{"id":1596,"date":"2021-12-12T23:36:49","date_gmt":"2021-12-12T23:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"\/eit\/?p=1596"},"modified":"2022-07-19T11:51:43","modified_gmt":"2022-07-19T11:51:43","slug":"icfoss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/eit\/2021\/12\/12\/icfoss\/","title":{"rendered":"ICFOSS"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tICFOSS\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tInternational Centre for Free and Open Source Software\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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International Centre for Free and Open Source Software (ICFOSS) established in 2011 vide G.O(Rt) No.150\/2008\/ITD, dt.23\/07\/2008 as an autonomous institution under Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of Kerala.<\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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International Centre for Free and Open Source Software (ICFOSS)<\/strong> established in 2011 vide G.O(Rt) No.150\/2008\/ITD, dt.23\/07\/2008 as an autonomous institution under Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of Kerala.\u00a0 The Centre has the vision to leverage the power of FOSS for the enhancement of the quality of life of the people of Kerala, and to stimulate local employment, thereby maintaining Kerala\u2019s strategic lead in this domain.<\/p>\n

The objective of the Centre is Propagation, Promotion and extension of Free Software activities in the State, at the same time linking up with communities, developers, groups and institutions abroad.\u00a0 ICFOSS has been approved by Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR), Govt. of India as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (SIRO). Since we got the approval as SIRO by DSIR, we have moved to the present campus at the Sports Hub building at Karyavattom, thiruvananthapuram with a well built area of 27000 sq.ft with all aminities such as Academic Divisions, Lecture Halls, Library, Open Hardware Lab, Seminar Area, FOSS Incubation, Dining areas etc. Facilities for Research Scholars, Students and Young developers are specially provided.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Vision:<\/h3>\n

The Centre has a vision to become a leading Research & Development as well as Academic Institution in Free and Open Source model of knowledge development and thereby contributing towards sustainable development of the society.<\/p>\n

Mission<\/h3>\n

The Mission of ICFOSS is to promote research and development in the area of Free and Open Source Software and the knowledge development model it puts forward.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Vision:<\/h3>\n

The Centre has a vision to become a leading Research & Development as well as Academic Institution in Free and Open Source model of knowledge development and thereby contributing towards sustainable development of the society.<\/p>\n

Mission<\/h3>\n

The Mission of ICFOSS is to promote research and development in the area of Free and Open Source Software and the knowledge development model it puts forward.<\/p>\n

Activities<\/h3>\n

The Centre houses\u2013a prototyping and manufacturing laboratory supporting Open Hardware, e-Governance Lab, Development teams, State Nodal Agency for Malayalam Computing, State of the Art Production & Development servers, Language Technology Lab, UAV workstation, a dedicated team on Assistive Technology Lab, Centre of Excellence in Blender, and Training areas.\u00a0 ICFOSS was successful in conducting a lot of R&D initiatives. As part of the LoRaWAN initiative project under Open Hardware Project, ICFOSS have designed, developed and implemented the Automated Weather Stations (AWS) in six Panchayaths in Kattakada Legislative Assembly Area. With this implementation, Kattakada becomes one of the first assembly constituency area in India, which operates LoRa WAN enabled AWS. As per the Kerala Government directive on applying technology to develop assistive devices for people with disabilities, ICFOSS started initiatives for the betterment of the visually impaired. The initiatives for the visually impaired are carried out based on the concept developed by ICFOSS \u2013 AKSHI (meaning eye). By associating with the schools for the visually impaired, ICFOSS started the research and development of learning aid for the visually impaired students. ICFOSS is currently developing word learning devices for the visually impaired students. The team is also exploring the development of general utility devices for the visually impaired community. These activities are based on the directions put forward by the experts of the Visually Impaired schools, all over Kerala.<\/p>\n

Currently the Centre is looking for possible collaborative activities in association with JNU, NewDelhi for recognising ICFOSS, as an accredited Research Centre under Jawaharlal Nehru University. The collaboration is for pursuing Reserach & Development leading to Doctoral and Post Doctoral degrees as well as MS programs in multidisciplinary areas by utilising the expertise of ICFOSS in various FOSS related domains such as Computational Linguistics, Management and Entrepreneurship, Computational Finance, Artificial Intelligence, GIS, Assistive Technology, IOT, e Governance and Language Technology for exploring the potential of ICT technologies in achieving sustainable development goals.<\/p>\n

