10 июля 2005 года

FOSSTEC '05 Orlando, Florida, USA

By the end of the 1990s the two general methodologies for organizing the software production proved to be sustainable: the Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) process and the proprietary one. The FOSS approach proved its viability as a means of building complex software packages that could compete successfully with proprietary products.

Recent trends indicate clearly that Open Source Software (OSS) is gaining a bigger foothold in the business domain. From the average worker's desktop, OSS is now powering its way to large enterprise systems. But does this mean it has truly matured and is capable of displacing proprietary systems?. Corporations as diverse as GNU/Linux distributors (Red Hat, Suse, Mandrake, etc.) and traditional IT giants (IBM, ORACLE, HP, SAP, SUN, etc.) have learned how to generate sustained profits by means of providing different services using various kinds of OSS and related methodologies.

Today Business, Governments, Universities, R&D Centers and almost any one who uses software can make choices, and will have to make decisions between or among products and services generated through both methodologies and business models of building software.

The main purpose of FOSSTEC ’05 is to bring together researchers, academics, consultants, professionals, managers, etc. working in areas related to Information and Communication Technologies, in order to present FOSS solutions and IT problems that might be solved, or are being solved, with FOSS products, methodologies and/or services. FOSSTEC ’05 will line up a wide spectrum of researchers and experts who will be able to shed more light into the current state of FOSS, the continuing generation of FOSS products, development methodologies, business models and impacts and Public Policies in the FOSS domain.

FOSSTEC ’05 will also include other open technologies, supporting and being supported by the FOSS products, concepts and ideas. With this regard, participations related to Open Standards and Free/Open documents and contents are highly encouraged. And, since the success of the FOSS model triggered, via analogical thinking, ideas related to the application of basic FOSS concepts and methods to other organizational and social context (different to those used in software production), FOSSTEC ’05 Organizing and Program Committees decided to include in the Conference Program areas and topics related to the applications of FOSS conceptual infrastructure to other organizational and social domains.

Because the Impact of the FOSS production/business model is a systemic one, with global effects on societies, and specially on government (IT public policies, e-governments, etc.), on business and on universities (education and research) and R&D centers, FOSSTEC ’05 will address not just the technical, conceptual and methodological aspects of FOSS -and, the Open Technologies and Contents (OTC), in general- but also, their relationships with business, governments, and Universities and R&D Centers.

Accordingly, FOSSTEC ’05 covers 7 major areas:

1. FOSS Technologies, Methodologies, Projects, Products, Tools and Services
2. Applications and Impact of FOSS and OTC in Business
3. Business Models and Experiences in FOSS and OTC
4. Applications and Impact of FOSS and OTC in Governments, and specifically in e-Government
5. Public Policy and Governmental Actions in the FOSS/OTC Domains
6. Applications and Impact of FOSS and OTC in Academy, Education and R&D
7. Role of the Academic World and R&D Centers in FOSS/OTC Methodologies, Integration and Diffusion

More information about FOSSTEC '05 you can find here