Perhaps no recent technological development has been more influential in the open
source geospatial community than Google Earth. This amazing tool has had an
energizing effect on developers with its "Cartographer's Eye Candy." Google Earth's
open APIs have opened the developer community's eyes to the possibilities of working
with even more robust code, such as the mapping open source code available today
which could allow developers to host and publish compelling applications and have
more control over their data.

With open source code at its fingertips, the mapping development community is on the
verge of explosive growth. Everything from map coordinates to electrical grid
schematics will be on demand to project stakeholders in dynamic, easy to understand,
and highly accurate images. In doing so, geospatial technology will continue to build
off the amazing foundation laid by Google Earth and reach ever higher planes of
innovation.

Gary Lang, Vice President of Engineering, Infrastructure Solutions Division 
Autodesk, Inc.

Gary Lang, the Vice President of Engineering for the Infrastructure Solutions
Division of Autodesk, first joined the company as a programmer in 1989.  After
serving in a variety of roles including Director of Internet Technology, he left in
1996 to co-found a management consulting firm that focused on strategic consulting,
product development, and business development.  

As a principal of the firm, Gary consulted with numerous technology companies
including Intuit, Iomega, Giftcertificates.com, Thomson Financial Services and
General Magic, helping to manage and fine tune their engineering and product
development organizations.  During this time Gary managed the start up of three
companies as Vice President of Engineering.

In 2003 Gary rejoined Autodesk in his current role in which he leads the engineering,
quality assurance, technical publications, and product design teams for the
Infrastructure Solutions Division.  

Most recently, Gary became a driving force behind Autodesk’s first open source
product offering, MapGuide Open Source, and he is a founder and board member of the
Open Source Geospatial Foundation.

Gary has a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science from the University of California at
Santa Cruz.