Sydney, Australia. 4 May 2009.
http://2009.foss4g.orgThe international conference for free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G), held in Sydney, Australia 20-23 October, 2009, is now open for registration.
http://2009.foss4g.org/registration/.
FOSS4G attracts the cream of international Geospatial Open Source and Open Standards system implementors and sponsors. With themes ranging from the integration of Open Source with Proprietary systems to the building of Spatial Data Infrastructures and application of Open Geospatial Standards, the conference offers a unique opportunity to tap into the wealth of knowledge and experience available among the Open Source developers, sponsors and geospatial professionals of all persuasions. The Open Geospatial Consotium (OGC) is underpinning the conference with a Standards Based integration showcase based on a climate change scenario, demonstrating integration between Open Source and proprietary applications.
Along with a comprehensive program of thought provoking presentations and interactive workshops you would expect from an international conference, FOSS4G retains many of the engaging characteristics of its Open Source heritage. With Bird of a Feather sessions, code sprints, install-fests and impromptu project meetings, there is an unparalleled opportunity to take part in active communities and provide input into the direction for a variety of projects. FOSS4G encompasses the best of Open Communities, such as collaboration, helpfulness, innovation and honesty.
Early bird registration is just $AU725 (~ $US525) for 3 days of conference and tutorials, and $AU375 (~ $US270) for a day of top notch workshops from the world's best international presenters.
Location
FOSS4G 2009 will be held in Sydney, Australia which is built around one of the largest, most beautiful harbours in the world with miles of golden beaches stretching north and south of the city on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. It has a warm climate in October with average temperatures ranging from 15 - 22°C. Sydney and its surrounding areas provide a diverse range of visual excitement and vibrancy. Visitors to Sydney are spoiled with choice including national parks, famous beaches, the World Heritage Blue Mountains area and the picturesque Sydney Harbour. Sydney’s also offers a diverse range of cultural activities including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Australian Ballet and the Sydney Theatre Company all performing at the well know Sydney Opera House.
Call for PresentationsAre you planning to present at this years conference? If so, don't wait until you have your presentation finalised to tell us about it! Go to the submission website now (http://2009.foss4g.org/presentations/) and enter your name and contact details and at least a title. Then, closer to the close-off date, log back in and fill out the abstract details. This will be a big help for the organisers as it will give us some advanced notice as to how many and what type of presentations to expect.
FOSS4G 2009 HighlightsThe Climate Challenge Integration Plugfest (CCIP): FOSS4G will launch the OGC's Climate Challenge Integration Plugfest (CCIP), which demonstrates standards based interoperability between Open Source and Proprietary geospatial applications. It consists of a server with multiple virtual machines, each installed with geospatial applications offering standards based web services. All web services will demonstrate a common dataset, and will be accessed by a range of geospatial client applications installed on client computers.
http://external.opengis.org/twiki_public/bin/view/ClimateChallenge2009/WebHomePresenters are encouraged (but not mandated) to make use of scenarios and on-site data from the Climate Challenge Integration Plugfest (CCIP). This is especially important as demand for access to data over the internet is expected to be high, and Australia has notoriously slow connections to the outside world.
FOSS4G Live DVD: LiveDVDs, based on the Xubuntu operating system and including Geospatial Open Source Software, will be given to all delegates. Users can boot a Live DVD on their computer and trial the software without installing or effecting the existing system.
http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Live_GIS_DiscInstallfest: The Installfest will give delegates the opportunity to meet in a common area and install a wide variety of FOSS software on their laptops, EE PC or any other system they care to bring in. Community members will be around to assist with any troubles and provide help and insight into the software. The install fest will take place after workshops on the first day.
Workshops and Tutorials: Workshops and Tutorials allow presenters to lead attendees through applications, integration solutions, or other topics in an interactive environment. Half-day workshops (3 hours) will be held in computer rooms on the first day. Tutorials (90 minutes) will be held in standard presentation rooms, run concurrently with presentations during the third and fourth days.
Presentations: The meat of the conference are it's presentations. Drawing on a huge community of local, regional and international experts we will discuss some of the most current and poignant topics in the industry today.
Demo Theatre: During lunch and coffee breaks the demonstration theatre will be showcasing live software. These short demonstrations from sponsors, open source projects and the user community show what is possible with open source today.
Birds of a Feather: Rooms have been set aside for semi-organised meetings between like minded groups. Some prominant community initiatives started in prior FOSS4G Birds of a Feather sessions.
Code Sprint: The weekend after FOSS4G is reserved for the Hackers' Code Sprint. Hackers will be locked in a basement with lots of bandwidth, pizzas and coke. (Well, maybe something better than that, but we don't want to spoil the mystical hacker image by describing it any differently.)
Upcoming milestones- 1 Jun 2009, Abstract submission deadline
- 13 Jul 2009, Presenters notified of acceptance for talks
- 31 Jul 2009, '''Author/Early registration deadline'''
- 14 Sep 2009, '''Completed program available on the wiki'''
- 20 Oct 2009, FOSS4G Workshop
- 21-23 Oct 2009, FOSS4G Presentations and Tutorials
- 24-25 Oct 2009, FOSS4G Code Sprint
Media SponsorsFor more information or to keep informed from the FOSS4G Organising Committee, join our email list or twitter feed at: http://2009.foss4g.org/contacts/
or contact:
Cameron Shorter, Chair of the FOSS4G Organising Committee and Geospatial Systems Architect at LISAsoft
tel +61-8570-5050
c a m e r o n . s h o r t e r @ l i s a s o f t . c o m
With 170 quality abstracts vying for 96 slots at the international FOSS4G conference, there is a lot competition for air-time. Some innovative presenters are stacking the odds in their favour by inviting their friends to vote for their presentation on their blogs and email lists. 
