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\title{Activity Report of OSGeo-India at Map World Forum 2007}
\author{by K. S. Rajan}
\maketitle

OSGeo-India actively participated and was well represented at the Map
World Forum 2007, held in Hyderabad, during Jan 22-25, 2007. The major
activities that the organization organized at this premier
international forum of geospatial community were -- (i) Keynote address
on OSGeo by Gary Lang, Treasurer OSGeo (ii) OSGeo Workshop and (iii)
OSGeo Exhibition Booth. In addition, the first meeting of the Executive
council of OSGeo-India was held.

\section{OSGeo Workshop}
The OSGeo workshop was conducted on 24\textsuperscript{th} Jan, during
the afternoon session. The main aim of this workshop was to provide for
a platform to disseminate and educate the geospatial community of the
enormous opportunities that FOSS4G provides, the advances and the level
of technology development in order to provide effective geospatial
solutions. During the workshop different models of development and use
of FOSS tools and its potential in the domains of academia, government
(mainly for organizations mandated with national development, and
e-governance), and business were presented. The workshop also had the
presence of other countries from Asia -- China, Japan and Vietnam.


Prof. Deekshatulu, Ex-Director National Remote Sensing Agency, India,
delivered the inaugural address and highlighted the advantages that
FOSS tools provide for a large country like India, and in particular
emphasized the advantages of the use of FOSS4G tools in the different
decision making bodies of the country using these tools with Remote
Sensing. He also applauded the timing of this effort and hoped that it
will help mobilize the geospatial community in the country to spread
the use of these technologies to a much wider public audience.


Mr. Geoff Zeiss of Autodesk shared the changes in the business ideas and
how partnering with Open Source is of mutual benefit. He also
emphasized the need for concerted efforts towards Open Standards and
Open Content in addition to Open Source, which can help create further
business opportunities and how it can help in building a Spatial IT
ecosystem.


Dr. P.S.Roy, VP OSGeo and OSGeo-India Representative,
informed the audience about the efforts in the establishment of
OSGeo-India and the plans including outreach, which it has set for
itself in the short and mid-term. Some of the ongoing Indian
initiatives taken up by organizations like NRSA/DOS, GSI, SACON. NIC,
KELTRON, etc. were also shown in the presentation. He also mentioned the
challenges and opportunities in the Indian context, especially with the
establishment of Village Resources Centers and Krishi Vigyan Kendras,
which are mandated to provide a range of services and information
including geospatial information. He encouraged all the participants of
the workshop to actively participate and contribute in developing a
shared vision for the community.


Representatives of China, Japan and
Vietnam gave an overview of the efforts of their respective chapters.
Prof. Rongguo Chen, VP OSGeo and OSGeo-China Representative, showed the
example of the work being carried out at localization, GRASS C-API, and
the proposal to setup a GridGIS. While, Mr. Toru Mori, VP OSGeo and
OSGeo-China Representative, gave a good example of how open source
model is a good business proposition too. Prof. Venkatesh Raghavan,
Board Member of OSGeo, in his closing remarks mentioned what the future has
in store for the community and the long road ahead.


The workshop had an overwhelming response, with the room overflowing
with participants/audience, and was estimated at over 95 persons.

\section{Exhibition Booth}
OSGeo-India put up an Exhibition Booth during the Map World Forum, to
showcase its efforts: the launch of the India Chapter, disseminate
information on OSGeo-India, demonstrate some of the ongoing projects,
and provide for a personal interaction between Chapter members and the
geospatial community. It had a great response and had a continuous
stream of visitors from all sectors. It is worth mentioning that a lot
of them commended this effort and our objectives, and shared their
views on its relevance to their respective work or organizations. A few
of them also invited the Chapter to organize some events like tool
demonstration and training in different parts of the country. A
sizeable number responded positively and have agreed to continuously
interact with OSGeo as users, partners, developers or promoters in
their own respective organizations.

\section{OSGeo-India Meeting}
The other important event that took place on the sidelines of the Map
World Forum was the first meeting of the Executive Council of
OSGeo-India. The council had a good discussion on how it would like to
take the efforts forward and develop on the response at this first
major activity. It has brought on board representatives of academia,
government and industry to help make it an inclusive effort and has
also consciously provided for a pan-India representation to the
Chapter. Representatives of China, Japan and Vietnam attended the
meeting as observers, and there was a discussion on how to build
interaction and synergy between the different Chapters.

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All these efforts of OSGeo-India were made possible by the generous
financial support that was extended by the GNOME Foundation and OSGeo.org.
OSGeo-India would like to thank these organizations for the support
that not only made the logistics of the event possible but also helped
provide partial travel support for some delegates from Asia. It is
hoped that such efforts will go a long way in fulfilling the objectives
of our respective organizations, while looking forward to a continued
interaction in the future.


OSGeo-India is now seeking to gain legal status as a non-profit
organization in India which would help in promoting the cause and
mission of OSGeo in India. Fundraising efforts to support training,
software developing and localization has also been initiated. The OSGeo
India Chapter is also planning to establish a website to disseminate
and propagate the adoption and deployment of Open Source Geospatial
solutions in India. Further details about the OSGeo-India Chapter
activities can be obtained by contacting the address below.


\address{K. S. Rajan\\
Treasurer, OSGeo-India\\
International Institute of Information Technology\\
Gachibowli, Hyderabad 500032, Andhra Pradesh, India\\
\email{rajan AT iiit.ac.in}}