Hong Kong to Host Asia's Largest Open Source Conf

(BW)(OS-SUMMIT-ASIA-2007) OS Summit Asia 2007: New Event, Backed by Apache and Eclipse, to Drive Pace of Open Source Adoption in Asia

Hong Kong to Host Asia's Largest Open Source Community Conference in November this Year. The Event is Expected to Be Hugely Popular Due to Rapidly Growing Support for Open Source Software in Asia over Recent Years

Business Editors/Technology Writers/Internet Writers

OS Summit Asia 2007

HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 9, 2007--Two of the leading organizations in the Open Source community, The Apache Software Foundation and the Eclipse Foundation, have announced plans for Asia's largest Open Source community conference - the first of its kind in Hong Kong and China.

The inaugural OS Summit Asia will be held at the Le Meridian hotel in Hong Kong's leading edge Cyberport IT development zone on November 26(th) - 30(th) 2007.

With Open Source software rapidly growing in popularity in the region, this community summit, the first joint conference between Apache and Eclipse and the first in Hong Kong and China, is expected to be a vibrant event, encouraging a lively exchange of ideas between all those involved in OSS, including developers, vendors and users.

Winston Damarillo, Co-Executive Producer of the OS Summit said, "As Asia moves to become the largest consumer of Open Source technologies, it is increasingly important that the region is able to experience the Open Source community process in action. We are excited to be able to demonstrate this in the context of the collaboration between Eclipse and Apache. Local communities and associations have been a tremendous help in supporting us and providing the best possible venue to launch this initiative."

According to recent research from Evans Data Corporation (www.evansdata.com), the number of developers using Open Source software in Asia has jumped by 40% over the past three years. The popularity of the Linux operating system has also boomed in recent years, providing the region's developing countries with a free and robust alternative to leading commercial operating systems.

Justin Erenkrantz, President of The Apache Software Foundation, said, "The Apache Software Foundation is delighted to be supporting Open Source communities in emerging countries with the OS Summit Asia 2007 conference. We hope that by showcasing the combined communities behind Eclipse and Apache that we will be able to cultivate a stronger presence for Open Source in the region."

OS Summit Asia will offer unique educational opportunities, with hands-on training, competitively selected general sessions, and a small number of invited speakers that address new technologies, development methods, business and marketing, and licensing issues in Open Source software. Topics featured at the summit include: -- ASF-wide projects such as Apache HTTP Server, Jakarta, Tomcat,

ENDS

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