OpenGeo, the global open source geospatial software company behind the OpenGeo Suite is making a huge impact at this year’s FOSS4G Conference. OpenGeo team members hosted five workshops and over a dozen other tutorials and talks. The conference kicked off with a keynote by Paul Ramsey, Senior Consultant at OpenGeo and PostGIS co-founder. Entitled “Why Do You Do That? An Exploration of Open Source Business Models”, the keynote dissected various open source business models and Ramsey’s thoughts on the future of open source.
Additionally, attendees have said that the highly anticipated OpenGeo Partner Day was a great success. The all-day work session was attended by an international group who gathered to share experiences and strategize about the continued push of open source geospatial into the mainstream. Eddie Pickle, OpenGeo Sr. Vice President, was particularly excited after the event: “This meeting was a milestone for our rapidly growing partner network. The room was full of partner organizations crucial in helping OpenGeo Suite users around the world improve their geospatial applications.”
The OpenGeo staff has been been in high demand by conference attendees curious about what’s new in the OpenGeo Suite and GeoNode. OpenGeo has featured “Meet the Experts” sessions throughout the week, making the OpenGeo booth buzz with activity. These popular events have been a unique opportunity for community members to meet OpenGeo’s developers. OpenGeo considers the yearly conference an opportunity for their committed staff members to shine. Being active participants in the community is important to OpenGeo; by sharing knowledge and ideas they strives to foster a collaborative environment.
Chris Holmes, OpenGeo President, was encouraged by the conference. When asked about OpenGeo’s experience at FOSS4G he said, “FOSS4G has always been a great place for us to meet our friends, clients, and partners. This year has been no exception, from our Partner Day to workshops and tutorials, we’ve had an amazing time exchanging knowledge and ideas. FOSS4G is a unique opportunity for all of us to advance the impact of open source geospatial software.”
About OpenGeo
OpenGeo is a social enterprise working to build the best web-based geospatial technology. The company brings the best practices of open source software to geospatial organizations around the world by providing enterprises with supported, tested, and integrated open source solutions to build the Geospatial Web. OpenGeo also supports open source communities by employing key developers of PostGIS, GeoServer, and OpenLayers. Since 2002, the company has provided successful consulting services and products to clients like the World Bank, Google, the UK Ordnance Survey, Portland TriMet, MassGIS, Landgate, and the Federal Communications Commission. OpenGeo is the geospatial division of OpenPlans, a New York-based 501(c)(3) non-profit that informs and engages communities through journalism and open source software. All of OpenGeo’s revenue has been and will continue to be re-invested into innovative and useful software in support of the OpenPlans mission.
