\title{Public Geospatial Data Committee}
\author{David Bitner, Committee Chair}
\maketitle

\section{Summary}
The Public Geospatial Data Committee has been a fairly dormant committee of OSGeo over the course of 2008. The primary role of the committee has been as a forum for geodata related activities through the use of the mailing list.  Early efforts at strategic planning and creation of a catalog have become stagnant due to lack of engagement by a large enough group to really make a difference. In order to grow beyond the current committee activities, the Geodata Committee needs volunteers to lead individual activities such as getting an operable data catalog and repository off the ground.

\section{Key Accomplishments}
\begin{itemize}
\item  Representation at FOSS4G2008;
\item  Support of Open Street Map, Open Aerial Map, and the Flight Gear Scenery Project;
\item  Forum for Geodata related discussions through the year.
\end{itemize}

\section{Areas for Improvement}
\begin{itemize}
\item  More engagement by members of the community;
\item  Clear mission and direction that make it clear to members and outsiders who we are and what we do;
\item  Work with others with similar goals so as not to reinvent the wheel;
\item  Partner with those who need support of our resources;
\item  Work more closely with Education Committee and education datasets;
\item  Define clear areas where volunteers can be engaged.
\end{itemize}

\section{Opportunities to Help}

\begin{itemize}
\item  Leadership;
\item  Strategic Planning -- without clear direction, it is hard to know where we can put peoples efforts to work;
\item  Cataloguing work -- both on software setup side (GeoNetwork) and collecting metadata for public data sets;
\item  Open Geodata Licensing success stories -- writing about how your organization or project has moved to an open licensing approach, sharing decisions with others.
\end{itemize}

\section{Outlook for 2009}
\begin{itemize}
\item  Continued forum for public geodata related issues.
\end{itemize}