Pekka Sarkola
Pekka Sarkola has over 30 years of experience in building GIS solutions. He began his career at the National Land Survey of Finland, spending several years working with closed-source GIS software before transitioning to actively using FOSS4G software in 2012.
Pekka is the founder of Gispo companies in Finland (Gispo Suomi Oy) and Sweden (Gispo Sverige AB). He currently works as a senior GIS expert, focusing primarily on Enterprise GIS solutions and GIS database design and modeling. Pekka has worked in numerous GIS domain areas, including forestry, topographic data management, aviation, defense, telecommunications, and city planning.
As a volunteer, Pekka is a founder member of OSGeo Suomi ry (the local chapter of the OSGeo Foundation in Finland) and has organized FOSS4G Suomi (most recently in 2025). He is also a Charter Member of the OSGeo Foundation and the president of OSGeo Suomi ry. Furthermore, he is a co-organizer of the Helsinki PostgreSQL meetup and an active neighborhood OpenStreetMap mapper.
Session
Modern Enterprise GIS is nowadays built with FOSS4G softwares. Many organizations are in the middle of transition to build EntrepriseGIS and some organizations are still planning to move from old fashioned closed source software implementations to open source solutions. FOSS4G based Enterprise GIS is commonly built with PostGIS based GIS database, QGIS desktop software, mobile applications (like QField and Mergin Maps) and web applications servers (like QGIS Server, Geoserver). The most crucial and enduring component of an Enterprise GIS solution is the database. This presentation will cover how to design, build and maintain a GIS database for Enterprise usage. The presentation also includes best practices and recommendation of tools for Enterprise GIS database management.
Enterprise GIS is an organization-wide suite of interoperable GIS software used to manage and process geospatial information. Following the basic principles of enterprise architecture, its structure is based on three distinct layers: the User Interface, the Application Server, and Data Storage. This presentation will focus on how to build a robust and efficient Data Storage layer with PostGIS database.
This presentation will cover the following topics:
- GIS database design and modelling with open source solutions
- Best practices for GIS data modelling and versioning of data models
- Organise and manage the Enterprise GIS database in PostgreSQL cluster
- Best practices for access privileges in Enterprise GIS database
- QGIS related data storage to PostGIS
- Manage database connections and credentials in QGIS
This presentation is essential for GIS database managers, GIS managers, and all users of Enterprise GIS solutions. Attendees will be equipped with the fundamental knowledge and practical best practices — including valuable tips-and-tricks — required to effectively build and maintain a robust Enterprise GIS database.