A Broad Range of Topics Are Addressed in More Than 140 Presentations

DENVER, June 15, 2011 -- The Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) conference has just announced the lineup of presentations that features more than 140 individual talks with noted plenary speakers. FOSS4G is the premier international conference focused on open source geospatial software. The selection of presentations was very competitive, with 300 submissions for roughly 150 session slots.

The five-day event includes two days of workshops followed by three days of sessions that cover a broad range of technical topics, tool-specific tutorials, application case studies, lightning talks, panel discussions and overviews.  The breadth of content address a full range of technical expertise, applications, regional interests, and business purposes.

Among the program highlights regarding the use of open source software are:

• A full-day introduction to geospatial open source with case studies and business cases
• Workshops and tutorials on popular open source geospatial tools such as PostGIS, GRASS, GeoServer, GeoNode, MapFish, Geomajas, Spatial Wiki, GeoTools, etc.
• Workshops and sessions organized by educators for educators
• Sessions regarding open spatial data and spatial data infrastructure directives
• Timely sessions addressing such applications as mapping the BP oil spill, monitoring flood waters, and responding to the earthquake in Japan
• Several sessions of five-minute lightning talks

Plenary speakers and topics for the event include:

• Michael Byrne, Geospatial Information Officer of the Federal Communications Commission, talking about the National Broadband Map, which is based on an open source software stack, and implements some innovative ideas regarding open data
• Peter Ter Haar, Director of Products at Ordnance Survey, the national mapping agency of Great Britain, speaking about their experience with open data initiatives and open source software
• Steve Coast, founder of OpenStreetMap, talking about the past, present and (mainly) future of this wiki-style collaborative geospatial data creation phenomenon
• Paul Ramsey, a team member of OpenGeo and founder of the PostGIS spatial database discussing different open source business models
• A panel on "Open x 4" that will discuss various aspects of openness for open source, open data, open street mapping, and open standards

The event has strong support from major sponsors that include Esri, Google, OpenGeo, MapQuest, Newmont, RadiantBlue, and Safe Software. Additional support at the bronze level include AppGeo, Azavea, Camptocamp, EOX, GeoCat, GeoIQ, GeoSolutions, Korem, MapGears, Metaspatial, Oracle Spatial, SkyGone, Spatial Networks, Spatialytics and Terrestris.

You can view the full program at http://2011.foss4g.org/program/session-schedule. The deadline for early registration, with the cheapest price, is June 30.

About FOSS4G
FOSS4G is the global conference focused on Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial that is organized by the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) with support from an all-volunteer organizing committee and professional conference management from the Geospatial Information Technology Association (GITA). The 2011 FOSS4G event in Denver marks the first North American event in four years, with the prior three events taking place in Barcelona, Sydney and Cape Town.

SOURCE: FOSS4G Organizing Committee

RELATED LINKS:
http://2011.foss4g.org/ FOSS4G Denver 2011
http://www.osgeo.org/ Open Source Geospatial Foundation