Sol Katz Award …

In the context of this years FOSS4G conference the ‘Sol Katz Award’ was awarded for the second time in its history to a member of FOSSGIS, after Markus Neteler received it in 2006. “Arnulf gives his life for FOSS4G” the current president of OSGeo, Jeff McKenna, explained during the award ceremony for his predecessor. The Sol Katz Award is being granted every year since 2005 by the OSGeo foundation to a person with outstanding achievements regarding the fostering of the international FOSS4G Community by representing its ideals and masterminding its development. The name “Sol Katz Award” goes back to the swedish born Sol Katz, a “pioneer” of the Open Source GIS Community. Sol died in 1999 after having been ill for almost a decade. More on him and the award can be found here. We think that Arnulf Christl has more than earned this award, not only because of his FOSSGIS membership, early involvement in and the presidency of the OSGeo, but also because of his ideas, his ability to realise them and his willingness to tirelessly discuss them. Just keep it up, Arnulf!