ICFOSS to Host 6th Triennial International Conference on Free Software in Dec

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
After three years, the free software community in Kerala will once again come together for deliberations on a range of topics related to free software and hardware at a conference organised by the International Centre for Free and Open Software (ICFOSS), under the IT Dept of Kerala, in Thiruvananthapuram on December 20-21.
Titled ‘Swatantra-2017’, the conference will have more than 25 speakers and will focus on Assistive Technology, art and design, and sectors such as healthcare and education. With the new edition of Swatantra, the government is underscoring its commitment to free software and reasserting the state’s leadership in the segment.
At the Kerala Secretariat today Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan launched the official logo and website of ‘Swatantra 2017′(​​www.swatantra.net.in). Present at the launch were Sivasankar, Secretary IT, and Dr Jayasankar Prasad, Director ICFOSS.
Swatantra is organized every three years by the ICFOSS, an autonomous organization set up by the Government of Kerala to popularize FOSS and strengthen FOSS adoption in the region. Kerala government has been a pioneer in the use of free and open source software in India and has delegated ICFOSS to collaborate with academia, industry, governments and FOSS communities nationally and globally to make the digital world accessible to more people.
Swatantra 2017 will discuss in detail emerging technologies in FOSS, FOSS and development, FOSS experience in E-Gov, free software for digital art, gender and free software. Swatantra conference series is unique in bringing social and technological aspects together.
Karen Sandler, the Director of Software Freedom Conservancy, will be the keynote speaker at the conference. Apart from her, many free software leaders from across the world will address the conference.
The workshops are designed to help improve the skills of participants in the FOSS domain. Sessions related to FOSS licensing will provide insights on how to use FOSS under the proper legal framework.
As part of the conference, an online “treasure hunt” game has been launched. The game, based on various topics and personalities in free software, challenges participants on their knowledge of free software and informs participants of free software history and events. The game, which has been well received, has more than 800 participants now. More than 50,000 attempts were made to answer the questions. The game is available at ​​hunt.icfoss.in.