Winyama presents at the FOSS4G Perth conference
November 12th and 13th marked this years Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) Perth conference. FOSS4G Perth is an extension of FOSS4G State of the Map (SotM), an annual conference which happens on a global, regional and local level. The conference, an initiative created by Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) celebrates open source geospatial technology, seeking to inspire and invite discussion, collaboration and networking among geospatial enthusiasts.
From L to R: Holly, Khia, Tim, Grady and Marty from the Winyama team.
For the first time, Winyama was proud to sponsor the event that networks our close-knit geospatial community in Perth, allowing everyone to come together and share knowledge.
Two of our team members present. Martin (Marty) Rocks, Senior GIS Analyst and Tim Cable, IT Consultant, delivered a short presentation on open-source drone mapping. Other team members in attendance, including our interns, had the opportunity to learn from some of the most experienced people in the open-source community such as Dr Russell Keith-Magee, Femina Metcalfe and Helen Ensikat, conference keynotes.
The day began with a welcome from organiser and local open-source advocate, John Bryant, followed by streamed content from contributors across the globe. Marty noted, “there were some great speakers, I really liked what Kate Fickas had to say about women in STEM and about how men in the industry can be allies in a field where women are still woefully under-represented. It was a great topic to start a conversation about.”
Later, the keynote speakers delivered thought-provoking presentations on what it means to be part of the open source community and why it matters.
Open source drone mapping
Tim and Marty presented on open source drone mapping in the afternoon. Marty began with a brief overview of Winyama and our connection to Indigenous Mapping Workshop (IMW) Australia, contextualising the use of open-source technology. He also detailed the potential drones and open source technology that is available for Ranger groups and Native Title organisations. Marty stressed that mappers don’t need enterprise software to create photogrammetry maps, because there are many open-source alternatives.
Tim followed, discussing why OpenDroneMap (ODM) is a powerful software for people to use; illustrating different circumstances such as individual use versus organisational use, for example, Ranger groups. Ranger groups dedicate their time and effort to land preservation and care. Sometimes Ranger groups need to do large amounts of image processing and don’t have enough computer resources to do it in-house or access to a large server. In this case, they would need to find an alternative solution, such as one we created for the IMW On-Demand learning portal because of the large number of participants who attend training sessions. We then trialled it recently for our ongoing project with the Pilbara Cultural and Land Management Project (PCLMP). We were able to create a solution which uses Amazon Web Services EC2 service to increase the accessibility of OpenDroneMap, you can read how this integration works on our blog; Winyama scales the use of OpenDroneMap using AWS technology.
“There's definitely an appetite for this kind of service and the fact that the next generation is getting into drone mapping and using open source software to do it is super exciting!” said Tim. The presentation concluded with lessons learned and encouragement to audience members looking to explore drone mapping.
The day concluded with an evening social event, where attendees discussed all of the insightful presentations from the day and had an opportunity to network with other geospatial peers. We look forward to next year’s FOSS4G conference and can’t wait to hear what new learnings everyone has to share.
Do you see a use case for drones and open source software for your Native Title or Ranger group? Get in touch with our friendly team to discuss.