A big number of European and Asian information technology (IT) experts have gathered in a one-day conference to share information and ideas on Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) usage in Vietnam and Europe."Drive for change", as the conference was named, was held on 14th November 2008 at Horison Hotel in Hanoi with the participation of more than 80 IT experts.
With the message of "Deploy your own FOSS Strategies for outreach and business", the event was a unique opportunity for decision makers, managers and "Free and Open-Source Software" advocates to discover the values of FOSS for Vietnam and learn about the results of FOSS-Bridge EU-Vietnam.

"FOSS is about connecting people and businesses through knowledge. We are therefore most pleased to see that more and more players in Vietnam cross the bridge towards free and open source software", said Balthas Seibold of InWEnt.

The event, as part of the FOSS-Bridge EU-Vietnam initiative, was organized by InWEnt, INRIA (French National Research Center in Computer Science and Automation), and IOIT (Institute of Information Technology) and funded by the European Union and the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The conference is the culminating point of the initiative FOSS-Bridge EU-Vietnam, which has been promoting Southeast Asian software industries and cooperation with Europe through innovative collaboration on FOSS and business development since 2006.

Overall, the program has brought together more than 50 IT-companies from Vietnam and Europe for matchmaking and twinning, and about 100 FOSS companies and organizations are registered in the online network at www.foss-bridge.org.

Christophe Ney, FOSS Expert and Lead Trainer said he was enthusiastic about the commitment of many professionals and the impact of their outreach work. "Continue to drive for change!", he stressed.

Link to InWEnt FOSS program.