Program HOSC 2007

Information on the 2007 Conference.
Theme, sponsors, location, date. More information to follow soon (march 20).

1. The fee for the attendees will be 75 euro, students pay 30 euro. 2. Location: Amsterdam, Aula of the University of Amsterdam, one of the most beautiful locations in the heart of the old city. The 2005 Conference kickoff was held there (see http://www.hosc.nl/2005/) 3. Date: June 11 and 12 (might be some after conference sessions on the 12th). 4. Theme (see below) 5. Sponsor information (see below)

The theme of the 2007 edition:
Does open innovation make a difference; Do ���open source, open standards and open content��� help to create equal chances and challenges.

The aim of the Holland Open Software Conference is to present a broad variety of open initiatives and projects. We offer a platform were knowledge can be exchanged and were people meet in a professional and enthusiastic atmosphere. The conference likes to show the attendee that open solutions are available and that they can cope.

There will be provocative debate and unconventional contributions. The Conference will feature a broad range of best practices, scientific tracks as well as invited presentations. If you would like to make a contribution, please send in an abstract for your presentation and/or (scientific) paper. In 2007 we will focus on:

Education. Our society depends more and more on information systems that regulate many everyday processes, like communication, logistics, planning, (financial) transactions, etc. The quality of software very often determines the borders of our possibilities. To extend our possibilities and for reasons of democratic control (see for example the debate on voting machines) software has to be open source. How else could we gain inside knowledge of information systems that are controlling our lives to a greater extend everyday. And for creating equal chances for all citizens of our globe, it is as important to share knowledge about information systems and their source codes, als well as making knowledge equally available for everyone. Wikipedia has done a great job n this process and is now considered to be one of the most extended and reliable information sources. And there is more to come. Look how children learn from ���gaming���, look what web 2.0 will do for enriching content on many many fields. What will the future bring us.

Open Formats. What are the (long term) effects of using proprietary formats: audio, video, graphics, ���text���, etc. The long predicted convergence of the computer- and media-industry is now moving into our everyday life. Apple is blamed by consumer organizations for the fact that I-tunes can only be played on their player. But in the information-industry this is more or less the default situation, rather than an exception. At this moment we see thousands of people sharing audio, graphics and movies. Only few organizations seem to realize that using closed formats for content does mean a hindrance for re-use. In large parts of the western world a mediaplayer can be seen as ���free���, where in many other parts of the world a few hundred euro���s for an operating system that is necessary to get the ���free��� player is not considered to be ���free���. Apart from this issue, how are we going to preserve (store) digital information for our offspring. Look at the digital content already dissapeared: texts created with outdated programs, information stored on devices that we can���t read any more, webpages created with content management systems that do not separate content and layout, information in databases stored in a system-dependent (encrypted) way, etc. Is ODF part of the solution, should governments (parliaments) make a political decision on the subject? An overview of the situation in Europe will be presented at our conference.

GIS, Geo Information Systems. In recent years we have seen some initiatives to open up the rather closed world of geographical information. Even though in many countries ���maps��� are made by governmental institutions, this information is not available for the public, other than to pay huge amounts of money. When it comes to very specialized information on maps like drawing layers that show the contruction of gas, electricity and other infrastructures that might seem logical ,but shouldn���t information on the streets we live in not be information that can be found in the public domain? Look at the success of Google Earth and the thousands op people and companies building extra services upon their interfaces. And have a look at openstreetmaps.org an initiative to open up geo information for all citizens. Consider the number of possibilities we would have in developing new services build on this information.

Break Through projects (Web2.0). Is ���your��� (existing or new) project going to make a real difference to the world it in the next year? We invite you to give an elevator pitch (5 minutes) in our innovation slot. Our audience will choose three winners that are offered an award and a keynote in the next years conference. This year we organized a similar competition in the In the Netherlands. A total of 24 projects gave an elevator pitch. The audience choose 4 projects that in their opinion could see a major breakthrough this year. These four projects are granted a keynote (5 minutes each) at the 2007 conference. Next year we hope to grant in total 6 (3 from our national competition and 3 coming from the international competition at our conference) a key-slot in the presentations. Of course, the theme must directly relate to open source software, open content and open standards.

Technology. We are always interested in ���new��� technologies and what they offer us. A number of ideas for presentations and papers concerning arising technologies and community initiatives have already been sent to HollandOpen, we hope that many more companies and communities will follow.

Please sent your ideas/abstract to the program committee of HollandOpen: pc@hollandopen.nl before April 15, if your (scientific) paper/presentation is selected, you will be asked to finish your paper before June 1.

Sponsor-information. Want to participate through sponsoring? Read this information and contact the steering committee: sc@hollandopen.nl.
Date: Monday June 11, Tuesday June 12.
Location: The third HollandOpen Software Conference will be held at the premises of the University of Amsterdam, in the city centre. Keynotes and all parallelsessions will be held at the premises of the UvA at the Spui (aula and library).

Conference The HOSC is a non-commercial initiative. The program committee decides on all presentations. There are only a few sponsored tracks in the afternoon of the second day.

Sponsor packages.
There are a number of sponsor slots available:
1. Main sponsor (12)
2. Sponsor (20)
Cost: Main sponsor ��� 3.500,- (exc. 19% VAT); sponsor ��� 1.500,- (exc. 19% VAT).
The main sponsorship entitles to the following advantages:
1. Name and logo on the conference bag.
2. Program book: name and logo on the front (other sponsors on the back).
3. First choice in stand building,
4. Number of free tickets: 5 (other sponsors 2).
All sponsors
1. Information market. All sponsors are allowed to build up a stand on the information market and distribute (politely) brochures and marketing materials (Monday from 8.30 til 9.30 hours build up)- Tuesday (18.00-20.00 exit).
2. Name, logo and url mentioned on our website(s).
3. Logo, name on leaflets.
4. Allowed to put your company brochure in the conference bag. Small company arrangement
Small companies with no more than 5 employees get a 50% reduction on the sponsor fee (only available for a normal sponsorship).