Red Hat unveils open source collaborative innovation initiative
ConvergenceAsia staff
08/04/2008

Open source solutions provider Red Hat has announced the Open Source Collaborative Innovation (OSCI) Initiative in Singapore.

OSCI is Red Hat’s Asia Pacific-wide initiative that is designed to advance the company’s plan to build a global open source community for collaborative innovation. It focuses on making more open source solutions available to the market through partnerships with local software developers, developing open source skills, and providing resources and support to encourage an active open source community.

“The OSCI Initiative plays an important role in helping Red Hat to build a vibrant open source community globally,” said Jim Whitehurst, Red Hat President and Chief Executive Officer. “We are strongly committed to OSCI programmes that are designed to accelerate innovation through collaboration. The Singapore OSCI programmes are a forerunner of similar programmes that will be launched elsewhere in the region.”

Whitehurst unveiled four programmes for the Singapore OSCI Initiative. These include Red Hat’s participation in the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore’s (IDA’s) Infocomm Local Industry Upgrading Programme (iLIUP), expansion of the Red Hat Academy in ASEAN, initiation of the Home of Open Source in Singapore, and the setting up of Red Hat Open Source Centres.

Under iLIUP, Red Hat will work with six local independent software vendors (ISVs) to expand the range of open source applications for enterprises and small- and medium-sized businesses.

Red Hat’s six iLIUP partners are:
- C3S, a service provider specializing in fault tolerant, information assured, mission-critical solutions;
- Cxrus Solutions, a systems integrator for virtualization, high performance computing, Linux, storage and web solutions;
- Ecquaria Technologies, a Singapore-based company providing consulting and e-government solutions;
- Malifax Technologies, which is focused on mobility, data communications, networking and hosted platform solutions;
- Philip Tang & Sons, a multi-channel enabled Internet and mobile solutions provider;
- Y3 Technologies, a provider of innovative solutions for supply chain management and healthcare informatics.

“Through its participation in iLIUP, Red Hat will help Singapore companies expand their market reach by making their solutions available on the Red Hat open source platform and take their solutions to the global market,” said Whitehurst.

Red Hat also recruited three new partners for Red Hat Academy in ASEAN — the Asia Pacific College of the Philippines, Singapore Polytechnic and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE). These new Academy partners join Bangkok University and Temasek Polytechnic, the pioneer partners in ASEAN.

Red Hat Academy is a programme for educational institutions to teach students valuable Linux and open source skill sets. The colleges partnering with Red Hat Academy can incorporate courses, including Linux Essentials, Linux Networking Administration and Linux Security, into their curriculum. They can also offer the Red Hat Certified Technician (RHCT) certification examination to students, faculty and staff.

Red Hat plans to have 1,000 students trained under Red Hat Academy in the ASEAN programme by 2009.

Under the OSCI Initiative, Red Hat will also set up the Home of Open Source. To be hosted by the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) at ITE College East, the Home of Open Source will bring together open source evangelists, solution developers and users, and local Linux user groups in a conducive environment for collaborative discussion and innovation.

Demonstrating further commitment to the OSCI Initiative, Whitehurst announced the SP-Red Hat Training Centre of Open Source Competency at Singapore Polytechnic and the Red Hat Open Source Development Centre at Temasek Polytechnic.

The SP-Red Hat Training Centre of Open Source Competency, a collaborative effort between Red Hat and Singapore Polytechnic, will function as an education facility for the Singapore workforce to enable themselves with open source skills on Red Hat technologies. The training centre will partner with the Workforce Development Agency and Infocomm Development Agency to deliver training under the National Infocomm Competency Framework and the Workforce Skills Qualifications System.

At the Red Hat Open Source Development Centre, Temasek Polytechnic will collaborate with Red Hat and its industry partners to design and develop commercial open source solutions on Red Hat technologies. The centre aims to spearhead development of innovative technologies using open source as a platform.

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