it@foss – Promoting Free and Open Source Software in Southeast Asia
it@foss supports the development and application of local innovative software solutions and business models based on Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in the ASEAN region.
The it@foss website provides comprehensive information on the it@foss activities and latest news by the network. Below follows a summary of it@inwent's involvement.
Activities and Target Groups
it@foss promotes FOSS in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam at four levels:
- Awareness + Knowledge: We aim to enable software developers, decision makers and companies to make sound assessments on the benefits and risks of FOSS solutions and to stimulate their sharing of experiences.
- Development + Cooperation: We contribute to building an active FOSS developer community that collaborates on locally adapted software products, receiving support and ideas through regional and international networks.
- Business Models: We facilitate cooperation between European and Asian companies, to inspire and strengthen the development of viable and sustainable FOSS-based business solutions.
- Education + Dissemination: We empower multiplying organizations to cooperate and to competently train others on FOSS applications and opportunities in order to increase users' familiarity with FOSS.
Our activities include the organization of regional and international conferences to foster networking, national and regional workshops and trainings to develop capacities, and facilitation of partnerships to promote awareness and cooperation.
it@foss started in 2005 with the organization of the international COSGov conference in Vietnam, bringing together about 300 Vietnamese IT experts, government representatives, and entrepreneurs with the European FOSS community around the issue of FOSS for eGovernance. In Cambodia, it@foss together with local partners has conducted FOSS localization trainings in the Khmer language for developers and multipliers since 2004.
ICT solutions based on Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) are of increasing interest to Southeast Asian countries for advancing their development in administration, education, health, or business promotion. The free availability of the source code and the liberal licensing of FOSS allows users to study, change, and improve the software. Therefore, FOSS enables developers to build on existing software solutions, to adapt software to local needs, and to legally realize cost-efficient local IT systems.
While in several regions of the world, vibrant communities of FOSS developers continually enhance and increase the available software pool, many Southeast Asian IT experts lack FOSS knowledge and are not well networked, neither among each other nor internationally. In local government and educational institutions, knowledge about FOSS opportunities is not widespread among decision makers, and many entrepreneurs are not aware of how to use FOSS for business purposes.
In this context, the objective of it@foss is to raise awareness, build and enhance capacities, and stimulate networking on FOSS issues at different levels for key stakeholders. Only together, can the key actors effectively realize local innovative ICT solutions for development.
Fostering capacities and networking around FOSS is in line with the overall mission of InWEnt – Capacity Building International, which is to strengthen local human capacities so that people are empowered to develop their own solutions for social and economic development.
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New Capacity Building Project in Africa: ict@innovation
Call for experts for Idlelo 3 [it@inwent]
Joint call of FOSSFA and InWEnt:
Call for resource persons/experts on FOSS Business Models and Capacity Building at the Idlelo 3 conference (Dakar, Senegal) in March 2008
Application already closed!
News
it@inwent launches new section on FOSS Business Models [it@inwent]
it@inwent recently added a new section to their website. This sites provides an overview of InWEnt's main capacity building programmes and trainings in the area of "FOSS Business Models and Sustainable Development" as well as its respective training materials. You can find this website under the 'Products' section, or go directly here
Vietnamese and European companies jointly build Free Software [it@inwent]
Hanoi 10 June 2007: A match-making, training and twinning workshop for European and Vietnamese businesses in the field of Free and Open Source Software is taking place this week in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Stockholm Challenge Award [it@inwent]
InWEnt-Partner KhmerOS of Cambodia finalist in Stockholm Challenge GKP award 2007 for excellent ICT for development project
Events
Regional Training of Trainers on Meta-SME-in-a-(Meta)Box (IOSN-InWEnt)¶ [it@inwent]
None -
None
Manila, Philippines
Type Conference-workshop method where resource persons are asked to present their work (in the morning) and projects are discussed more in detail in afternoon workshops. A code sprint challenge is introduced on the first day and the activities of the two (or more) teams are documented daily for other participants to see.
Target Group local and international partners: 10 developers, 10 domain experts, 10 e-health experts
Countries Malaysia
Timeframe October 2nd week, 2008
Partners IOSN
Regional Conference on Demonstrating Open Source for Healthcare [it@inwent]
None -
None
Malysia
Type Conference-workshop method where resource persons are
asked to present their work (in the morning) and projects are discussed more in detail in
afternoon workshops. A code sprint challenge is introduced on the first day and the activities
of the two (or more) teams are documented daily for other participants to see.
Target Group local and international partners: 10 developers, 10 domain experts, 10 e-health experts
Countries Malaysia
Timeframe October 2nd week, 2008
Partners IOSN
Regional Institutional Training of Trainers for LPI Level 1 with E-Learning and Re-entry Plan in Laos [it@foss iosn.net]
2008/08/08 -
2008/09/19
Vientiane, Laos
Type elearning phase and face-to-face training (in Vientiane, Laos)
Target Group Participants will come from organizations that have committed to a FOSS migration. These participants will be competent representatives from NGOs, SMEs, and government agencies.
Countries Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines
Timeframe September 2008
Partners STEA of Laos
Conference-Workshop - Moving the FOSS Agenda for Health: Setting the Framework for Interoperability [it@foss iosn.net]
2007/05/08 -
2007/05/11
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The International Open Source Network (IOSN) and InWEnt Capacity Building International-Germany, are inviting developers in the health sector to participate in a conference-workshop on FOSS health application development. The event is organized and managed by the Open Source Health Care Alliance ( www.oshca.org). IOSN and the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through InWEnt Germany are sponsoring the conference-workshop.
Linux Professionals Institute Certification (LPI 101 and LPI 102) [it@inwent]
2007/06/27 -
None
UP Diliman
The International Open Source Network (IOSN) together with the UP Manila National Telehealth Center (UNDP Centre of Excellence for Free/Open Source Software in ASEAN+3) is organizing a Linux Professionals Institute (LPI) Community Certification Examination (LPI 101 and LPI 102).
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