Efforts to support open software hailed

The participants of the Free and Open Source Software Conference 2019 commended the efforts of government agencies and academic institutions in supporting free and open source software in the Sultanate. It was recommended to strengthen these efforts and raise awareness of this software in various educational institutions and in public and private institutions.

The participants commended the good organisation of the conference and its success and they called for more awareness about free and open source software and its role in modern digital technologies to keep up with the developments during the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

They commended the Oman Free and Open Source Software Platform, which was announced at the opening of the conference. The participants recommended that this project be strengthened by launching a national free and open source software support centre in Oman, in partnership with the public and private sectors. This can start as a non-profit institution that builds upon global experiences.

The participants recommended the adoption of free and open source software to become the engine for localisation of technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, and linking this with Oman’s national strategies, especially for the ICT sector.

The fourth edition of the Free and Open Source Software Conference (FOSSC 2019 Oman) was held at SQU on February 11 and 12 under the theme of “FOSS as Driver for Technology Transfer, Innovation & Entrepreneurship”. The 2-day conference, the first of its kind in the MENA region, is jointly organised by the Communication and Information Research Centre (CIRC) at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) and the Information Technology Authority (ITA), represented by the Digital Society Development Division to support the Free and Open Source Initiative (FOSS).