The Asian Institute of Technology will soon be home to an open source centre of excellence…

bangkok(1)(30Nov06)


"The Asian Institute of Technology will soon be home to an open source centre of excellence..." Read all about it at
http://www.bangkokpost.com/Database/29Nov2006_data001.php

Click here for the same article published in Bangkok Post's Database on 29 November 2006:

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UNU, AIT partner on open source software development

The United Nations University’s International Institute for Software Technology (UNU-IIST) and AIT are joining hands to address a growing need for open source software developers in the Asia-Pacific region. The joint effort is part of the Global Desktop Project.

Technology based on open standards and open source software is currently changing the information technology landscape. Open source is especially important for emerging economies in the Asia-Pacific region, primarily because of its ability to enable technological self-determination. While use of open source in the Asia-Pacific region is relatively high, there are very few skilled developers of open source software in the region.


A memorandum of understanding on the partnership was signed on 26 October 2006 by Mr. Scott McNeil, general manager, Open Computing Initiative, UNU-IIST, AIT President Said Irandoust, and Prof. Peter Haddawy, vice president for academic affairs.  Attending the ceremony were H.E. Mr. Yoon Jee-joon, senior advisor to the president, Prof. Ni Ni Thien, vice president for development and resources, Dr. Matthew N. Dailey and Dr. Paul Janecek of Computer Science and Information Management, and Ms. Hnin Aye Lwin, program officer, External Relations and Communications Office.

bangkok(2)(30Nov06)


Under the agreement, UNU-IIST and AIT will participate in several related activities:

•    Technical training: UNU-IIST will train AIT staff in open source and distributed software development.
•    IT survey: AIT will participate with UNU-IIST in a survey of current local use of open source software and local needs that could be fulfilled through open source solutions.
•    IT events: AIT and UNU-IIST will organize local seminars on open source in government and private sectors.
•    Global Desktop Project lab: AIT and UNU-IIST will jointly open Southeast Asia’s first Global Desktop Project laboratory at AIT.  The lab’s technical focus will be on open source software research and development.  The lab will enable AIT faculty, staff, and students to build open source software development skills and network with the worldwide open source community.  UNU-IIST will provide staff, equipment and funding for AIT student internships.
•    Courseware development: AIT will participate with UNU-IIST in the development of open courseware for education in fields related to information technology.  The courseware will be developed collaboratively with other UNU-IIST partners in Asia and worldwide.
•    Mentorship of student projects: UNU-IIST will provide mentors to assist AIT faculty and staff in advising students working on open source development projects.

The first activity planned under the agreement is the opening in early 2007 of the Global Desktop Project laboratory in AIT’s Computer Science building. The lab will be supervised by UNU technical staff and CSIM faculty members Dr. Matthew N. Dailey and Dr. Paul Janecek. UNU will tentatively provide equipment, technical support, and paid internships for 14 AIT students each semester.  The interns will work on the Global Desktop Project and other open source projects.

The partnership fits well with CSIM's new Software Engineering area of specialization, to be offered beginning in January 2007.  Students in the software engineering program will work closely with the new UNU lab to gain expertise in open source and distributed software development processes.

An article on MoU signing between AIT and United Nations University's International Institute for Software Technology was published in Bangkok Post's Database on 29 November 2006.