We are pleased to announce the establishment of the Open Source
Geospatial Laboratory at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom.
The laboratory is one of the members of a worldwide network developed
under the auspices of the ICA-OSGeo Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
In 2011, the International Cartographic Association (ICA) signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Open Source Geospatial
Foundation (OSGeo) with the aim to develop global collaboration
opportunities for academia, industry and government organisations in
the field of open source GIS software and data. The MoU aims to provide
expertise and support for the establishment of Open Source Geospatial
Laboratories and Research Centres across the world and will support the
development of open source geospatial software technologies, training
and expertise.
The University of Southampton is one of the top research universities
in the UK and has strong research in geospatial science. The University
of Southampton Open Source Geospatial Laboratory (OSGL) has been
established by the GeoData Institute and Geography and Environment AU
in collaboration with other initiatives in the UK and further afield.
The initiative brings together staff from various disciplines
(Engineering, Geography, Electronics and Computer Science) across the
university.
The current members of the lab are Prof.Pete Atkinson, Prof. David
Martin, Jason Sadler, Chris Hill, Julia Branson, Craig Hutton, Andrew
Murdock, Duncan Hornby, Andrew Harfoot, Gemma Gubbins, Homme Zwaagstra,
Jeremy Austin, Ian Waldock, Oles Kit, Mike Clark, Samantha Cockings,
Robin Wilson, Kirk Martinez, Kate Parks, Simon Blainey and Richard
Treves.
The Laboratory will engage in open source research for geospatial
software and data, using open source geospatial software and data as
tools and contributing to the development of tools, standards and data
through research. The lab will seek to exploit new opportunities for
research, often in partnership with other OSGLs and members of the
ICA-OSGeo initiative. The Laboratory will also deliver open source
geospatial training and CPD programs.
The website of the new lab is at http://www.osgl.soton.ac.uk/
OSGeo is a not-for-profit organisation founded in 2006 whose mission is
to support and promote the collaborative development of open source
geospatial technologies and data.
ICA is the world authoritative body for cartography, the discipline
dealing with the conception, production, dissemination and study of
maps.