National Free and Open Source Software Promotional Campaigns and Events in Pakistan

Free & Open Source Software Awareness Campaign (FOSSAC-2005) 16th-18th
August 2005, Lahore, Pakistan. 

 

Visit http://www.fossfp.org <http://www.fossfp.org/>  for more details.

 

Prologue

For many years Free & Open Source Software (FOSS) has been building momentum
causing great interest among the scholars, researchers, professionals and
administrations all over the world as it is affordable, reliable, scalable,
and security-rich and runs on the widest variety of hardware platforms. This
interest has helped in advocating the usage of FOSS in both the Public and
Private sectors organizations. Particularly, it has been realized that Free
& Open Source Software is a highly effective vehicle for the transfer of
wealth from the industrialized world to developing countries. Pakistan
government has acknowledged this fact and is striving to convince
organizations to adopt FOSS for their sustainable development and
socio-economic growth. Unfortunately, in spite of government announced
initiatives and extensive campaigning efforts, the adoption of FOSS in the
local industry is very slow. Lack of awareness and technical support could
be the two major causes of this sluggish pace. For this reason, we are
teaming up with educational institutions and government authorities to
launch a three days national awareness campaign to address the issues
regarding lack of FOSS familiarity among IT professionals, availability &
reliability of FOSS training, and availability of local expertise for FOSS
and international support. We believe the campaign will create a lasting
impact on the industry and help government to achieve its targets regarding
the adoption of FOSS.

 

Objectives

"Free & Open Source Software Awareness Campaign 2005" is a three day event
organized to promote nationwide awareness about the benefits of Free and
Open Source Software and to persuade organizations and individuals of
Pakistan to use Free & Open Source Software." 

 

Target Audience

The event will be arranged for IT professionals, government officials,
business community, academic scholars, students and general public.

 

Outcomes & Benefits 

.           Professionals from various organizations, students, and general
public will get awareness about the benefits of Free and Open Source
Software.  

.           Organizations and individuals will be persuaded to use Free
&Open Source Software for their sustainable development.

.           Professionals, students, and general public will get free short
term training to begin using Free &Open Source Software.

.           Participants will receive free CDs containing a collection of
free &open source utility software along with operating system. 

.           Awareness about issues regarding Intellectual Copyright Law and
pirated software in Pakistan will be promoted.

.           Government, academia, public and private sector organizations,
industry, NGO's, and other will gather under one roof to achieve the
national goal regarding Free and Open Source Software.

 

Event Venue & Schedule:

Venue:              Punjab University College of Information Technology
(PUCIT)

                        University of the Punjab

                                    Allama Iqbal (Old) Campus

                                    Lahore-Pakistan

Dates:               16th - 18th August 2005 (9:00am - 6:00pm)

 

Event Organizers:

1. FOSSFP: Free and Open Source Software Foundation of Pakistan

2. Punjab University College of Information Technology (PUCIT), University
of the Punjab

3. PITB: Punjab Information Technology Board, Government of the Punjab

4. PSEB-OSRC: Open Source Resource Centre, Pakistan Software Export Board,
Government of Pakistan

5. KMT InnovatorsR, Lahore, Pakistan

 

Supporters:

. Government of Punjab

. Ministry of Information Technology (Federal)

. Ministry of Telecom Pakistan

. Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry

. Others

 

Events:

1. Exhibition of Free and Open Source Software technologies including
Industrial, Academic, Content Management, Internet and Web, Games,
Multimedia, Graphics, Video Conferencing, Browsers, Chat, Utility Software
and others.

2.  Demonstration of Free and Open Source Software tools and technologies.

3.  Training facility for participants on Ubuntu Linux, Open Office, and
LAMP 

4.  Distribution of informational material, free CDs containing a collection
of free &open source utility software package. 

5.  Conference on "Trends and Practices of Free & Open Source Software
Technologies" and "National FOSS Awards 2005"

6.  Students' sketching competition

7.  Entertainment movies 

8.  Demonstration of Video Conferencing

9.  Gaming Zone 

10. Inauguration of FOSSFP Student Chapter

11. Distribution of awards & certificates 

 

Visit http://www.fossfp.org <http://www.fossfp.org/>  for more details.