Register here for the pre-conference workshop on 20 and 21 August 2014 at IBGE in Rio de Janeiro.

 Call for extended abstracts:
27th International Cartographic Conference
Pre-conference workshop on

Spatial data infrastructures, standards, open source and open data for geospatial (SDI-Open 2015)

jointly organized by the
Commission on Geoinformation Infrastructures and Standards, the Commission on Open Source Geospatial Technologies and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)

Date: Thursday, 20 August and Friday, 21 August 2015
Venue: Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), Rio de Jaineiro, Brazil

The discovery, access, exchange and sharing of geographic information and services among stakeholders from different levels in the spatial data community is facilitated through a spatial data infrastructure (SDI). Standards are key for the quality and development of interoperable geographic information and geospatial software. The drive for access to geographic information has led to its publication as open data, i.e. freely available to everyone to use and republish as they wish, without restrictions from copyright, patents or other mechanisms of control. According to a report by the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM), the use of opensource solutions is likely to increase significantly in the future as a viable alternative to proprietary suppliers. Open source software for geospatial, geographic information standards and open data policies are therefore significant for SDI development and implementation. This workshop aims to record examples of current SDI practice with an aim to identify benefits and challenges to implementing free and open source software for geospatial, geographic information standards and open (spatial) data in an SDI.

SDI resarchers and practitioners are invited to submit extended abstracts of 1,000-1,500 words that describe SDI case studies where

• open source software for geospatial is used in the technical implementation; and/or
• geospatial standards are implemented; and/or
• geographic information is accessible as open data.

The case studies shall include the following:

• Background information about the SDI, including the relevant policies.
• A description of how open source, standards and/or open data are implemented in the SDI.
• An evaluation of the motivators, benefits, barriers and challenges concerning implementation of open source software, standards and/or open data.
• Based on the evaluation, provide recommendations for improvements and/or further work.
• Conclusions.

Extended abstracts have to be written in English. Contributions must be original and previously unpublished. Author guidelines are available here. Abstracts have to be submitted through the online submission system, available at https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=sdiopen2015. Abstracts will be reviewed by members of the organizing ICA Commissions. Upon acceptance, a revised abstract has to be submitted for inclusion in the workshop proceedings. At least one of the authors of an accepted abstract must register for the workshop and make an oral presentation at the workshop.

Accepted abstracts will be published in the online workshop proceedings with an ISBN number and will be openly archived on the ICA website under a Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows others to freely access, use, and share the work, with an acknowledgment of the work’s authorship and its initial publication in the online workshop proceedings. Authors of a selected number of high quality abstracts may be invited to submit an extended paper to a peer-reviewed journal.

Important dates

Contact

If you have any questions, please contact Antony Cooper acooper@csir.co.za, Serena Coetzee serena.coetzee@up.ac.za, Suchith Anand Suchith.Anand@nottingham.ac.uk, Silvana Camboim silvanacamboim@gmail.com or Trevor Taylor ttaylor@opengeospatial.org.