Without the free and open-source software (FOSS), there would not be the geospatial industry as we know it, and there is no bigger event in the open-source geospatial community than the annual FOSS4G conference. If geospatial is your thing, chances are you might be in Tanzania this week, in the vibrant coastal city of Dar es Salaam.

To us at Melown Technologies, FOSS4G 2018 is a reminder that we are, by and large, an open-source company. Major part of our codebase is open-source, and we are proud to be the only company currently providing a feature-rich, mature, fully open-source 3D-map streaming and rendering stack, with many different modes of operation, including a possibility of an off-grid, air-gapped deployment (in fact there is more to our open-source activities than geospatial, but more about that some other time).

Last year’s global FOSS4G event took place in Boston, Massachussets mere months after VTS open-source release, and our presence at that event was modest. In Boston, Ondřej gave an introductory overview of VTS and its capabilities which is still largely relevant today.

Since that time, VTS has come quite a long way. Accordingly, FOSS4G 2018 will feature an extensive array of VTS-related talks, each of them with a deeper and narrower focus. And Vadstena will make an impression as well, as Ladislav will present a semantic model of the Dar es Salaam city center in one of his talks.

Here is the complete list:

August 29

August 30

August 31

FOSS4G is a special event with a special atmosphere. As Tom Ingold from Boundless aptly put it:

We couldn’t agree more. Karibu sana, and enjoy yourselves. We will see you around.