Open Source Geospatial Research
Theme Overview
The Centre for Geospatial Science is the key leader in the Open Source Geospatial domain within the UK. CGS is actively involved in multiple Open Source geospatial initiatives, being the Chair of the International Cartographic Association (ICA) Commission on Open Source Geospatial Technologies ,co-chair of the Open Source GIS Conference series, founder member of Erasmus IP Summer school in Open Source GIS etc. CGS is also active in establishing and supporting Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) activities in the UK. The establishment of the Open Source Geospatial Lab (under the initial management of Dr Suchith Anand) is a key initiative for supporting the development of open-source geospatial software technologies, training and expertise in the UK.
ICA Commission on Open Source Geospatial Technologies
Dr Suchith Anand and Professor Thierry Badard (Laval University, Canada) are the chairs of this ICA Commission. The Commission aims to promote multi-national holistic research in free and open source geospatial technologies in order to make accessible the latest developments in open source tools to the wider cartographic community. The aim is to enhance the usage of free and open source geospatial tools among the cartographic community worldwide, especially for education. For more information please see the ICA Commission's website at http://ica-opensource.scg.ulaval.ca/
The Open Source GIS (OSGIS) Conference Series
The Open Source GIS Conference Series was established in 2009 by the Centre for Geospatial Science. Dr Suchith Anand and Professor Mike Jackson are the chairs of this conference series which is jointly organised with the Open Source Geospatial Foundation UK Chapter. The OSGIS conference series has a strong international focus and takes a holistic approach in bringing together speakers and delegates from government, academia, industry and open source communities. High profile speakers from all over the world are invited to give presentations and run hands-on workshops. The presentations from the conference are made available as webcasts for the benefit of the wider community. For more details please see the OSGIS UK event page, or the dedicated OSGIS UKconference website at http://www.opensourcegis.org.uk/
Open Nottingham
In implementing the Open Nottingham programme, the University of Nottingham has strategically embraced an agenda of open access to teaching. There are a number of initiatives that fall under the umbrella of Open Nottingham. Some make use of formal creative commons or open source licensing; others adopt a less formal, but equally open philosophy. CGS strongly supports Open Nottingham and is leading the Open Source, Open standards, Open data themes under Open Nottingham umbrella. Details at http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/open/opennottingham.aspx
Open Source GIS Education & Training
ELOGeo (E-learning for the Open Geospatial Community) is a JISC-funded project based at the Centre for Geospatial Science in partnership with Mimas Centre of Excellence at the University of Manchester. The project addresses the provision of infrastructure for educating, transferring knowledge and training users and researchers on the effective use of open geospatial services, by providing a set of methodologies, tools and materials. The courses target researchers, non-geospatial experts and members of the general public who want to use open data, standards and tools. More details at http://elogeo.nottingham.ac.uk/
Erasmus Open Source GIS Summer School
The Erasmus Summer School in Open Source GIS is organized jointly by the Geographical Information Systems and Remote Sensing Centre (SIGTE) of the University of Girona (Spain), the Lahti Centre of Aalto University School of Science and Technology of the Aalto University (Finland), the Centre for Geospatial Science (CGS) of the University of Nottingham and the Institute for Research on Urban Sciences and Techniques (IRSTV) from the Ecole Centrale de Nantes (France).
The course materials are made available to the wider geospatial community from the Summer School website http://www.sigte.udg.edu/summerschool2010/
Open Source Geospatial Lab, UK
The Open Source Lab was established in Sep 2010 following MoU with The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (http://www.osgeo.org/node/1071 ) aims to help create collaboration opportunities for academia, industry and government organisations in open source GIS which will help to create a sustainable environment for open source GIS in the UK. The lab will build up the profile of OSGeo activities in the UK and provide opportunities for staff and students to work on various open source research projects. It will also help to establish a coordinating framework between open source GIS research and development facilities in the UK. The lab will develop best practices for supporting UK government organisations in evaluating and making use of the open source geospatial technologies that are emerging globally. The initial management of the Open Source Lab will be done by Dr Suchith Anand.
Advisory Board:
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Arnulf Christl (OSGeo President)
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Prof. Ari Jolma (Aalto University, Finland)
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Martin Daly (Cadcorp)
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Chris Holcroft (Association of Geographic Information)
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Steven Feldman (KnowWhere)
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James Passmore (British Geological Survey)
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Ian Holt (Ordnance Survey, UK)
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Dr Gobe Hobona (Envitia, UK)
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Jo Cook (Astun Technology, UK)
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Prof. Maria Brovelli (Politecnico di Milano, Italy)
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Phil Davis (GeoTech Center, USA)
CGS plays an active role in Committees and Boards associated with this theme with members being represented on:
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ICA Commission Chair for Open Source Geospatial Technologies
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Scientific Committee for Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G)
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GIS Research Community for The Open Source Observatory and Repository for European public administrations (OSOR)
Open Source Geospatial Lab, Malaysia
Dr. Tuong Thuy Vu (Assistant Professor, School of Geography, University of Nottingham Malaysia campus) is leading initiative to establish Open Source Geospatial Lab in Malaysia. Once established this will be the first such facility in Malaysia and aims to help create collaboration opportunities for academia, industry and government organisations in open source GIS which will help to create a sustainable environment for open source GIS in Malaysia. The lab will build up the profile of OSGeo activities in Malaysia and provide opportunities for staff and students to work on various open source research projects. It will also help to establish a coordinating framework between open source GIS research and development facilities in Malaysia.
CGS members focussing on this theme include:
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Suchith Anand
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Didier Leibovici
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Jeremy Morley
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Mike Jackson
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Jiang Wenchao
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Heshan Du
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Sergiusz Pawlowicz
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Mark Dimond
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Jianhua Shao
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Mark Iliffe
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Tuong Thuy Vu
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Chaoye Ye
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Amir Pourabdollah
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David McGillicuddy
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Quang Phu Vo
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Mathew Butler
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Hao Ye
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Anthony Hill