[OSGeo-UK] Thoughts for OSGeo UK pot of resource

Fri Jun 17 05:47:56 PDT 2016

Afternoon Jo,
thanks for taking the time to reply.  I've inserted some thoughts.

On 17 June 2016 at 11:03, Jo Cook <jocook at astuntechnology.com> wrote:
>
[..]
>
> * Historically OSGeo and OSGeo:UK specifically have tried to solicit case studies, with only a small amount of success. Maybe we just need to keep badgering people- we certainly have somewhere were we could host them.

Agreed. The users don't have a strategic objective to share their
success stories (unless maybe if it entitles them to some reward).
This is the same situation for proprietary software.  That's why I
believe they employ technical authors to produce the case studies. The
author chats with the user, selects a handful of attractive
screenshots, and writes the copy.  My proposal would be for OSGeo to
use part of the pot to fund such activity to produce these very
persuasive materials.   Ideally such articles promote the benefits of:
* adoption of a particular O/S stack
* adoption of particular O/S tools
* adoption of O/S in general

> * Regarding a virtual machine running the FOSS4G stack- my first thought was that there is OSGeo:Live which is available as a bootable DVD or a VM, but from a local gov perspective would a machine running lubuntu really cut the mustard? I don't think we could afford to set up a windows server virtual machine, unfortunately. I do like the cookbook idea though- what sort of "problems" were you thinking we could "solve"?

Yes the OSGeo:Live DVD contains all the tools necessary for on O/S
stack. But. it's not focussed on a particular domain.  If we're
looking at the hurdle(s) encountered by the IT Dept conducting some
kind of O/S trial/pilot, I think a more effective distribution would
be an "opinionated" VM containing a single stack of applications,
pre-configured, containing data/processes that are typical of UK Local
Government.

The IT department could then flash it up, then:
1.  Have a play with solving some typical problems with the sample data
2.  Have a go at loading a small package of their real data.
3.  Try solving their more unique problems using the stack.

If steps 1 and 2 were combined into a sequential tutorial, with maybe
some exam/test at the end, the IT Department may be able to classify
it as "Professional Development", and conduct the trial/pilot without
getting into the politics of running/resourcing an Open Source GIS
trial.

I expect the community isn't far from this.  The difference is that
the pot of resources mean the OSGeo could approach this on the same
basis as proprietary organisations:  experts producing the VM, with
access to Graphic Designers to "brand" the VM, and technical author(s)
to write the copy - all fully funded, as their "Day Job".

> * Gap analysis- I like this idea a lot but we'd need help making it happen, soliciting ideas etc.

I expect my point is quite clear by now :-)  You said: "we'd need help
making it happen" - my point is that the pot of resource is used to
pay experts to do it in their day job, rather than looking for
volunteers.

If OSGeo/UK could demonstrate how the funds were being used for
"Professional Services" associated with O/S it may help in collecting
subscriptions (the acceptable term for donations). This could/should
also help the growth/maturity of Open Source businesses in the UK.

As OSGeo/UK considers funded work packages to develop these assorted
marketing materials, I'd like to think there's a fair chance of
matched funding from O/S consulting companies and/or O/S projects
themselves.

>

Aah, I was half-expecting responses along the line of "why focus on
local government".  The reason for this was the "perfect storm" of the
Cabinet Office pushing Open Principles alongside the increasing
austerity measures applying to local government.   Across the UK these
organisations share problem domains and collectively still have a
large budget.  It would just need a few of them to move to start the
snowball-effect:  as they fund O/S extensions to meet their problem
domains, it makes it easier for subsequent Local Governments to make
the conversion.  Local Governments aren't in competition with their
peers in the way that industry frequently is, which makes it easier to
share features they have funded.

>

Phew, that ended up being longer than expected.

Please take the effort invested as a token of gratitude for the time
you & the team put in on FOSS4GUK 2016 :-)

Ian

> Jo
>
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 15, 2016 at 1:45 PM, Ian Mayo <ian at planetmayo.com> wrote:
>>
>> At the AGM Stephen invited suggestions regarding use of the OSGeo UK funds.
>>
>> This coincided with thoughts from earlier presentations regarding gaps in the FOSS4G toolchain.  It further coincided with observations in Suchith's Open Principles presentation.
>>
>> FOSS4G has some strong member projects, who provide support within their stovepipe, and conduct "Open Source Marketing" around their application.   I'm not aware of an organisation that considers the overall FOSS4G tool-chain, whether that be producing web-maps from a desktop application, or an overall FOSS4G tool stack.
>>
>> When a proprietary vendor provides such a stack they have a clear strategic objective for promoting that stack:
>> * easy access to/installation of the stack
>> * getting started guides
>> * happy-ending case studies
>>
>> But, this cross-cutting interest seems missing from the FOSS4G community.
>>
>> So, I believe there may be value in using the pot-of-resource in this direction, maybe:
>> * sponsor a review of the FOSS4G adoption process, from the mindset of a Local Government Agency - to produce a gap analysis that can then be addressed as appropriate
>> * provide some targeted packages of work that improve the glue between tools in the stack/chain (though I'd hope Open Standards would prevent most such problems).
>> * sponsor some business analysis / authoring on successful case studies.  We've seen a few such cases at FOSS41G16, it's just a matter of presenting them in a format suitable for the Internet (case studies).  Then the subsequent hosting of and/or exploiting of these materials
>> * invest effort in lowering the cost of running a pilot project.   Maybe this would just be one or more Virtual Machines running a FOSS4G stack, then a cookbook of solving typical Local Government problems using it.  Such a capability could then be advertised within suitable forums - go to where the potential users are, rather than pull them to OSGeo.
>>
>> Sorry if I'm stating the obvious, or teaching granny to suck eggs....
>>
>> Regards,
>> Ian
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> UK mailing list
>> UK at lists.osgeo.org
>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/uk
>
>
>
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