Organizations
Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo)
The Open Source Geospatial Foundation, or OSGeo, is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to support and promote the collaborative development of open geospatial technologies and data. The foundation provides financial, organizational and legal support to the broader open source geospatial community. It also serves as an independent legal entity to which community members can contribute code, funding and other resources, secure in the knowledge that their contributions will be maintained for public benefit. OSGeo also serves as an outreach and advocacy organization for the open source geospatial community, and provides a common forum and shared infrastructure for improving cross-project collaboration.
The foundation's projects are all freely available and usable under an OSI-certified open source license.
Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit and (in some countries) charitable non-governmental organization dedicated to Free Software as in freedom.
The vision of Free Software is one of a stable basis for freedom in a digital world -- both in an economic and socio-ethical context. Free Software is one important cornerstone for freedom, democracy, human rights and development in a digital society.
The FSFE is dedicated to supporting all aspects of Free Software in Europe. Creating awareness for these issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues of the FSFE.
For these reasons, FSFE was founded in 2001 as the European sister organisation of the Free Software Foundation in Boston, MA, USA. Both are financially, legally and personally independent from each other as parts of the international Free Software Foundation network.
In and with the FSFE, we stand united and work together on local and international levels, speaking with a voice that cannot be ignored.
Open Source Initiative (OSI)
Public Geo Data.org
Public Geo Data is campaign that was started by Jo Walsh and Benjamin Henrion, who were astonished to see how little public debate there is about the Inspire directive and public geodata in general. Many directives in Brussels are discussed behind the scenes in closed rooms in the Council or the European Parliament, and there are few mainstream media sources reporting on these complex issues.
The mission is to raise awareness of the potential in open geodata among the public and the public administration. Geographic Data collected by National Mapping Agencies all over Europe should be available to the Public.
While a lot of datasets are available in the United States under a public domain licence, little geographic data is available under open access terms in Europe but is instead made available at monopoly prices by national mapping agencies. Restricted access to geographic data for the public and businesses due to high costs and narrow licenses means fewer services and fewer jobs in Europe
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