BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//pretalx//talks.osgeo.org//foss4g-europe-2026//speaker//VLYDNH BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:EET BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20001029T050000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=-1SU;BYMONTH=10 TZNAME:EET TZOFFSETFROM:+0300 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20000326T040000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=-1SU;BYMONTH=3 TZNAME:EEST TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0300 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:pretalx-foss4g-europe-2026-ENLRK9@talks.osgeo.org DTSTART;TZID=EET:20260701T143000 DTEND;TZID=EET:20260701T150000 DESCRIPTION:We are a group of companies:\n1. "Geomatics Solutions"\, Ltd.\, created in 2002 by a group of specialists in the field of Geomatics. For 24 years\, the company has been well proven in production and in delivery of services related to the creation\, processing\, and use of geospatial d ata.\nhttps://geosol.com.ua/about_en.html\n2. Now managing the results of "Intelligence Systems GEO\, Ltd." (ISGeo). ISGeo created in 1996 by the gr oup of experts from the V.M. Glushkov Institute of Cybernetics and was the leading Ukrainian company in the sphere of geoinformation systems (GIS) a nd spatial database development. \nhttps://isgeo.com.ua/about\n\nOur compa nies have faced several crisis situations throughout their history. We'll share our experiences\, both successful ones and those where we lost a sig nificant portion of our developments and resulting data. We'll explain why and how we came to the OSGeo/FOSS4G ecosystem. Using our own examples\, w e'll highlight some of the challenges we encountered when working with pro prietary software. We'll demonstrate the benefits of using OSGeo tools and projects. We'll also discuss how the latest developments from the Open GI S community helped us make decisions and keep our stack up to date with th e help of annual FOSS4G conferences.\nWe have experienced the following di rections and their stages:\n1) Technological development:\na) Transition f rom paper maps to digital ones. The results of this work include CDs/DVDs\ , atlas books\, and map brochures. We primarily worked with proprietary so ftware.\nb) Transition from desktop applications to web-based alternatives . This resulted in static websites\, Tile-Servers\, and other server solut ions. Partial transition to an open-source stack. We began implementing pr oducts such as GeoServer and Leaflet. 2012–2015.\nc) Transition from sta tic Web 1.0 to dynamic Web 2.0 between 2010 and 2018. Adding interactivity and strong user engagement when using products. Also\, a complete shift i n the core stack in favor of open-source OSGeo products.\nd) Transition fr om an interactive web resource to the provision of services as a service s tarting in 2018.\n2) Global instability:\na) Covid-19. The transition to o nline. This facilitated the full use of server technologies. Products such as GeoServer and QGIS Server were very helpful. Period 2020–2022.\nb) G eopolitical instability. The situation in the country since 2014 and globa lly since 2022. Loss of access to servers\, transition to cloud environmen ts. Mobile workstations are being built. Licensing and access to licensed servers have become a pressing issue. Caching and desktop solutions are be ing used to address unstable internet access. QGIS\, GDAL/OGR\, and PROJ h ave proven effective. For data\, use GeoPackage\, GeoTIFF\, PostgreSQL+Pos tgis and SpatialLite.\nAt each stage\, we used different technology stacks . We began using proprietary software that positioned itself as stable\, s ecure\, and supported. We were among the first official partners/distribut ors of such global monopolistic companies of the time as Pitney Bowes MapI nfo Corporation\, Avenza Inc. (Canada)\, Infotech Europe (Great Britain)\, and PCI Geomatics Inc. (Canada).\nBut\, with the very first change\, we e xperienced difficulties in transferring already collected data to new stac k solutions. The main problem was the proprietary software. The result of this work—a multitude of written add-ons/modules/extensions\, a multitud e of resulting data—was all "captive" to the proprietary software monopo lies. We realized we didn't control the system and didn't own our own data . We were under the influence of mega-corporations. It was their speed of response to global trends and other global/local changes\, especially loca l ones. American companies\, which dominated our stacks\, didn't quite und erstand or respond appropriately to our local challenges.\nThe support sys tems turned out to be very slow and underperforming. Simple fixes for iden tified bugs took months\, which impacted product release schedules. This n egatively impacted the company's overall "respect." This also led to probl ems with understanding\, as the mentality\, culture\, and values "across t he ocean" differ greatly from those of Western and Central Europe.\nAfter 10-15 years of work\, we made a difficult\, but ultimately correct\, decis ion. We completely rethought our entire approach to running our IT busines s. We rewrote all our existing developments. We partially migrated what we could to a new technology stack. This stack became the OSGeo/FOSS4G produ ct suite. The main requirement was open-source code for the development pr oduct\, as well as open data formats. No binary formats that limit perform ance\, such as DLLs\, Flash\, and so on. The goal was to ensure that all m odules and plugins could be maintained independently even if support for c ertain software ceased. All data was now stored exclusively in open format s. This set of open formats\, those that can be opened using several open- source products\, was key when selecting the software.\nOpen source won't eliminate the problem of crisis situations or save us from something beyon d our control. However\, due to openness\, we have complete control over t he entire technology stack\, all the results of years of development. And this is key for an IT company.\nInitially\, when choosing\, we were faced with a huge abundance of frameworks and libraries. This was confusing. We needed to avoid getting bogged down in a multitude of different solutions. Finding truly high-quality software with a strong\, supportive community became a pressing issue. Initially\, we looked at stars\, forks\, the date s and frequency of commits and project versions\, and the number of contri butors on GitHub.\nBut due to the lack of funding\, donations became scarc e\, and even good solutions disappeared from the market. We had to find al ternatives or take on full support ourselves.\nUltimately\, we found a str ong community sponsored by OSGeo/FOSS4G products. We enjoyed stable sponso rship\, a huge community\, and frequent and highly informative FOSS4G conf erences. We learned a lot of best practices from these conferences.\nOSGeo /FOSS4G minimizes the risk of product discontinuation\, provides stable su pport\, and operates within a unified community. All OSGeo/FOSS4G products provide confidence and guarantee stability and long-term product support. DTSTAMP:20260604T222936Z LOCATION:A12 SUMMARY:How to survive in a rapidly changing world or how to protect your d ata from the "captivity" of proprietary software - Vasyl Yasko URL:https://talks.osgeo.org/foss4g-europe-2026/talk/ENLRK9/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR