FOSS4G
Discussion on Free and Open Source Software
for GeoSpatial Systems
2013
2013 Pacific Islands GIS/RS User Conference
18th – 22nd November
Suva, Fiji Islands
Sachindra Singh
Systems Developer
Data Management Section
AGDT/SPC
SOPAC and FOSS
1994 - SOPAC adopted cc:Mail and SunOS – one of the first regional organization to have an
electronic communication system in the Pacific region
1994 - SOPAC was one of the founding members of PICISOC (Internet Society Charter for Pacific
Islands)
1996 - USP [The University of the South Pacific] and SOPAC were the first to connect to the Internet in
the South Pacific. SOPAC also offered subsidized internet access to government organisations during
this period.
2000 - SOPAC migrated fully to open source services such email systems, GNU/Linux file shares,
BIND, etc.
2002 - SOPAC adopted open source tiki-wiki as a web presence and collaboration platform
2004 - MapServer deployment to 14 Pacific Island Countries as part of a EU/EDF
2006 - SOPAC adopted open source online library systems (Koha) and e-learning platforms (Moodle)
2007 - OIP Geonetwork metadata service deployed
2009 - Joomla CMS website launched
2011 - PCRAFI Pacific Risk Information System Launched - on Geonode platform
2011 - SOPAC Compendium Project launched - Digitial collection of all output from SOPAC/CCOP
from 1972 to 2010
2012 - SOPAC Geonode SDI adopted across the division programmes/projects
2013 - PacGeo Initiative started - Regional Geospatial Open Data Repository
Applied GeoScience and Technology Division, Secretariat of the Pacific Community
Why FOSS?
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Usually has no upfront payment
Has a low Total Cost of Ownership (and high ROI)
Encourages a competitive market for support services.
Encourages a collaborative approach.
Places fewer restrictions on the users of the software.
Provides the opportunity for users to take direct control of the maintenance and
support of the software.
Allows the opportunity to try the software before committing to it.
May reduce vendor lock-in.
Allows users to view and modify the source code.
Allows users to take advantage of the improved functionality of new releases more
rapidly.
Increases interoperability.
Usually is modular
Source: A Guide to Open Source Software for Australian Government Agencies, June
2011, Department of Finance and Deregulation
Applied GeoScience and Technology Division, Secretariat of the Pacific Community
Why SOPAC?
2011 and 2012 Member Countries Recommendation for SOPAC division adopted by
SPC Governing Council (CRGA)
“44. Strongly recommend that the SOPAC Division continues to
prioritise, support, maintain and extend its existing open source
analysis and data management tools and systems for partners
and island members; and provide appropriate advocacy and
support to island members in using open source
technologies for ICT systems development.”
Applied GeoScience and Technology Division, Secretariat of the Pacific Community
Capacity Building and Training
QGIS desktop training held by SOPAC/SPC over the last year:
SPC Land Resources Division, their extensions in Fiji Govt (Agriculture)
30
Tuvalu Lands Department
6
Fiji Veterinary Department
18
Fiji Department of Forestry
2
Marshals Islands Resource and Development Unit, Ministry of Environment
2
BioSecurity Authority of Fiji
18
76
Applied GeoScience and Technology Division, Secretariat of the Pacific Community
Enterprise GIS
On Premises/Cloud
Geonode SDI has 1:1 feature parity with other server-side alternatives.
Spatial Data Discovery
Powerful spatial search engine
Federated OGC services
Metadata catalogue
Spatial Query and Analysis
Import and Manage
Publish raster, vector, and tabular data
Manage metadata and associated
documents
Securely or publicly share data
Versioned geospatial data editor
Interactive Mapping
GeoExplorer GIS client
Graphical style editor
Create multi-layer interactive maps
Share and embed maps in web pages
Collaboration
Social Features
Review, rate, and comment on data
Groups of users
Activity streams
Announcements and notifications
Applied GeoScience and Technology Division, Secretariat of the Pacific Community
Desktop - QGIS
Matured significantly through 1.8 – 2.0 Release. Suitable for non-advanced usage.
Example:
Semi-automatic Image Classification Plugin – supervised classification of remote
sensing images, providing tools to expedite the creation of ROIs, the classification
process, and the post processing phases (accuracy assessment, land cover change)
Applied GeoScience and Technology Division, Secretariat of the Pacific Community
Partners and Support
Applied GeoScience and Technology Division, Secretariat of the Pacific Community
Awareness & Education
http://ict.sopac.org/gisos
Custom built Linux distribution for the Pacific
containing all FOSS components
SOPAC/SPC uses and trains on
Live CD
Side-by-side Installation
VirtualBox (for running on top of your current
operating system)
Launched in 2011
5th Version 2013
1000~ Downloads
Applied GeoScience and Technology Division, Secretariat of the Pacific Community
Suggested Recommendation
To strengthen cost-effective adoption of
GIS in the Pacific as widely as possible,
and to counter commercial GIS software
privacy, it is encouraged that open source
geospatial systems should be explored in
depth and adopted after careful analysis
and study, and if found suited to the
immediate requirements.
Applied GeoScience and Technology Division, Secretariat of the Pacific Community