FOSS4G 2011 Calling Visitors

The Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) conference, to be held from 12th to 16th September 2011 in Denver, USA, is focused on open source geospatial software. The event presents a number of learning opportunities at a great value compared to similar professional conferences.

FOSS4G is the global conference focusing on Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial that is organised by the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) with support from an all-volunteer organising committee and professional conference management from the Geospatial Information Technology Association (GITA). The 2011 FOSS4G event in Denver marks the first North American event in four years, with the prior three events taking place in Barcelona, Sydney and Cape Town. The organisation has created ten incentives to attend to this event, which are listed below.

Open source software for geospatial is gaining strong momentum with high performance and high-profile use cases, and you need to know what's available. Users of closed source commercial software, you owe it to yourself and your organisation to understand the capabilities, cost justifications, and the community of open source geospatial software developers.

Denver is the recognised geospatial hub of the United States with many commercial geospatial data providers, commercial software companies, engaged software developers, and a wide array of federal agencies that create and manage geospatial data and applications. Coming to this hub will expose attendees to an engaged and vibrant community to interact and learn from.

Delegates will be able to gain a global perspective with presentations from speakers from around the world.

An introductory immersion welcomes newcomers with concentrated content to get them up to speed. With an all-day planned as an introduction, it's a prime opportunity to understand what's available.

This is the first of these global gatherings to take place in North America in the past four years, and will likely not be repeated soon. The event makes its way around the world on a yearly basis, and if you live and work in North America, this is a chance to catch it while it's close.

FOSS4G positions itself as the top educational event for detailed workshops and sessions on tools, custom development, and applications.

Evening social gatherings, big party night, and informal meetings make this a prime event to meet peers and extend the social network of participants.

The event draws top developers in the community who are developing the next-generation tools. If you are looking for top talent to act as consultants in creating custom tools or to integrate FOSS solutions with your commercial implementations, this is the marketplace to meet them.

The weather and touring possibilities make it an excellent draw for global participants. The timing coincides with peak golden aspen viewing in the mountains, with typically clear and crisp autumn weather. Denver is also a key jumping off point for tours of the scenic American west, including many of the large national parks that are within a day's drive.