India

== About OSGeo-India Chapter ==
Geographical Information Systems were seen as very special and very complex domain in India. There is a lot of hype attached with it and with that obviously high cost. So far such systems were seen as something to be used for high level planning and complex scientific operations by large corporates and Govt research agencies or departments only. Also the older mapping policy of India prevented virtually anybody except governments to possess any map data. 
Some people are interested in mapdata as such licenced softwares remain unutilized in various government offices because they require either extensive training or easy availability on multiple locations. All this can be changed by the use of Free/Opensource software tools. There is hardly any proprietary GIS software that can show text in Unicode standard in maps. This is significant since all government data and most educational institutions work in local language media. FOSS GIS has already shown this solution. Thus, Free/Opensource Geospatial softwares which are much more powerful and usable can be used for developing systems where more and more public participation is sought. 
The OSGeo-India Chapter is formed to fulfill the mission and objectives described in this document. OSGeo-India Chapter will earnestly follow the Local Chapter Guidelines stipulated by OSGeo and cooperate closely with OSGeo Board in promoting the use and development of OSGeo projects in India. The OSGeo-India Chapter will strive to serve anyone interested in Open Source Geospatial Solutions and related issues, and to cover all the activities associated with the application, development and promotion of Open Source Geospatial solutions in India.
=== Mission ===
* Promoting Free/Opensource GIS tools and publicly available Geodata
* Advocacy of and promoting Localized GIS
* Act as a bridge between various groups like Developers, Application Users, NGOs, Government departments
* mentor various FOSS GIS miniprojects by providing resources such as technical guidance, webspace etc.
=== Objectives ===
Development:
* follow up on Indian language support in various free/opensource GIS tools like GRASS, MapServer etc.
* initiative for standardisation of publicly available geodata 
* setting up WMS/WFS based geodata servers using publicly available geodata
* toolkit for localised GIS including with special focus on schools, governments, public causes such as child malnutrition, mass education.
POCs (Proof Of Concept demos):
* free/opensource based GIS demos
* localized GIS (interface and maps)
* Collaborative platforms for participatory governance 
Regional Events: 
* Workshops and Training sessions for
** comp science students/teachers
** geo-informatics/geology/geography/civil engineering students and teachers
** others
* Special Lectures
* Demonstrations
Communication:
* Networking Local Communities related to geo-issues
* Mailing Lists
* Wiki
=== Legal status ===
OSGeo India is registered as, 'Open Source Geospatial (OSGeo)', on 2nd April 2008 at Hyderabad (India).
https://goo.gl/photos/47h8zqAvhrJcSwCT6
The activities are managed by the Office located at 
International Institute of Information Technology
Gachibowli, Hyderabad 500032, Andhra Pradesh, India
Contact E-mail: rajan at iiit dot ac dot in
== India OSGeo Chapter Executive ==
Chairman
Dr Swarna Subba Rao 
Surveyor General General(retd)
Survey of India
Secretary
Mr. V. Ravi Kumar*
http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeo_Advocate#Ravi_Kumar_Vundavalli
12-11-120, Aryapuram,Rajahmundry 533104
Director (Retired) 
Centre for Geoinformation Management and Training, Training Inistitute Geological Survey of India, Hyderabad 500068
ravivundavalli at yahoo dot com
Treasurer
Dr K.S.Rajan
Associate Professor
International Institute of Information Technology
Gachibowli, Hyderabad-500 032, India
rajan at iiit dot ac dot in
Executive Members
Dr P.S.Roy
University Center for Earth and Space Sciences
University of Hyderabad
Hyderabad 500032
psroy13 at gmail dot com
Dr R.C.Prasad
Assistant Professor
International Institute of Information Technology
Gachibowli, Hyderabad 500032
rcprasad at iiit dot ac dot in
