FOSS 4G

International Workshop on FOSS4G for Digital & Skill India

The Center of Excellence in Geoinformatics (COE-FOSS4G) hosted an International Workshop on Free & Open Source Solutions for Geoinformatics (FOSS4G) for Digital & Skill India on17-18 August 2018 at I2IT, Hinjewadi, Pune. This workshop focused on how the geospatial ecosystem comprising of Open Source Software, Open Data and Open Standards can be leveraged for deploying Geo-ICT based participatory platform with emphasis on Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) applications. This workshop introduced the MapMint framework that provides quick and easy way to build and manage geospatial web applications using Open Source, Open Standards and Open Data. Open Data Kit (ODK) is a free and open-source set of tools which help organizations plan, collect, and manage field data using a mobile device. In addition to socio-economic and health surveys with GPS locations and images, ODK is being used to create decision support for health surveys, for building multimedia-rich natural heritage mapping & environmental monitoring.  This can enable citizen centric crowd sourcing information using android mobile apps for India’s mission of smart villages & cities.

The workshop was the inaugural workshop for the COE and was co-hosted by CERG and OSGeo India.

Prof. Venkatesh Raghavan,  former President, OSGeo Foundation and Professor, Osaka City University, Japan gave insights of geoinformatics applications in urban management, citizen based assisted location based services, disaster management quoting the example of recent devastating floods in Kerala. 

Mr. Gerald Fenoy, Founder & CEO, GeoLabs SARL, France: He has thrown light on mapmint software and its implementation with hands-on sessions.

Mr. Ravi Kumar Vundavalli, Secretary, OSGeo India: He took us back to 2003, wherein then president, Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, stressed on the usage of open source for software development, during the dedication to the nation ceremony of I2IT, pune, from the same daises. He also pointed out the importance of converting the software languages into local language for the ease of use by farmers and locals.

Natraj Vaddadi, founder member CERG, focused on ODK hands-on sessions and briefed its various societal applications and the role of citizens in science.

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