Welcome to FOSS4G
The Romanian city of Timișoara provided the perfect relaxed setting for this year's European Free and Open Source for Geospatial (FOSS4G-EU) conference. GeoCat was excited to attend and sponsor the event, and we're grateful to the hosts and volunteers who made it such a success.
Looking back, one of the highlights was the opportunity to connect with both familiar faces and newcomers (around 50% of attendees experiencing their first FOSS4G conference). To help them get started, we hosted a pair of orientation sessions designed to build confidence and provide practical guidance:
GeoNetwork and DCAT Orientation
This session offered a gentle introduction to managing records in a GeoNetwork catalogue. It was a great opportunity to help new users feel at home with the platform.
Our updated GeoServer Orientation introduced attendees to the context-driven workflow of GeoServer 3, providing a practical starting point for anyone exploring the latest generation of the software.
Technology updates
FOSS4G-EU is always a fantastic opportunity to share progress across the open source geospatial community. This year's presentations highlighted major milestones and gave attendees a glimpse of what's coming next.
GeoCat's own Jody Garnett in collaboration with Andrea Aime presented a tour of the newly released GeoServer 3.0.0 release, covering upgrade guidance and demonstrating the new context-driven user experience. It was exciting to share the results of years of community collaboration and development.
GeoNetwork 5: Reimagining the Spatial Data Catalog
Representing Antonio Cerciello and the GeoNetwork 5 team, Jody showcased the project's latest developments, including the new OGC API - Records client being prepared for FOSS4G 2026 in Hiroshima this August. The presentation highlighted the vision behind GeoNetwork 5 and the continued need for community participation, resources, and support to help bring that vision to life.
It was especially rewarding to present the completion of the GeoServer 3 Milestone 3 delivery, achieved just weeks before the conference. The session reflected on the ideas, collaboration, and engineering effort that made this milestone possible. GeoCat was proud to contribute to this successful crowdfunding initiative on behalf of our customers and the wider GeoServer community.
Open Source Geospatial Foundation and Community
We were really pleased to see both the prominence of OSGeo at this years event, and the foundation taking an active role in our community. GeoCat was proud to contribute in these discussion with the following presentations:
GeoCat founder and OSGeo president Jeroen Ticheler together with the OSGeo board provided an overview of the foundation and its latest initiatives. Highlights included the formation of a European organization, operating with the same Board of Directors. This talk did a great job of setting the tome for the week and highlighting all the work that goes into producing the software we enjoy.
The use of AI in OSGeo projects
Jeroen hosted a productive Birds of a Feather session exploring how AI is shaping OSGeo projects. The discussion acknowledged the growing maintenance burden created by increased change requests and vulnerability reports, while also sharing positive experiences of using AI tools tailored to project conventions to support development and streamline code review.
Meeting Cyber Resilience Act September Deadline
Jody presented an important update on the implications of the Cyber Resilience Act, outlining the challenges and opportunities facing free and open source software projects as the September reporting requirements approach.
Sustaining Open Source: Real models, Real lessons
Jeroen provided an honest picture on FOSS4G sustainability of open source projects, offering valuable perspectives for developers, project maintainers, and decision-makers working to build resilient communities and funding models.
How can OSGeo improve its structure
Looking ahead, Jeroen facilitated a Birds of a Feather session focused on the future of the OSGeo Foundation.
This session provided an overview of how OSGeo supports its projects today, along with plans to evolve the Incubation Committee into a broader Project Support Committee.
The conference concluded with the community code sprint, providing a fitting end to the week. It was a valuable opportunity for contributors to collaborate in person, exchange ideas, and make progress on the projects that bring the open source geospatial community together.