Mr Soma Rama Murthy
Director (retd)
Geological Survey of India
Hyderabad 500068
ramasoma at gmail dot com in
Advisors
Dr. H.S.Rai, hardeep.rai at gmail dot com HS.RaiAndRai.com
Dr. S.S. Thigale (spathigale at rediffmail dot com)
Dr. Rajendra Jagdale (rajendra dot jagdale at gmail dot com)
Dr. Vishwas S.Kale (vskale at unipune dot ernet dot in)
Mr. Ashok Saraf (saraf dot ashok at gmail dot com)
Dr. Venkatesh Raghavan (venkat at osgeo dot org)
Mr. Kiran Chandra (kiranfsf at gmail dot com)
Mr. Achuthan Mohan (achuthanmohan at gmail dot com)
Dr. Peddada Jagadeeswararao (pjr_geoin at rediffmail dot com)
..Add more Advisors here
== Initial Membership ==
* Dr. Gautam Talukdar
* Dr. Awase Khirni Syed
* Dr. Tarun P. Singh
* Amol A. Sale
* Anand Akmanchi
* Aneel Kumar.V
* Anil Kumar.K.V
* Anivar Aravind
* Ankur Mehrotra
* Gangavane
* Indrajit Patil
* Jayant Kirtane
* Kanhaiya K. Kale
* Mahalakshmi Narayanan
* Mahesh Jeevane
* Maneesh Prasad
* Mohan Patil
* N.R. Karmarkar
* Rahul Kaura
* Sajith
* Saroj Akiojam
* Shekhar Krishnan
* Swapnil K. Hajare
* Uttam Kumar
* B.N. Umrikar
* Vrishali Deosthali
* A.V.Satya Kumar
* Praveen Kumar Sinha
* Santosh Gaikwad
* C. Pattanaik
* Hardeep Singh Rai
* M.Surendranath
* Ditty Mathew
* N.Rajendran
* Srinivasan K
* Nageswaran B
* N.R.S.Reddy
* L.P.Singh
* A.J.Prakash Naveen
* S.Ramamurthy
* B.K. Sahu
* J.Simhachalam
* V.Hanumantha Rao
* S.Ananda Murty
* K.Seshayya
* N.Padmayya
* N.R.Ramesh
* U.S.N.Reddy
* R.M.Sundaram
* Vimal Kumar
* Narayana Aroori
* P M Bala Manikavelu
* RVN Srinivas
* M Arulraj
* Satya Prasad Sarilla
* Suresh Verma
* Kumar Parakram
* Pranav Kumar
* Harish Kumar Solanki
. V.Bala Sankar
== Activity of OSGeo India Chapter ==
Coming-up Workshop: https://cerg.org.in/foss4g-workshop
Pl see link http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/User_talk:Ravivundavalli
== Communication ==
* Through mailing lists
** Discuss: subscribe at http://lists.osgeo.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/india-discuss
** Board: subscribe at http://lists.osgeo.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/india-board
You can search these archives through Nabble: http://osgeo-org.1560.n6.nabble.com/OSGeo-India-Local-Chapter-f5000899.html
== Links ==
* OSGeo India's Societal project - http://www.mana-rajahmundry.org/
* OSGeo India's Societal GIS project (under development) with crowdsourcing - http://www.mana-rajahmundry.org/namma-mysuru/
* National Remote Sensing Agency - http://www.nrsa.gov.in/
* GIS based Village Information System - Maharashtra (Hosting Courtsey : Media Center, Osaka City) - http://gisws.media.osaka-cu.ac.jp/maha_map.dev/
* GIS based Village Information System - Maharashtra - http://indictrans.in/demos/maha_map.dev/
* Human Development Index (Jalna, Maharashtra)- http://www.indictrans.in/?q=projects/gis/ghdi
* Maharashtra Coverage - Neighbourhood Village - http://indictrans.in/demos/maha_map.coverage/village_search_k.php
* GIS based Slum Information System (Korba Slum, Mumbai) - http://indictrans.in/demos/chameleon/samples/htdocs/korba.phtml
* Mumbai Free Map - http://mumbai.freemap.in/ | http://www.crit.org.in/projects/gis
* Bangalore Free Map - http://bangalore.freemap.in/
* Vasai Virar Subregion Freemap - http://vvsr.freemap.in/
* Tamil Nadu Maps Online - http://tnmaps.tn.nic.in/?info1.htm
* Tamil Nadu Census 2001 - http://www.census.tn.nic.in/
* Tamil Nadu Animal Disease Infformation - http://www.animaldiseaseinfo.tn.nic.in
* GRASS GIS mirror India - http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/grass/index.php
* GRDSS (GRASS GUI) - http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/foss
* FOSS at IISc - http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/foss
* Visualisation of resource maps of Cheruvannur Grama Panchayat. Panchayats are 3rd stratum of administration in India. [Bilingual: English and Malayalam] - http://cheruvannur.web4all.in/resources/
* Free GIS India - http://freegis.gnu.org.in/
* ENVIS Wetland Ecosystems India - http://www.wetlandsofindia.org:8080/sacon/aboutus.jsp/
* GIS & Language Technology related Applications - http://indictrans.in/demos/GIS_Presentation_20061004.pdf
Category:Local Chapters
Category:India