Florence will host the International FOSS4G Conference 2022, for the first time in Italy

This great result was achieved thanks to the commitment of GFOSS.it Association, University of Florence, Florence Convention Bureau, Firenze Fiera and AIM Group International, as full PCO

The 16th annual congress of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo), the non-profit organisation that supports and promotes the collaborative development of free and open source geographic technologies and open geospatial data, will be held in Florence, Italy, at the Palazzo dei Congressi, Palazzo degli Affari and the University of Florence from 22 to 27 August 2022. This is an international congress with nearly one thousand participants and is taking place for the first time in Italy.

The FOSS4G annual conference will address very particular issues that the Italian GFOSS.it community has been pursuing since before 2000, but only next year the international congress will make its debut in Italy, in Florence, thanks to the valuable teamwork carried out by GFOSS.it association, the Italian chapter of OSGeo, the Firenze Convention Bureau, Firenze Fiera, AIM Group International, and the Department of Engineering of the University of Florence. The format of the congress (fully in-person, hybrid or online) will be decided according to the evolution of the global health emergency and the restrictive measures dictated by the Authorities at that time.

“The organising committee, which I represent, is very happy with the result obtained, which is a great payback for our efforts made in recent years,” comments Luca Delucchi, FOSS4G 2022 Chair. “This is a gift that we want to give to the Italian community, which has been very active in the contribution and dissemination of free geographic software. We are happy that the candidacy of Florence and the collaboration with other players in the city such as the Firenze Convention Bureau, Firenze Fiera, AIM Group International and the University of Florence, allowed us to prepare a winning proposal and finally succeed in bringing this prestigious international event to Italy. Now we have to work hard to organise a perfect congress and all related activities: we are confident of making the 2022 conference a memorable experience.”