Open Source
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 founder and co-Chair of the International Cartographic Association (ICA) Working Group on Open Source Geospatial Technologies, and organiser of the Open Source GIS UK Conference series, and Erasmus IP Summer school in Open Source GIS. 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 Working Group on Open Source Geospatial Technologies
The Open Source Geospatial Technologies Working Group was established in December 2008. Dr Suchith Anand and Professor Thierry Badard (Laval University, Canada) are the chairs of this ICA Working Group. The Working Group 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 Working Group's website.
The Open Source GIS UK (OSGIS UK) Conference Series
The Open Source GIS UK 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 UK conference series has a h4 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.
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.
Open Source Geospatial Lab (OSGL)
The Open Source Geospatial Lab 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 students to work on various OSGeo 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 OSGL will be done by Dr Suchith Anand.