OPEN SOURCE stakeholders, user groups, advocates and enthusiasts across the world will converge in Cebu for the Philippine Open Source Summit (POSS) slated on June 23-24 at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) in the Mandaue City. This was announced recently by POSS Summit Director Bonifacio Belen and co-sponsor Global Gateway Venture Capital (G2VC) Managing Director Winston Damarillo. The summit is spearheaded by the Cebu Business Month 2008 ICT Committee.

Carrying the theme “Understanding the Business Value of Open Source,” the two-day Philippine Open Source Summit will focus on how the Open Source movement is changing the rules of the game for software developers and users.

“If we were to start thinking about creating Filipino intellectual property (IP) for the global market, the good news is that we don’t have to start from scratch. Open Source offers us plenty of opportunities to build applications on existing Open Source infrastructure,” Mr. Damarillo said. G2VC is a venture capital technology investor focused on global-facing Open Source, Software-as-a-Service and outsourced engineering services.

According to Mr. Damarillo, participants will explore a range of issues, including how small, medium and large corporations and other organizations can best manage the selection, adoption and management of Open Source software and how Open Source software can be implemented for maximum return on investment for organizations of all sizes.

“Open Source is simply a manner of distribution and value creation. We look at how technologies that are intended for as broad use as possible can be modified by many constituents and redistributed to their clients with value-added enhancements,” Mr. Damarillo said.

Concurrent technology breakout sessions at the conference will feature talks on specific Open Source operating system and application development success stories. Sessions will feature proof-of-concept presentations by Open Source experts and pioneers. This was mentioned by Bonifacio Belen, summit director for the event.

“The conference will also host the first national assembly of Open Source user groups, advocates, enthusiasts and technopreneurs, along with a “Tech Boot Camp” on best practices for creating a start-up company.

For more information, visit www.oss.ph. Registration information can be found at www.oss.ph/registration.html.