144 Free and Open Source Software for Geoinformatics (FOSS4G) has grown in scope and popularity in the Asian Region. Many individuals, institutions and private companies have found a good business case for FOSS4G. In this presentation we highlight relevance of FOSS4G and also discuss about the benefits of FOSS4G solutions in the Asian context. Further, we discuss some of the major tasks that have been undertaken to promote the use of FOSS4G in Asia that include; ·Software Internationalization and Localization ·Development of prototype applications to demonstrate FOSS4G capabilities to local and regional audiences ·Software Packaging and Customization for local and regional needs ·Training, Support and Development of e-Learning Contents in local languages ·Support Open standards and Open access to geospatial data in region The above activities have not only complemented and strengthened collaborative efforts initiated by the Open Source Geospatial Foundation but also helped in increasing awareness about FOSS4G and speed-up adoption in education, industry, government and non-profit organizations in Asian region. Proprietary software vendors have been very successful in harnessing the rich pool of talent that is available in the Asia region. Some collective thought needs to be focused on ways and means of canalizing the creativity and ingenuity of software developers in the Asian region into developing FOSS4G solutions. Our experience over the past decade in research and teaching using FOSS4G has led us to firmly believe that has the potential not only to support capacity building but also to stimulate indigenous software enterprises in Asia, and thereby enriching input to the global FOSS4G community. Completed my Masters in Geology India and moved to Japan for pursuing my doctoral research in Geoinformatics. Have been using, developing and promoting FOSS4G since 1994. Presently, Professor of Geoinformatics at Osaka City University, Japan. Pursuing research on Spatial Database Systems and also involved in promoting FOSS4G/OSGeo in the Asian region. FOSS4G2006 - Free And Open Source Software for Geoinformatics Plenary Session Venkatesh Raghavan raghavan@media.osaka-cu.ac.jp Venkatesh Raghavan raghavan@media.osaka-cu.ac.jp <MaKaC.conference.ContributionType object at 0xb47da36c>