FOSS4G SotM Oceania attendees descend on Wellington
From the 12-15 November 2019, open source enthusiasts from the Asia Pacific region made their way to Wellington, New Zealand for the annual FOSS4G SotM Oceania conference. For those hearing about this event for the first time, our friends at FOSS4G have provided a breakdown on their website that helps explain what the event acronyms mean:
FOSS4G: Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial.
SotM: ‘State of the Map' or SotM is the conference of the Open StreetMap Foundation (OSMF) which supports the development of a free and open editable world map. This takes the form of the community driven OpenStreetMap project.
Oceania: 'Oceania' – no acronyms here – Oceania is the geographic region made up of Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.
Open source geographic information system (GIS) software is great for people who want to get all the benefits of using geospatial technology, without the hefty price tag. The FOSS4G movement promotes global problem-solving with GIS and runs educational sessions on various open source GIS tools.
Highlights from FOSS4G SotM Oceania 2019
This year, Winyama’s GIS analyst Merindah Bairnsfather-Scott attended the event representing both Winyama and Indigenous Mapping Workshop Australia. Aside from the informative open source GIS sessions, some of the other highlights of the trip for her were:
Geochicas
The ninth international Geochicas pre-FOSS4G conference event was hosted by Miriam Gonzalez. Geochicas was created by a small group of women in OpenStreetMap who noticed a structural issue in data communities due to the lack of female participation and project leadership. By promoting work that analyses how women are represented in geospatial and technological spaces, they are helping to improve the overall diversity and quality of the data that goes into OpenStreetMap.
The ladies got together this year for the event ‘Geochicas take Wellington’.
Bird of a feather - IMW Australia session
The FOSS4G Birds of a Feather sessions provide conference attendees with an opportunity to knowledge share about mapping initiatives they have. Merindah held a Birds of a Feather information session about the Indigenous Mapping Workshop (IMW) Australia. The session was attended by approximately 20-25 people. Merindah shared knowledge about all things IMW, answered questions and facilitated a general discussion about Indigenous Mapping.
Merindah presenting at the ‘Birds of a Feather’ session
Community Day
The FOSS4G Community Day featured a Mapathon called ‘Missing Maps for, with, and by the Pacific’.
Conference attendees used OpenStreetMap and Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team to map buildings and roads on islands in the Pacific. The exercise was a fun and inclusive activity for all involved. The wider objectives of the project are to:
Promote accountability to the local community by properly contextualising the project and coordinating with the proponents of the particular Missing Maps task.
Support local leaders in leading the mapathon.
Encourage more volunteers to contribute quality data to the project by thoughtfully tracing basic features like buildings and roads.
How does open source GIS help me and how can I get started?
Australian Indigenous communities can benefit greatly from gaining knowledge about open source GIS. If you are from a ranger group, Aboriginal corporation, community or cultural group and have mapping-related objectives or projects, open source GIS is a great way to get started with little to no-cost associated. You just need to know how to use the tools.
Free training on open source GIS is available at the annual Indigenous Mapping Workshop Australia. The training is tailored to the typical challenges Indigenous people face when mapping their land and waters (i.e. fire scar mapping). Visit the IMW Australia Events page to find out more information about the IMW Melbourne in 2020.
In addition to general open source GIS training and sessions, the FOSS4G SotM Oceania team has an annual travel grant that helps people in need of financial assistance attend their conference. If you would like to attend FOSS4G next year, keep an eye on their website for more details.