About FOSSC Oman

 

The Free and Open Source Software Conference (FOSSC Oman) is jointly organized by the Communication and Information Research Center (CIRC) at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) and the Information Technology Authority (ITA), on Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) to support the national initiative on FOSS. It is a two days event and aims to promoting awareness and disseminating the use and development of free and open source software for professionals, staff, students, and the community in Oman.

The conference is scheduled for every two years. The previous events was on February 2017, February 2015, and 2013 the main objective was always to promote the open source software. The next conference FOSSC-Oman 2019 will be on 14th and 15th February 2019.

Objectives of the FOSS Conference:

  • Support the National Free and Open source Initiative.
  • Promote awareness, use, research and development of Free and Open Source Software in Oman and beyond.
  • Strengthen communities and enhance the opportunities on Open Source Software for the ICT Industry in Oman.
  • Provide an attractive and sustainable environment for networking FOSS users, researchers, developers and experts.
  • Share experiences and exchange successful FOSS developments and applications.

Parallel Activities:

In parallel with the conference, there is an exhibition to show a case of the national and international open source solutions and products along with the creativity of the Oman Summer of Code project participants and the Oman Open Source Students. Also a number of workshops tailored with the needs of local communities have been scheduled in parallel session with conference. FOSS experts from Industry and private and government sectors will present these workshops.

Conference Organizations:

 

Sultan Qaboos University

  

About SQU:

Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), the National University of the Sultanate of Oman, provides a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate programs, research and extension activities through its colleges and research centers. Sultan Qaboos University consists of nine colleges namely, the College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, Arts and Social Sciences, Economics and Political Sciences, Education, Engineering, Law, Medicine and Health Sciences, Nursing, and Science. Postgraduate teaching and research are supported by well-equipped laboratories and libraries in various colleges. In addition, a number of research centers support the educational needs of postgraduate students. These are, Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System Center, Oil and Gas Research Center, Omani Studies Center, Water Research Center, Center for Environmental Studies and Research, Center of Excellence in Marine Biotechnology, Earthquake Monitoring Center, Humanities Research Center, Earth Sciences and Communication and Information Research Center (CIRC) which is the co-organizer of this event with ITA.

 

 

 Information Technology Authority

About ITA:

The Information Technology Authority (ITA) was set up by Royal Decree No. 52/2006, promulgated on 31 May 2006, as a financially and administratively independent national authority established to lead the implementation of the e.Oman initiative and bear its national vision and objectives. ITA is responsible for implementing national IT infrastructure projects and supervising all the projects related to implementing Digital Oman Strategy while providing professional leadership to various other e.Governance initiatives of the Sultanate. ITA works with a vision to transform the Sultanate of Oman into a sustainable Knowledge Society by leveraging Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to enhance government services, enrich businesses and empower individuals. The FOSS Initiative was launched in March 2010 during the Free and Open Source Software Symposium in Muscat. its main goal is to encourage innovation, boost software devlopment talent & skills, creat the necessary resources and infastruture to increase industry adoption.