grass.osgeo.org
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The goal of this project is to modernize software infrastructure and strategically grow the GRASS community to achieve a technologically and socially sustainable open-source ecosystem that provides scientists a foundation for novel, interdisciplinary research that will be accessible, reproducible, and ready for further innovations. The project aims to facilitate the adoption of GRASS GIS as a key geoprocessing engine by a growing number of researchers and geospatial practitioners in academia, governments, and industry. To achieve a technologically sustainable ecosystem with broader access to GRASS algorithms and models, the project will modernize and expand software distribution, increase security and quality assurance, and simplify maintenance of GRASS integrations with other software (such as R and QGIS). Streamlined contributor onboarding procedures and both remote and in-person training, mentoring, and promotion activities will encourage researchers to contribute new geospatial algorithms and models. Onboarding and teaching materials that are integrated in automated testing will significantly lower the costs to the developer community for maintaining this sophisticated software environment. The project aims to grow the community of GRASS users, contributors, and developers worldwide through engagement activities such as cross-project meetups, developer summits, community sprints, online and in-person training and one-on-one contributor mentoring. International involvement and diversity in project governance will be addressed by working with the GRASS Project Steering Committee to establish focused work groups that will implement policies ensuring an inclusive environment and high-quality contributions. Expanding the number and diversity of contributors from academia and research, non-profits, and industry will facilitate development of new geoprocessing engine features and ensure long-term maintenance of contributed research models. It will also enable faster development of geoprocessing tools to address major societal challenges linked to a location and place.
The NSF grant is an acknowledgement of the critical role GRASS GIS plays in addressing complex challenges across various domains and represents an exciting opportunity for the GRASS community to grow and innovate.