Call for Proposals: GEO “Open EO” track at FOSS4G

Blog / April 23, 2021

The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) are collaborating around their shared visions of openness. For GEO this means open data, open standards, and open science; for OSGeo this means free and open source software.

FOSS4G is the flagship event of OSGeo and serves annually as the best scenario to discover the state of the art in Open Geospatial Technologies. With an annual international gathering, this conference brings together experts and users with interest in open geospatial topics.

As such, GEO is pleased to be a key supporter of the largest community gathering of the open source geospatial community, which will take place online as part of FOSS4G 2021, September 29 - October 1.

GEO is supporting FOSS4G with a 3-day dedicated track on “Open EO”. The interactive sessions, lightning talks and workshops will highlight how open EO and related innovations contribute to and support the GEO engagement priorities, focusing on the following topics: Climate Action, Disaster Risk Reduction, Sustainable Development and Urban Resilience.

To submit your proposal please click here. The open call for proposals for the OpenEO track ends on May 4, 2021 23:59 CEST.

Why participate

Expand your knowledge of how Open EO, open science and open standards are being used to address national priorities and build resilient societies and economies through the GEO work programme.

Discuss the challenges and approaches to data sharing, including expanding access to in situ data and analysis ready data, to fully realise the societal benefits of Open EO, open science and open standards.

Network with members of the GEO work programme activities andexperts on open geospatial topics.

Discover ongoing GEO activities and the latest trends in the Open EO community.

Contribute your ideas to the discussion on the future of Open EO.

Types of contributions

Contributions should be related to open data, open software, open standards and/or open science in the context of Open EO.

You can submit three types of proposals:

1. Presentations

Talks will be assigned a 15 minutes slot: 10 minutes for the talk and 5 for Q&A.

2. Workshops

Workshops will be assigned a slot of maximum 4 hours.

3. Lightning Talks

Lightning talks will be assigned a 5 minute slot: 3 minutes for the talk and 2 for Q&A.

Tips for speakers

GEO values diversity, equality and inclusion, and is committed in supporting the development of a dynamic, diverse, and inclusive Earth observation community. Preference will be given to GEO work programme activities and we invite contributions from Indigenous Peoples and other underrepresented communities.

If you are considering submitting a proposal, consider the following:

GEO’s approach to open data sharing and open access to data, information and knowledge is the backbone of the abiding GEO vision “a future wherein decisions and actions for the benefit of humankind are informed by coordinated, comprehensive and sustained Earth observations and information.”

FOSS4G’s backbone is free and open source, so make sure you clearly indicate what is (are) the open source project(s) essential in your talk.

If you present new developments or a completely new open source project related to Open EO, please share repositories so people can follow up.

Mark your calendar for this exciting event and follow the FOSS4G website where you will be able to find more detailed information about the conference. We look forward to receiving your application and to welcoming you online.

Submitted proposals will be reviewed by the OpenEO organizing committee. All selected speakers will receive a free ticket to attend the conference.

Gilberto Camara, the GEO Secretariat Director states:

“As someone who has developed open source projects for decades I am very pleased that GEO is able to bring together our open Earth observation community together with the open source geospatial community during FOSS4G 2021. There are so many common areas for collaboration in academia, research, policy making and commerce. We are honored to be able to share our ideas and expertise with this community and learn from them as well.”

María Arias de Reyna, the co-chair of FOSS4G 2021 states:

“The collaboration with GEO is a natural and organic relationship that merges the best of our worlds: our software needs good data sources to run and data needs good software to be useful. I am confident this is just another step forward in a beautiful friendship.”