[Fsf-friends] Track 4: linking Free Software and non-profits

Frederick Noronha (FN) fred at bytesforall.org
Sun Oct 2 16:23:10 CEST 2005


Can we share this vision in India? FN

Track 4: linking Free Software and non-profits 
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=1693586

GOA, India -- The Philippines is moving fast ahead in the task of
building bridges between non-profits and Free and Open Source Software
(FOSS). LinuxWorld Philippines 2005, held in mid-September, is the
biggest and only nationwide Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) event
in that country.

In September 2005, APC member Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA)
coordinated the civil society participation in the LinuxWorld
Philippines event, held at mid-month in Makati City, MetroManila.
LinuxWorld Philippines is the biggest and only Free and Open Source
Software (FOSS) event in the country. 

This three-day event aims at showcasing and discussing GNU/Linux and
other free and open source solutions that the government, private
sector, academe and civil society may tap for various purposes, Al
Alegre and Nina Somera of FMA said.

"The good news is that we have been successful in convincing -- the
organizers Media G8Way, the top publisher of ICT publications here,
affiliated with the IDG group, http://www.mediag8way.com/events -- to
have a separate track for public interest and policy concerns. This
would be aside from the usual event tracks: business applications,
technical and systems, workshops," FMA organisers told APC News while
updating us on the event. 

The Public Interest and Advocacy track consisted of sessions that
tackled the policy issues around FOSS (which is also called FLOSS, or
Free/Libre and Open Source Software); the use of FOSS in different
sectors such as education, health, and environment; and the implications
of FOSS on gender and intellectual property regimes.

Similarly, it looked at FOSS-based tools which non-profits can deploy
for advocacy, secure online communications; FOSS migration cases and
many more.

FMA's participation in Linux World is basically a follow up to its
ongoing Policy, Praxis and Public Interest forum series. Framing FOSS as
a development imperative, FMA organized a forum on the political and
social implications on FOSS in last year's conference, then called the
Philippine Open Source Conference.

FMA also organized one of the first FOSS training-workshops for NGOs
last November.

Track 4, focussing on Public Interest and Advocacy, was organised at the
Dusit Hotel Makati from September 14-16. It was aimed at the people who
want to go beyond business applications or technical competency.

Aiming to get the traditional GNU/Linux and FOSS crowd interested in
public policy and advocacy, it also targets a potential new emerging
constituency -- the nonprofit/NGO crowd, who are into GNU/Linux and FOSS
for its social and political implications. Organizers extended to NGOs
(non-government organizations) and government personnel a discounted
rate, to encourage their full participation.

Key sessions at this event looked at FOSS at PH (The State of GNU/Linux and
Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) in the Philippines). It then looked at
FOSS at GOV.PH (GNU/Linux and FOSS in government, featuring interesting
cases, highlighting learnings from current initiatives, and pinpointing
challenges faced by FOSS advocates in government).

The aim was to look at government in different levels -- national
agencies, local governments, government corporations, and the enabling
institutions such as CICT/NCC Commission on ICT- National Computer
Center); and e-government applications using FOSS.

FOSS at EDU.PH was a session focussing on FOSS in education, as its name
suggests. This session targetted covering different aspects of the
Philippine educational ecosystem: basic public education & private
education including curriculum development, teacher training; nonformal
education; FOSS migration experiences within schools; use of FOSS in
education and learning technologies.

FOSS at NGO.PH, on the other hand, looked at FOSS in non-governmental
organizations. It aimed at giving a report on the state of FOSS
initiatives in associative organizations, feature interesting cases and
experiments, highlight learnings from current initiatives, and pinpoint
particular challenges faced by FOSS advocates in civil society
organizations and NGOs. Civil society organizations using FOSS in
different development sectors (e.g., health, environment, media, rural
development, etc.) were asked to share experiences.

FOSS, GNU/Linux, and Gender was another session. Groups like the APC
member Womens' Hub and Isis International-Manila have drawn attention
for their work on this front.

Besides this, the organizers also worked to have a policy forum/dialogue
which looked at policy dilemmas and development imperatives, with the
participation of key ICT policymakers.

"This session will pose one of the most crucial (and controversial)
issues in FOSS advocacy in the Philippines. It aims to present an
overview of FOSS policy initiatives undertaken in different countries,
and its implications in terms of policy options for the Philippines. It
will put FOSS advocates in dialogue with policy makers to explore
possible recommendations. A multi-stakeholder panel (government, private
sector, civil society) will be convened," organizers announced prior to
the meet. 

There was a wealth of angles from which this issue was looked out. One
can sense how deep the Philippines has ventured into the task of
building bridges between non-profits and FOSS simply by looking at the
issues being tackled there.

Legal issues in FOSS was another focus, looking at licenses and
licensing (OSI, GPL, FreeBSD); legality and enforceability of FOSS
(i.e., contract law, IP Code/TTA provisions, international precedents);
and some interesting cases (for example, the SCO Case). 

Other sessions looked at FOSS for advocacy (introducing public interest
organizations to basic software tools to fulfill one of the basic
functions of development organizations); secure computing using FOSS
tools; and moving from open source to open content (alternatives to
'intellectual property' and the public domain).

There was also a focus on the FOSS business models for small, marginal
and medium enterprises; FOSS in the creative professions (writing for
GNU/Linux, and GNU/Linux for writers); adopting a GNU/Linux lifestyle;
nurturing and sustaining the Philippine FOSS ecosystem (understanding
what needs to be done to promote FOSS in a strategic and programmatic
way); and working on an action plan.


 LinuxWorld Philippines site 


Originator: --- (APCNews)
Date: 10/02/2005
Location: GOA, India
Contact: editor at apc.org
Category: Free Software
Source: APCNews





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