
\title{Spanish Local Chapter Update}
\author{Jorge Gaspar Sanz Salinas, Lorenzo Becchi, Llu\'{i}s Vicens, Marc Compte, Pedro-Juan Ferrer}

\maketitle

The Spanish Local Chaper is not yet official but recently started taking its first steps.
Actually it is basically identified by its mailing list.

\section{Introduction}
The Spanish Local Chapter started on March 2007 in Girona within the first Spanish FOSS4G\footnote{FOSS4G in this article refers to the concepts of open source software for geoinformatics, not specifically the annual FOSS4G conference} Meeting called {\bfseries I Jornadas SIG Libre}.\footnote{I Jornadas SIG Libre: \url{http://www.sigte.udg.es/jornadassiglibre2007}} An unplanned meeting  was organized by Luis W. Sevilla (gvSIG development Chief\footnote{gvSIG Project: \url{http://www.gvsig.gva.es}}) and Lorenzo Becchi (Ominiverdi.org\footnote{Ominiverdi group: \url{http://www.ominiverdi.org}})  and many meeting participants joined the debate. 

After this first meeting a mailing list was been created and some activities started as an effort to have a Spanish language community with the main objective to spread the word about FOSS4G and share ideas, technical problems, etc.

The Spanish Chapter is not yet an official organization.

\section{Activities}
\subsection{Mailing list}
The creation of the list, at the beginning of March 2007, was the first activity of the starting group and will serve as a point of discuss for Spanish speaking FOSS4G users and developers. At this moment the list counts 134 subscribers and we hope, as other activities become better known, the Spanish speaking community will get more involved in the list.

\subsection{Spanish GIS Book}
The biggest effort has been focused to create a Free GIS Book in Spanish. At this time a {\bfseries PSC} (Project Steering Committee\footnote{PSC: \url{http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/Libro_SIG_PSC_candidaturas}}) has being defined and some important steps have being accomplished. There is an almost stable {\bfseries table of contents}\footnote{Book contents: \url{http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/Contenido}} for the first version of the book, a small group of people\footnote{Book authors: \url{http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/Asignaci—n_de_cap’tulos}} contributed, led by V\'{i}ctor Olaya (SEXTANTE\footnote{SEXTANTE GIS project: \url{http://sextantegis.com/}}) and some technical facilities provided by OSGeo (a mailing list and SVN repository for the book sources).

The book will be written in LaTeX and the timetable is expected to be followed.

Of course, more authors are always welcomed. If you have some Spanish material that fits some chapter or section of the book, or you think that new contents should be added, please, feel free to join the mailing list.\footnote{Libro SIG list: \url{http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/libro_sig}}

\subsection{OSGeo portal translation}
Since May 2007, the main web pages of the OSGeo site were translated into Spanish. This effort from the Spanish Local Chapter tries to bring the Foundation to Spanish speaking people. If you want to help with the translation, improving pages, or translating new ones, contact Jorge Sanz. You can see the progress of the translation at the Portal Translation Status page of the OSGeo wiki.\footnote{Web site translation status: \url{http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/Portal_Translation_Status}}

\subsection{II Jornadas de SIG Libre}

The GIS \& Remote Sensing Service (SIGTE\footnote{GIS \& Remote Sensing Service: \url{http://www.sigte.udg.es}}) of the University of Girona, Spain is working to organize and prepare the {\bfseries II Spanish FOSS4G Meeting} that will be held in {\bfseries Girona} during {\bfseries March 3th, 4th and 5th 2008}. The previous meeting \footnote{I Jornadas SIG Libre: \url{http://www.sigte.udg.es/jornadassiglibre2007}} was without doubt an unprecedented success, pointing out the high level of participation and also the high level and quality of the communications presented during the event. 

One of the main purposes of this meetings is to present and show new or existing Open Source GIS software (and its capabilities or improvements). We are also really interested in showing real applications and experiences using any Open Source GIS \& Remote Sensing software, 3D visualizations tools, etc. and their degree of presence in the professional world, pointing out advantages and disadvantages.

Moreover, during this II Spanish FOSS4G Meeting\footnote{II Jornadas SIG Libre:\url{http://www.sigte.udg.es/jornadassiglibre/}}, we are trying to emphasize the discussion about free geodata, open standards for open source software, the role that Public Administration could (or should) play in the adoption of GIS Open Source Software solutions.

Taking advantage of Tyler Mitchell's attendance during the meeting, an official presentation of the OSGeo will be done. In addition, some discussion group sessions regarding to the Spanish Local Chapter are also planned.

We are exploring some ideas and the active participation of the community is the key to keep the wheel moving on.


