[Fsfe-uk] conference: Open Standards and Libre Software in Government

[Graham Seaman]

Announcement: Open Standards and Libre Software in Government

18 November 2004, Van Gogh Hall,  Netherlands Congress Centre, The Hague,=20
The Netherlands
www.flosspols.org/conf/

Open standards and Libre Software are increasingly important to governments around the 
world, and Europe leads in their adoption and promotion. The most high-profile event of 
the European Information and Communications Technology calendar, the IST 2004 conference, 
takes place in The Hague from the 15th to the 17th of November. The conference "Open 
Standards and Libre Software in Government" is held immediately afterwards, at the 
same venue and in coordination with the Dutch Presidency of the European Union.

This conference will provide an unparalleled stage for discussing and learning 
about the concrete plans, policies and actual implementations of open standards 
and Libre Software by public authorities across Europe. The conference will 
also stimulate discussion and debate on open standards and Libre Software (as 
free software/open source is often known) in the design and implementation of 
affordable, scalable and secure eGovernment services. It will highlight 
achievements and landmark national initiatives and discuss the challenges and 
priorities for furthering the use of Libre Software.

The conference delegates will be mainly from public authorities across Europe, 
as well as from related businesses and community interests. Over 500 people are 
expected to attend.

The conference programme will include presentations by speakers drawn primarily 
from public administrations, and there will be a prominent participation of 
government ministry officials from various EU countries as well as from the 
European Commission. The programme is organised in three sessions on:
- the national and EU-level;
- the local and regional level;
- and interoperability issues.

There will be a spotlight on case studies - including a presentation on the 
European Regional Innovation Award-winning gnu/LinEx policies of Extremadura by 
Regional Minister Luis Millan Vazquez de Miguel. Successful strategies will be 
presented for the large-scale migration and implementation of Libre software in 
government - including the German Federal Government's Migration Guidelines

Confirmed speakers include:
- Agnes Bradier
Deputy Head, E-government Unit, European Commission
- Mark Bressers
Programma OSOSS, The Netherlands
- Christian Hardy
Chief of Information System Department, Forecasting directorate, Ministry=20
of Economics, Finance and Industry, France
- Barbara Held
IDA, European Commission
- Gregor Lietz
EDS (Federal Interior Ministry contractor for the Migration Guide), Germany
- Alasdair Mangham
London Borough of Camden, United Kingdom
- Arnold Reinders
Ministry of the Interior, The Netherlands
- Bernhard Schnittger
IDA, European Commission
- Giovanni Sissa
Osservatorio Tecnologico of the Ministry of Research and Education, Italy
- Mauro Solari
Deputy President, Province of Genova, Italy
- Rolf Theodor Schuster
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Germany
- Wilbert Stolte
Vice-Mayor, City of Den Haag, The Netherlands
- Jan van de Straat
City of Haarlem, The Netherlands
- Luis Millan Vazquez de Miguel
Regional Minister of Extremadura, Spain
- Robin Weissenberger
City of Vienna, Austria

The conference, held in coordination with the Dutch Presidency of the EU,is partly funded under the European Union=92s Sixth Framework Information Society Technologies Programme through the FLOSSPOLS project at MERIT, University of Maastricht, and a grant from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. It is also supported by the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and the Dutch Government=92s OSOSS Programme, as well as FLOSSPOLS project partner Eurocities/Telecities. 

Participation in the conference is free but early registration is required as 
places are limited. For more information and online registration, visit
the conference website at www.flosspols.org/conf/

For more information, or if you want a conference poster, contact:
Rishab Aiyer Ghosh, Project Leader, FLOSSPOLS,
MERIT/Infonomics, University of Maastricht,
PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, the Netherlands.
E-mail: address@hidden