COSGov Vietnam International Conference and Expo - Building cooperation via open source for e-governance

Type: International Conference
Target Group: Software developers and other IT experts, government representatives, entrepreneurs
Country: Vietnam
Timeframe: 28-30 September 2005
Partners: European Union - EU Asia IT&C Programme, Institute of Information Technologies (IOIT, Vietnam), National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation (INRIA, France)

More than 300 IT-Experts, government representatives and entrepreneurs gathered in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi from 28-30 September 2005 for the international conference “COSGov Vietnam - Building cooperation via open-source for eGovernance”. COSGov is the first ever event in Vietnam to extensively cover the topic of free and open-source software (FOSS) for e-governance.

During the three days of exchange and discussions on free and open-source software (FOSS), more than 30 international and national experts and policy makers presented global and local solutions to e-government challenges, FOSS-based business models and market opportunities. The third day was dedicated to hands-on training sessions in two open source PC-labs. About 200 open source developers were trained on FOSS software solutions such as web portals and CMS, system and network security and J2EE solutions.

The three-day event was organized by InWEnt - Capacity Building International of Germany, the Institute of Information Technologies from Vietnam (IOIT), and the National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation of France (INRIA).

The objectives of “COSGov Vietnam - Building cooperation via open-source for eGovernance” were to raise awareness, foster exchange, and develop capacities on FOSS in Vietnam, particularly opportunities for e-governance, across government decision makers, businesses and software developers/IT experts. All the targeted stakeholder groups are required to sustainably implement Vietnamese FOSS e-government solutions.

Open source software, which can be freely copied and modified, gets increasing attention in Vietnam. The country is in the process of ratifying international trade agreements with great impact on intellectual property protection. Experts estimate that as much as 97% of all software currently used in the country is pirated. FOSS allows users to freely access the source-code and use, copy and modify the software under a system of public licences.

The COSGov conference and expo reinforced links with the international FOSS developer community, and provided a forum for knowledge exchange and training on issues such as FOSS in e-governance, e-education, e-health and e-business, open standards, licensing and security issues.

Altogether 350 software developers, decision makers and business people exchanged views and experiences on FOSS issues. Two third of all participants reported that they found new contacts and collaboration opportunities.

150 Vietnamese software developers participated in several technical training sessions where they updated their knowledge and established business contacts. Many European FOSS projects and applications have been studied and used in the Vietnamese FOSS community since the conference.

Software developers and IT multipliers learnt about collaborative tools and online platforms, preparing for their enhanced networked cooperation and collaborative work processes.

About 100 government decision makers gained new knowledge on FOSS for e-governance and can now take better informed decisions.

Several new partnerships between European and Vietnamese companies and organizations were initiated.

Broad media coverage of the conference raised further public awareness on FOSS issues, spreading information on conference topics to a larger number of decision makers and the general public.