Each year, the Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial Conference (FOSS4G) brings together the best minds from the open-source geospatial software world to discuss their work and hopes for the future. GeoServer will be well represented in at least three presentations, two workshops, two posters, and one lab session.

Justin Deolivera and Andrea Aime will be discussing the “Past, Present, and Future” of GeoServer, with emphasis on the new access control and RESTful API, and a brief but exciting look a the new and much-improved user interface.  Also, Chris Holmes will be giving a presentation about GeoServer and the GeoWeb.  This will go into detail about about how GeoServer can expose geospatial data to search (via Google Maps) using KML and GeoRSS.  For those who want to dig in and see GeoServer in action, Justin and Chris will also be hosting a hands-on introduction to GeoServer.  This will run from basics such installation, data setup, and map creation, to more advanced topics like templates, versioning, and Google Earth integration.

FOSS4G is a great event for anyone interested in open source geospatial software, regardless of whether you are a user, developer, or decision maker.  The conference runs from September 29 to October 3, 2008 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in Cape Town, South Africa.  The show is approaching fast, but there is still time to register for the conference.  Come on by and say hello!