FOSS4G is the acronym for Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial. It is the annual recurring global event hosted by OSGeo, the non-profit organization that supports and promotes the collaborative development of free and open source geographic technologies and open geospatial data. The conference covers all kinds of topics related to geospatial information and earth observation openness from Software development to Transition to FOSS4G, Use cases and applications, Education and research and Open data.
This event is for all kinds of people interested in sharing experiences about maps, from developers who write code to users of geomatics software, people who make decisions, researchers, students and anyone who wants to learn, share and meet like GIS interested people.
It attracts over 1,000 practitioners and advocates for free and open source software for geospatial and the tendency is to increase this number every year. It is the main meeting place and educational outreach opportunity for OSGeo members, supporters and newcomers – to share and learn from one another in presentations, hands-on workshops and a conference exhibition.
For appreciating the quality and variety of the presentations, you can visualize the FOSS4G 2019 and the FOSS4G 2021 video recordings.
Conference attendees are
- Developers and Users of GeoSpatial Software
- Technical Leaders
- Private Companies
- National and International Organizations, both Governmental and NGO
- Teachers and Education Professionals
- Scientific Communities and Researchers
and the talks cover mainly this topics:
- Software status, new software/project development, benchmarking
- FOSS4G implementations in strategic application domains: land management, crisis/disaster response, smart cities, population mapping, climate change, ocean and marine monitoring, etc.
- Data visualization: spatial analysis, manipulation and visualization of geospatial data
- Data collection, data sharing, data science, open data, big data, data exploitation platforms
- Sensors, remote sensing, laser-scanning, structure from motion
- New trends: IoT, Indoor mapping, drones – UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle)-, Artificial intelligence – machine learning, deep learning-, geospatial data structures
- Open and reproducible science
- Standards, interoperability, SDIs
- Community & participatory FOSS4G
- FOSS4G at governmental institutions
- FOSS4G in education
- Business products powered by FOSS4G
An overview of the FOSS4G Congresses (website, location and number of attendees) is available in the following link
Year 2022 Event – FOSS4G 2022
This year’s event is also scheduled to run after the State of the Map in the same city of Firenze in Italy between the 22nd and the 28th of August.
This year’s event has also gathered quite a number of sponsors which include the European Space Agency (ESA), The EU, Google, GeoSolutions, MapTiler, ESRI, Meta, QField, Geospatial World, among other big organizations and companies that leverage on geospatial data for their day to day operations.
Watch here the introductory video to this year’s conference.
Event Outlook
The conference expects to have:
- 40 workshops
- 200 presentations
- 60 lightning talks and
- 4 social events.
Location
An exclusive area in one of the most beautiful and visited art cities in the world
The venue is located at the heart of Firenze, the cradle of Renaissance, just a few steps away from the main railway station of Santa Maria Novella, ten minutes on foot from the Cathedral of S. Maria del Fiore and from the main shopping streets, and only 5 km away from the Firenze International Airport “Amerigo Vespucci”.
Firenze Fiera Congress & Exhibition Center
- Piazza Adua, 1
- Firenze, Italy
Event Programme
The program outline for the conference can also be accessed here.
All additional information for this conference can be found on the FOSS4G official website.
Kumbirai is a GIS & MEAL specialist using geospatial analytics to advance global health and social impact. A certified Data Protection Officer (DPO), an open-data advocate and self-taught software developer, he builds web GIS tools that turn field data into decisions. He lectures in GIS/Remote Sensing and mentors emerging practitioners. Founder of a geospatial startup and nonprofit, he believes, “Real geospatial innovation happens when we empower communities with the right tools and knowledge.” Open to consulting and collaborations.