Free/Open Source Software

For the Summary Report in Khmer, Click Here

On January 6th 2005, the National Information Communications Technology Development Authority (www.nida.gov.kh) conducted the first ever workshop on Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) at NiDA's conference room, presided over by the NiDA Secretary General. Professor Masayuki Ida, Associate Dean of the Graduate School of International Management of Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan, a well known expert in OSS, and Mr. Javier Sola, KhmerOS Coordinator, were invited to share their valuable experiences in OSS with participants from the NiDA Secretariat, NGOs, Government Officials, university students, and other interested parties.

The seminar was conducted under the guidance of H.E. Sok An, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister in charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers and Deputy Chairman of NiDA, in closed cooperation with Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan.

The goal of this seminar is to promote open source practice in Cambodia to narrow the digital divide, in response to Cambodia's membership in the WTO and to further strengthen the traditional good relationship between Cambodia and Japan.

Participants to the seminar expressed their appreciation to Professor Masayuki Ida for his valuable presentation on “Why Free and Open Source is Important” and “How to change your life with Linux Software”.

Mr. Javier Sola, KhmerOS Coordinator, presented KhmerOS project and the strategy on FOSS. He also expressed his sincere interest to work closely with NiDA and any other future cooperation.

Participants to this seminar have requested Prof. Masayuki Ida to look into the possibilities of providing training in this field by the Aoyama Gakuin University; particularly, the PhD program at GSIM and the support of the 6th Asian FOSS symposium in Siemreap, Cambodia.

Happy Surfing

www.nida.gov.kh