THE DAVID A. HASTINGS AWARD
FOR OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ASIAN FOSS4G COMMUNITIES
The FOSS4G-Asia 2026 organizing committee wishes to announce the fourth David A. Hastings Award for exceptional contributions to the Free and Open Source Solutions for Geoinformatics (FOSS4G) communities in Asia. Nominees must have contributed to the spread FOSS4G in academia, government and business, promoted the use of FOSS4G in projects in Asia, or helped localize and customize front-end FOSS4G tools for Asian communities.
The award is in the fond memory of David, who was an early pioneer of FOSS4G, having written a GRASS GIS How-to [1], as well as being actively involved in the first FOSS4G event at Chulalongkron University in Bangkok Thailand in 2004, where he helped bring the future founders of the annual FOSS4G event Jeff McKenna, Markus Neteler, and Venkatesh Raghavan, together; indeed, they shared many laughs and stories on that special trip together. He also led an “Installfest” at that FOSS4G 2004 event, which set the tone for training workshops and software packaging initiatives for subsequent FOSS4G events.
David would later go on to develop the global level measurement of human development and happiness, what he coined as the Human Security Index [2].
Dr. David A. Hastings left on his heavenly abode on the 13th of November, 2017. He leaves behind wonderful memories and deep sense of appreciation with all his friends and colleagues. His wisdom and wit and his contributions long remembered.
The award will be presented in the closing plenary of the FOSS4G-Asia 2026 event at Nashik in December 2026. The hope is that this award helps in spreading David’s passion for serving the Free and Open Source communities in Asia now and into the future.
The organizing committee of the FOSS4G Asia 2026 requests nominations for the David A. Hastings Award. Proposal submission will start on 1st October 2025 (00:00AoE). The last date for the nominations was 15th December 2025 (23:59AoE).
The Awardee will be announced at the Closing Ceremony for FOSS4G-Asia 2026 on 25 January 2026!
LINKS
[1] https://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/GIS-GRASS/index.html
[2] http://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/wp-09-03_0.pdf
Sanghee Shin (Gaia3D) was presented with the 5th David A. Hastings Award at the FOSS4G-Asia closing session on 25 January 2026 in recognition of his pioneering innovations and invaluable contributions to FOSS4G technologies and communities. Heartfelt congratulations, Sanghee!
(Plaque being received on his behalf by Hirofumi Hayashi)
PREVIOUS WINNERS
VENKATESH RAGHAVAN (2024)
Professor Venkatesh Raghavan, widely known as Venka, has significantly shaped the Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) landscape through his leadership and innovation. Beginning with the GRASS-GIS User Conference, which evolved into the globally recognized FOSS4G conference, Venka fostered collaboration among experts, developers, and users, inspiring advancements in geospatial technology. As a professor at Osaka Metropolitan University, he has mentored students and researchers, contributing to projects such as the ZOO-Project, a Web Processing Services (WPS) platform that exemplifies his ability to unite diverse teams in groundbreaking initiatives.
Beyond academia, Venka has been a driving force in expanding the open-source GIS community, particularly in Asia. As a founding member of the Japan Geoinformatics Society and the GIS IDEAS conference, he has strengthened regional collaboration through events and workshops. His advocacy for FOSS4G adoption in public sector projects, especially in disaster management and urban planning, has had a lasting impact. Serving as President of the OSGeo Foundation and receiving the 2012 Sol Katz Award highlight his sustained contributions. His leadership in education, research, and community building makes him a distinguished candidate for the David Hastings Award.
GERALD FENOY (2023)
The 2023 David A. Hastings Award for outstanding contributions to the Asian FOSS4G communities was awarded to Gerald Fenoy at Seoul in Korea on 1st December 2023.
Gérald lives for and by FOSS4G! His contributions to the FOSS4G community are innumerous. He has almost Single-handedly revolutionized Geoprocessing over the Web though his innovative ZOO-Project & MapMint. Gerald is currently contributing OGC API – Processes Standard Working Group and is co-author of the OGC API – Processes – Part2
MARTIN ISENBERG (2021)
The 2021 David A. Hastings Award for outstanding contributions to the Asian FOSS4G communities was awarded to Martin Isenberg at the Kathmandu university, Dhulikhel, Nepal on 2nd October 2021.
A wonderful human being and great fun to be with, Martin is known not only for his revolutionary and single-handed contribution to LIDAR but also for his immense contribution to environmental awareness and education. He successfully launched and supported the LAStools product for LIDAR processing. He has been a regular participant at FOSS4G-Asia Events and also Member of Committee for selecting FOSS4G-Asia Host since 2014.
Often described as a scientist in the body of a surfer/environmentalist, he travelled extensively through Asia and helped communities of all sizes, with capacity building and technology transfer.
YOICHI KAYAMA-SAN (2018)
Yoichi Kayama-san was awarded the inaugural David A. Hastings Award for outstanding contributions to the Asian FOSS4G Communities at the FOSS4G Asia 2018 held from 2nd to 5th December, 2018 in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka for his invaluable contributions to the spread, localization and customization of FOSS4G tools in Asia and beyond. He, almost, single-handedly accomplished the arduous task of QGIS Japanese Localization and also served as a knowledge bank for several users to adopt FOSS4G solution in their work.
Yoichi Kayama is appropriately referred to as the FOSS4G “Legend” of the Japanese FOSS4G community. His contributions in the spread of FOSS4G in academic, business and government are truly enormous. He has contributed immensely to localization of FOSS4G tools (especially QGIS) and customization of tools to cater to user needs in Asia and beyond. He is a rare mix of a FOSS4G evangelist and a software developer. His contributions to the Open Source and Open Data Geospatial Community are in the true spirit of David A. Hastings philosophy of putting “community before self”.