The leading global forum bringing together decisions-makers, developers
and users from all over the world to cross-fertilize Open
technological, business and societal initiatives to shape the digital
future.
http://www.openworldforum.org/
What's new
Lasting three days – from Thursday 22nd to Saturday 24th September
2011 – the fourth Open World Forum (OWF) will once again take place
this year in Paris, at the Eurosites George V, focusing on the dual
issues of the Internet and Open Source.
As in every previous
year, the aim of this so-called “Davos of open technologies” is once
again to bring together all the key decision-makers and stakeholders –
analysts, directors, investors and politicians from every continent –
to assess trends and the outlook for the future, as well as to pass on
the very latest developments in open technologies to the widest
possible audience.
OWF 2011 will focus on three particular key areas that will be the future of the Internet:
“THINK”, “CODE” and “EXPERIMENT”.
In
the past, the histories of the Internet, and of Open Source have been
so closely interwoven that it’s now hard to imagine one without the
other. But changes both in the way they are being used and in
legislation could affect the future of the Internet and Open Source.
Answers to questions such as “What is the future for the Internet?” and
“What will tomorrow’s Open Source and free software be like?” are
essential if we are to understand our dynamic environment and the
tensions that players in this ecosystem are currently facing.
This
is precisely the aim of the OWF 2011, which will concentrate on three
key areas – THINK, CODE and EXPERIMENT – that will be the future of the
Internet.
Among the new developments at the OWF 2011, the event will be opened to developers and the general public
Following
the success of previous Forums (the 2010 event attracted 180 speakers
and 1,500 delegates from 40 countries), this year the Open World Forum
will be held over three days, including a Saturday, on which the
general public will be able to try out and evaluate Open Source
software and hardware for themselves: the third key area described
above, EXPERIMENT.
As a result, this fourth OWF will undeniably
be a unique platform for discussion and exchanging ideas and
information about open digital systems, the future of the Internet and
the central role that Open Source will play in its evolution; becoming
a true breeding ground for numerous initiatives. For example:
- The THINK strand will be complemented by a number of Summit
Meetings (for BRICs, CIOs, the Cloud, communities, solutions and
education) and Think-tanks (focusing on future prospects, women in
technology, jobs, associations and collaborative R&D)
- Three awards will also be presented at the latest event: INNOVATION, CODE and EXPERIMENT.
- Above and beyond the trend-spotting and networking, the event is
also designed to encourage the development of numerous collaborative
initiatives, either at the Forum itself or following on from it.
OWF 2011 is the international meeting place for the key players in open technologies
Itself
a collaboratively organized event, the Open World Forum already
involves all the major international communities and the key players in
open technologies. The program committee includes around 50
internationally-known personalities from every continent. The event is
organized by a Forum Committee – led by Systematic competitiveness
cluster – which brings together the leading partners and contributors
to the OWF (AF83, AlterWay, Bull, Systematic’s Open Software Special
Interest Group and Smile). This year, both Jean-Pierre Laisné, Director
of Open Source Strategy at Bull and Chairman of OW2, and Louis
Montagne, Chairman of CoLLibri, AF83 and Bearstech, will chair the Open
World Forum jointly.
“At a time when the Internet is playing a
key role in the history of democracies, even accelerating their pace in
some instances, and when Open Source is no longer seen as a utopian
phenomenon but is establishing itself at the very heart of the
information society, we are seeing a number of both economic and social
tensions. No doubt these new challenges will have a significant impact
on the evolution and long-term future of the twin institutions that are
the Internet and Open Source. The Open World Forum 2011 is where the
main players from the open world can come together – in all their
diversity and wealth of experience – to openly and freely share their
vision of a possible future, to play a real part in that future, and to
ensure that everyone has access to… Think, Code and Experiment,” agree Jean-Pierre Laisné and Louis Montagne.