[UN] Budget 2017 UN committee

[Jeff McKenna]

Please also note that this would not an official request for 20k from 
the OSGeo Board, this is to let the OSGeo Board know that this is the 
amount that we foresee the OSGeo UN committee possibly requesting, in 
2017, for the first of its kind, an "OSGeo-UN Hackathon", attended by 
OSGeo's project leads and UN partners.

-jeff



On 2016-12-15 10:18 AM, Serena Coetzee wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> I support the idea of the hackathon to get things going. It shows commitment.
>
> I would be hesitant about funding travel because it may set a precedent and create expectations, but since this is an important initiative in its early stages, I think there is much value in face-to-face meetings.
>
> Regards,
> Serena
>
> On 15 Dec 2016, at 15:06, Jeff McKenna <jmckenna at gatewaygeomatics.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Maxi,
>
> I support sending an OSGeo representative to 2 meetings of the OpenGIS initiative, for 2017.
>
> I would also suggest that we request funding to host an "OSGeo-UN Hackathon" event in 2017, where we would host a 3 day coding event and invite lead developers from several OSGeo projects, to work specifically with UN partners face-to-face over 3 days.  OSGeo representatives would be funded for their time (yes, this is bold and shocking, but, this is long overdue).  The amount we would request would be approximately 20k (not the usual "3k to slide under the OSGeo Board radar", but an amount that says to the OSGeo Board "we are serious about helping the UN and its member nations leverage Open, and OSGeo is ready to step into that role and invest".
>
> The actual event would be a combination of workshops and hackathons, depending on the needs of the UN partners.  As we found out in the initial meetings with the UN GIS team in Seoul in 2015, various UN partners are already examining OSGeo software, and this event in 2017 would really gets things moving in this "relationship".
>
> If we wait for the UN to make all of this happen (and wait for their funding) well it likely will never happen; so let us, OSGeo, give this UN relationship a big kick into high gear, for 2017.
>
> PS. yes I would volunteer to lead this event, create a wiki page with more details, budget, research venues, set up program, gather OSGeo experts, etc.
>
> -jeff
>
>