energetic community
> leaders.  And oh yes, because of this event a new OSGeo local chapter 
> is
> forming there, which is great!!!  Thank you to Maxim, Nikolai, the 
> OSGeo
> Board, and everyone at the OpenGIS event for making this such a 
> special
> trip.
>
> You can see many pictures of the event here:
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/trolleway/sets/72157659104643414
>
>
> -jeff
>
>
> --
> Jeff McKenna
> President, OSGeo
> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Jeff_McKenna
>
>
>
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