Sol Katz Award – Thank you

On Thursday, I was awarded the 2020 Sol Katz award for Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial. I feel very honored to have been selected for this award and I’d like to take this opportunity to share a few words of thanks:

As people working in open source projects, we are constantly reminded that we are all standing on the shoulders of giants. However, particularly this year, we also see just how important small personal connections are. For me, my involvement with open source communities really took off when I joined the QGIS hackfest in Vienna in 2009 and I felt that my participation was really appreciated and welcome. I couldn’t imagine being without these connections anymore.

Thank you to the whole QGIS community, particularly my fellow PSC members both current and former: Tim, Andreas, Jürgen, Richard, Paolo, Otto, Marco Hugentobler, Alessandro, our new chair Marco Bernasocchi, and of course QGIS founder Gary Sherman for starting this awesome project and for still being around and actively promoting geospatial open source by publishing so many great books covering multiple different OSGeo projects.

I’d also like to thank my partner and my family for being incredibly understanding whenever I’m spend my time geeking out over a new programming project, data analysis, forum question, or conference talk.

Thank you also to my friends, colleagues and fellow members of the larger OSGeo community for sharing ideas, providing valuable feedback, and spreading the word about all the great work that’s going on all around us.

I’m constantly amazed by all the innovation happening to nourish and grow our community. And I’m looking forward to continue being a part of these efforts.

Thank you!