Call for Participation: Philippine Conference on FOSS and E-
Governance, FOSS Fiesta and Parallel Workshops on Joomla and Ubuntu
+FOSS Migration

The Institute for Popular Democracy is inviting users, advocates and
developers of Free Software/Open Source Software (FOSS) who are
interested in getting government to adapt a progressive FOSS policy to
participate in the "Philippine Conference on Free and Open Source
Software (FOSS) and E-Governance." The event marks the culmination of
IPD's one-year project with the European Commission-Philippine
Delegation under the Small Projects Facility entitled "Piloting Free
and Open Source Software Using Open Standards in e-Governance
Applications for Local Government Units." The conference will be held
on March 7-8, 2007 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Ortigas Center,
Mandaluyong City.

The conference aims to provoke discussions about policy concerns and
practical strategies to advance the effective and creative use of free
and open source software to support the cornerstones of good e-
governance. The main themes which the conference intends to address
include: (1) Challenges in developing FOSS for e-governance, (2) FOSS
as a strategic component for good e-governance, and (3) Building
sustainable constituencies for FOSS.

Expected to address the conference are senior government officials
involved in the policy area of information communications technology
and e-governance, and the head of the European Commission's Philippine
Delegation. FOSS experts involved in two prominent international FOSS
initiatives -- Joomla and Ubuntu -- will also be speaking on similar
experiences abroad involving deployment of Free Software and Open
Source Software in the public sector.

The conference will also showcase the experiences and learnings of IPD
and the ten pilot local government units in developing software for
various operations of local governments, such as market stall
management, business permits and licensing, GIS for tax mapping,
barangay business registry and city hospital management. The ten pilot
LGUs who participated in the project are: (i.) Roxas, Palawan (ii.) El
Nido, Palawan (iii.) Coron, Palawan (iv.) Daraga, Albay (v.) Jagna,
Bohol (vi.) San Jose de Buenavista, Antique (vii.) Guiuan, Eastern
Samar (viii.) Iligan City (ix.) Digos City and (x.) Davao City

Other Highlights of the Conference

1) Obstacles and gaps in building e-governance Philippine-style -
special session to tackle the short-term and long-term challenges in
building e-governance in the Philippines. This session will attempt to
distill the policy-oriented obstacles and gaps in the use of
information an communications technology to support governmen't basic
functions and to promote citizen participation in decision-making.

2) FOSS 101 – a mini-workshop for participants who want to gain a more
comprehensive understanding of Free and Open Source Software, and its
relationship to broad development concerns and governance issues

3) Making a Case for FOSS: Convincing the policy-makers to support
FOSS in e-Governance - this session will aim to discuss strategies
toward creating a viable policy environment for FOSS in e-governance.
What works? What does not work? What are we missing?

4) Building sustainable constituencies for using FOSS in e-governance
- this session will aim to come up with strategies for building
sustainable constituencies for using FOSS in e-Governance. The session
will also attempt to engage FOSS users and developers in discussing
software supply and demand issues: what does government require and
how can the FOSS development community respond in a sustainable way.

The conference is open to walk-ins. Registration is free, but walk-ins
will have to make their own meal arrangements.

To inquire about the conference, please write to: events | at |
lgu.flossp.net
Or call: 655-7132, 655-2295, 655-4073, 656-8351(look for Lhenny or
Tina)

+++

FOSS Fiesta

The Institute for Popular Democracy is inviting FOSS users' groups,
developers' collectives, networks, companies and agencies who wish to
showcase their FOSS projects and initiatives to a diverse audience of
policymakers, local government executives, non-government
organisations, ICT advocates, technology activists, and the curious
computer enthusiasts.

An open bazaar dubbed "FOSS Fiesta" will be held alongside the
"Philippine Conference on FOSS and e-Governance" to provide an open
space for live demonstrations of FOSS softwares and projects, quick
tutorials, mini-discussions, and various other activities highlighting
the power of free software/open source software.

A good number of groups have already signed-up to run their mini-
events: a techie hut for the SAHANA Disaster Management System (http://
www.sahana.lk), an xBSD booth right alongside NGO-in-a-Box, an open
space for the FOSS-powered Halalang Marangal (Halal -
http://www.geocities.com/no.cheats/), a FOSS migration kiosk *manned*
by female techies, a hub of Asia Source I and II Campers, a kiosk run
by the International Open Source Networks (IOSN). Digital Solutions is
bringing Knowledge Management and Open Source Software. Ditto Sun
Microsystems. The sign-up list is filling out, so don't wait up.

Sign-up now, join-in. Fiesta with us!

FOSS Fiesta will be happening on March 7-8, 2007 at the foyer, outside
the Palawan Hall of EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Ortigas Center,
Mandaluyong City.

Booth rental charges will be waived for the first 20 groups to sign-in
to exhibit their FOSS wares and share their knowhow. The only criteria
required is that exhibitors uphold the *4 basic freedoms.*

To inquire and/or sign-up to be a booth/event holder in FOSS Fiesta,
please write to: events | at | lgu.flossp.net

655-7132, 655-2295, 655-4073, 656-8351(look for Lhenny or Tina)

+++

Post-Conference FOSS Workshops on Joomla, Ubuntu and FOSS Migration

Freedom and community sharing are values at the heart of free software/
open source. Conference resource speakers, Johan Janssens of the
Joomla Development Team and Vladimir "Kaladan" Petkov of E-Rider and
the InterSpace Media Art Center (Bulgaria) will be holding parallel
workshops on March 12, 2007 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. The workshops are
designed to stimulate productive exchange between and among FOSS users
and developers.

1. Joomla Workshop

FOSS developers, web editors, Joomla users and advocates, and anybody
with an interest in getting their organisation's offline content on
online and managing their Web content will benefit from this workshop.
Know about what's next in Joomla development, tell Johan Janssens --
lead developer of Joomla -- your experiences with the famed content
management system, ask that tough Joomla tech question the answer to
which still eludes you, meet other Joomla people. And even if you're
just curious about what Joomla is, this workshop is still open to you.

2. Ubuntu + FOSS Migration

Ubuntu users will be interested to attend this workshop, and exchange
notes and ideas with Vladimir "Kaladan" Petkov who is actively
involved in localisation of Ubuntu in Bulgaria. This year's e-Rider's
Dirk Awardee (http://www.dirkaward.org/), Kaladan has extensive
experience in assisting various types of communities in FOSS
migration. His model for migrating to FOSS has been used successfully
by many Bulgarian NGOs and many e-Rider teams abroad. FOSS advocates,
Linux users and system administrators interested in FOSS migration
issues and strategies will benefit from this workshop.

The post-Conference workshops are free of charge. No free lunch
though, and you have to pre-register via email to secure a seat.

For pre-registration to the Workshop on Joomla, Ubuntu and FOSS
Migration, please write to:  events | at | lgu.flossp.net

with the appropriate Subject header:

      Joomla Workshop (if you're attending the Joomla workshop)
      Ubuntu + FOSS Migration (if you're attending the Ubuntu and FOSS
migration workshop)


+++

Media members wishing to cover all or any of the events, please
address your queries to: NextStep - 655-7132, 655-2295, 655-4073,
656-8351(look for Lhenny or Tina)