Keynote presentation at the Geo-Information Society of South Africa (GISSA) conference, in Johannesburg, on 2 October 2012. Over 600 attendees from all over Africa.

1. Open Source
Geospatial
then and now
Jeff McKenna
OSGeo Board
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 – Johannesburg, SA

2. Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada

3. Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada

4. Open Source Development
 Public access to code improves the quality
 Typically bugs are fixed faster
 Often more secure due to multiple scrutiny
 Early adoption of standards
 Innovation is easier – and...
 Users have full control about what they get
 ...and many more advantages.
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

5. A long, long, long time ago...
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

6. (OK these are “Internet years”)
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

7. So in the year 2000...
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

8. History (around 2000)
 GIS desktop vendors (life as usual)
 Open Source geospatial projects forming
 Attempts to use Internet to share data
 OGC WMS Standard 1.0
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

9. Then around 2005...
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

10. Neogeography (2005+)
 Google Earth and Maps API
 OpenLayers
 Spread of mobile devices
 Suddenly the Internet begins to change
industry
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

11. Neogeography (2005+)
 User meetings scattered around the world
 No global organization
 Many projects immature
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

12. 2006
Open Source Geospatial Foundation
http://www.osgeo.org
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

13. OSGeo's Mission
Support and promote
the highest quality
Open Source
Geospatial Software
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

14. OSGeo's Goals
 Provide resources for FOSS4G projects:
 Infrastructure
 Legal http://www.osgeo.org
 Financial
 Promote free and open geospatial data
 Create and maintain a quality brand
 Create and promote free curriculum
 Promote and contribute to standards
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

15. 2006
FOSS4G
http://foss4g.org
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

16. The FOSS4G Conference
 FOSS4G is the global Conference
 Seed event for local activities
 Outreach and promotion
 Inter-project communication
 Workshops and tutorials
 Networking
 Meeting
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

17. 2008
FOSS4G Cape Town
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

18. FOSS4G Cape Town
 550 main conference attendees
 270 workshop attendees
 Overwhelming success
 Local chapter formed
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

19. FOSS4G Cape Town
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

20. Benchmarking
 Friendly exercise
 Every year since 2007
 Testing software through the WMS standard
 Presented at FOSS4G events
 Development teams from Cadcorp,
Constellation SDI,
ERDAS, ESRI, GeoServer, Mapnik,
MapServer, QGIS
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

21. Benchmarking
2011 Sample Data
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

22. Sol Katz Award
 Awarded annually by OSGeo
 For leadership in the FOSS4G community
 Since 2005
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

23. Now...
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

24. OSGeo Activities
 Support FOSS4G on a global scale
 Support local activities and capacities
 Facilitate inter-project communication
 Build a solid market for businesses and
users
 Interface with industry and business
 Support the education of domain experts
not «brand-specialists»
 Many more...
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

25. OSGeo's Structure
Charter Members vote
Board of 9 Directors
and President Officers
Officers
25 Officers
represent
Committees
Committees
Committees
Committees
Committees
Committees Local
Local
Chapters
Local Foundation
Chapters
Local
Chapters Projects
Local
Chapters
Chapters
147 Charter Members elected by Membership Sponsors
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

26. OSGeo Committees
 Conferences
 Finance
 Incubation
 Marketing
 Public geodata
 Systems Architecture
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

27. OSGeo Activity
Mailing Lists
Year Number of Subscribers Unique Subscribers
Lists
2008 106 13323 10410
2009 137 20640 12904
2010 164 27504 15423
2011 183 32109 19471
*2012 189 31601 19160
*as of 2012-10-01
http://lists.osgeo.org/
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

28. Quality Control (OSGeo)
Project Health Inspection
 Copyright, licenses, ownership
 Development process quality
 Documentation, tutorials, support
 Community functioning
 ...
More details are available on the Web:
http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Incubation
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

29. Enterprise ready
web mapping
Quantum GIS Quantum GIS OSSIM
MapServer
UMN
GRASS GIS uDig
MapServer
MapNik
Geopublisher gvSIG
deegree
GeoMajas KOSMO
deegree GIS
desktop GIS
ZOO Project OpenStreetMap
MapFish GMT
MapGuide OS GDAL/OGR
FDO
OpenLayers GeoKettle
GeoServer
Mapbender GeoTools GEOS
PostGIS
GeoNetwork
Viking MetaCRS
SpatialLite
metadata libraries
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

30. OSGeo Sponsors
 Sustain the organization
 Have priority access to
conferences and events
 Have executive and expert
contacts
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

31.  Local expertise
 Vibrant mailing list
 Community events
More details are available on the Web:
http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Africa_Local_Chapter
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

32. Education
First African open source geospatial
laboratory (May 2012)
 Centre for Geoinformation Science,
University of Pretoria
 led by Dr Serena Coetzee
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

33. So Now...
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

34. Current Industry
 Open Source geospatial projects are
mature
 Stable non-profit organization
 Standards, standards, standards
 More municipalities and large
organizations are adopting Open
Source for sharing spatial information
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

35. OSGeo Outlook
 Foster and support localization of OSGeo
software and groups (Local Chapters)
 Promote OSGeo & FOSS4G to universities
and education
 Help organize events
 Legal support for software projects
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

36. Industry Outlook
 Continued fast growth
 Commercial Open Source
 Decision makers looking for value for
their money
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

37. My Advice
 Investigate all local expertise
 Choose something that is sustainable
(hint)
 Don't be afraid to ask for help:
professional service providers exist
 Now is the time!
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source

38. Thank you for
being wonderful FOSS4G 2013
hosts! Nottingham, UK
17-21 September
Jeff McKenna
Director, Gateway Geomatics
www.gatewaygeomatics.com
Twitter: mapserving
GISSA Ukubuzana 2012 OSGeo - Professional Open Source