Spatial Networks is once again proud to announce our support for the annual Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) conference. FOSS4G 2018 brings together the largest gathering of developers and users of open source geospatial software in the world- and this year it’s all happening in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, one of Africa’s fastest growing cities!
With the World Bank as a flagship sponsor, FOSS4G 2018 will be co-hosting several overlapping and synergistic meetings, including:
- The Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) Annual Summit
- Understanding Risk Africa Annual Meeting
- QGIS Annual Developer Meeting
- United Nations Economic Commission for Africa – Global Geospatial Information Management Expert Group on Fundamental Data meeting
Supporting Open Source
The Fulcrum team won’t be out in full force like we were at last year’s event in Boston, but we are still very much committed to supporting this year’s African-based conference. Many of our software products are built with open source components, so we understand and appreciate the value of open source technology, particularly as it relates to building a viable, affordable SaaS product. Our developers have contributed to several leading open source tools, and we maintain many of our own open source repositories, but in addition to contributing code, we recognize the need financial support plays in keeping these communities thriving and their projects active. We’re proud to support open source developer conferences like FOSS4G and JSGeo, as well as helping to directly fund the development of critical geospatial toolkits like GDAL.
Our work in Africa
In addition to building commercial software products like Fulcrum, Spatial Networks leverages local experts and technology to transform geographic information into tailored solutions, helping our clients in the public and private sectors solve their most critical problems.
We love Africa and our software is currently being used to help the Kenyan Wildlife Services (KWS) catalog events associated with poaching activities to counter wildlife crime in the region through the tenBoma initiative. Fulcrum was used extensively during the West African Ebola virus epidemic and we have many commercial customers throughout the region who are using our technology for:
- Mapping Water & Sanitation in Liberia
- Conducting Asset Inventories in South Africa
- Predictive Analysis for Security and Risk Management across East Africa
We are also proud that half of our sponsorship funds this year are going directly to the OSGeo Travel Grant Program, which provides funding to help offset travel costs and conference passes for those in need, with a preference for people from the developing world.
Join us in Dar es Salaam!
Joe and Kenn will be highlighting Fulcrum Community during the Crowdsourcing session at 10:30 on August 30th, with a presentation on Fulcrum Community for mobile data collection during emergencies, disasters and humanitarian efforts:
Social media often helps share information during emergencies. Users send tweets about their situations and ask for help. Unfortunately, many social media posts lack geospatial data and specific details necessary for effective response. By leveraging a geospatially enabled method, we could collect and collate relevant information more effectively. This method could prevent many emergencies by providing timely, precise data. The collection process should also be easy to share in a cloud environment, ensuring broad access.
About Fulcrum Community
Fulcrum Community is a cloud-based mobile platform for field data collection, built on the successful SaaS Fulcrum. Many companies rely on Fulcrum to collect and manage data efficiently. Custom forms and secure data handling are crucial for these companies. In disasters, emergencies, or environmental projects, it’s vital to leverage location data and deploy solutions quickly and at no cost. We aim to help the community use their location data without complications.
Fulcrum Community lets organizers set up forms for critical data collection and share them with the community. Organizers can contact the community through popular social media platforms. The forms can be simple yet effective in gathering essential information. Video and photo inputs are fully enabled and tagged with location data. Users can contribute relevant information in near real-time with minimal training. The platform also supports multiple languages to reach a broader audience. Best of all, the data is free and open to everyone.
We hope to meet as many people as possible and educate them about our growing portfolio. This includes our data and software products, data collection, and analytics services. If you’d like to meet us in Dar es Salaam, please fill out this form, and we will get in touch. Our global network of data collectors and clients excites us. We look forward to reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones in East Africa’s emerging global city!