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Nowadays we are in an international financial crisis, mainly in the EU and in the USA, which have been the reference nodes in terms of economic development during the last decades.

The economic system’s crisis is generating a everyday life’s collapse, reflected in a higher unemployment, lower wages, as well as in a deteriorated education and health systems, among other effects.

An environment of crisis and uncertainty that, of course, also affects companies.

The ICT sector is going through bad times because one of their best customers are the Public Administration, which go through a budget cuts, affecting its competency of hiring. And it is in these times of scarcity, where only the strong ones prevail and on the other hand, all those which are not prepared for this situation have difficulties to carry on their business and even some of them disappear.

A lot of SMEs that during years have built a solid and professional status, are now in a critical situation that breaks into pieces all the work done.

In a new situation like that it is necessary, more than ever, to look for new formulas to prevent that the crisis affects the same as always: the majority, because as we all know, there are always small groups that in a crisis situation do not stop increasing their profits.

And also formulas for the SMEs in order to face better the current crisis situation.

Although the gvSIG Association from its very beginning (2007), when the crisis situation was not so evident as now, promoted a model where there is a close and direct relationship between Open Source and the development of a new business model based on values such as: solidarity, collaboration and sharing knowledge, it seems that nowadays it makes much more sense to move forward a model like that.

Unless you are well located in the small elite that manage the system, the only way for surviving or even grow in the current situation is to optimize resources, achieve results, be efficient, create new opportunities, exploit them, be able to neutralize threats and transmit strength.

To achieve that, the gvSIG Association proposes new forms of organization, where the shared knowledge and the other mentioned values are extrapolated to the world of the SMEs and became an engine of scientific progress.

We met again with a statement, much easier to be said than to be done. There are many prejudices. Many SMEs that are even suffering draconian conditions from their transnational partners, have trouble thinking about that another business ethics is not only possible, but necessary.

We insist, that it is much easier to say it than to do it. But what we have very clear, is that the gvSIG Association intends to bring a new organizational way, where the SMEs which opt for FOSS4G have better conditions to generate business and be profitable.

We aim that the ITC PYMEs of the Geomatics Sector look at the gvSIG Association as an attractive meeting point for seeking new business opportunities.

Actually we are not reinventing the wheel, just remembering the quote from the Greek fabulist Esopo: “Unity is strength”.