ICFOSS is also conducting Women Hackathons, as part of the Gender & Technology initiatives with the intention of attracting more girl students and women in general to Free Software programming.\u00a0 This will prepare the women to use free software effectively, deepen their understanding of free software concepts and build an appreciation technology and enable them to contribute to free software projects as well as develop their technical capabilities. ICFOSS also provides Women Hackathon Fellowships every year (maximum of 5 fellows), to individuals with general technical skills, understanding of free software, interest in gender issues and having leadership qualities. ICFOSS also offers training to women, in various areas of FOSS research through winter and summers schools.<\/p>\n

Back-to-Work is another initiative under G&T. It is an intensive trainings in various free software domains for women who have a career gap in their profession to restart their career. We have conducted two such trainings as a pilot run. Through this programme ICFOSS\u2019s effort to facilitate placement for the participants in reputed companies\/organisations has reached a positive outcome.<\/p>\n

Areas of Research Undertaken :<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Open IoT<\/td>\nContent Management System<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Assistive Technology<\/td>\nOpen Hardware<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Language Computing<\/td>\nNatural Language Processing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
e-Governance<\/td>\nNew Media Arts<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Geographical Information System<\/td>\nEducational Informatics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Drone Technology<\/td>\nInteractive Digital Content<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Open Source ERP<\/td>\nArtificial Intelligence and Machine Learning<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


\n<\/strong>Collaborations:<\/h3>\n
    \n
  • Ministry of Communication & Information Technology, Department of Electronics & Information Technology, Govt. of India<\/li>\n
  • Ministry of Social Justice Department, Govt. of India<\/li>\n
  • TNO, Netherlands<\/li>\n
  • University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien, Austria<\/li>\n
  • Prime Minister\u2019s Science, Technology & Innocation Advisory Council, Office of the Principle Scientific Advisor, Govt. of India.<\/li>\n
  • Punjab University, Patyala, Punjab<\/li>\n
  • Anna University \u2013 KBC Research Centre, Chennai<\/li>\n
  • M S Swaminathan Foundation, Chennai<\/li>\n
  • NISH Thiruvananthapuram<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Awards & Recognitions<\/h3>\n
      \n
    • Under the Kerala State IT Policy 2017, Government of Kerala has recognized and entrusted ICFOSS to act as State Nodal Agency for R&D and promotion of FOSS related activities and for providing consultancy & support in FOSS solutions, among government agencies and Departments across state.<\/li>\n
    • ICFOSS has also been recognized and entrusted as the State Nodal Agency in Malayalam Computing by the Government of Kerala<\/li>\n
    • ICFOSS have also been recognized and listed as the first institutional member of LoRa Alliance International, from India<\/li>\n
    • ICFOSS has been awarded the first Bhasha Prathibha Puraskaaram instituted by Karala Malayalam Mission. The award with cash price of Rs. 50,000. Director ICFOSS has received the award from the Hon\u2019ble chief Minister of Kerala in the function held on 21st<\/sup> February 2020 at Ayyankali Hall, Thiruvananthapuram for the outstanding contribution\u00a0 in the area of Malayalam Computing.<\/li>\n
    • ICFOSS has become one of top five finalists of the 2020 Equals in Tech Awards <\/strong>for initiating programmes in the intersection of gender and technology (out of 340 applicants globally)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
      \n
      Activities<\/div>

      The Centre houses\u2013a prototyping and manufacturing laboratory supporting Open Hardware, e-Governance Lab, Development teams, State Nodal Agency for Malayalam Computing, State of the Art Production & Development servers, Language Technology Lab, UAV workstation, a dedicated team on Assistive Technology Lab, Centre of Excellence in Blender, and Training areas.\u00a0 ICFOSS was successful in conducting a lot of R&D initiatives. As part of the LoRaWAN initiative project under Open Hardware Project, ICFOSS have designed, developed and implemented the Automated Weather Stations (AWS) in six Panchayaths in Kattakada Legislative Assembly Area. With this implementation, Kattakada becomes one of the first assembly constituency area in India, which operates LoRa WAN enabled AWS. As per the Kerala Government directive on applying technology to develop assistive devices for people with disabilities, ICFOSS started initiatives for the betterment of the visually impaired. The initiatives for the visually impaired are carried out based on the concept developed by ICFOSS \u2013 AKSHI (meaning eye). By associating with the schools for the visually impaired, ICFOSS started the research and development of learning aid for the visually impaired students. ICFOSS is currently developing word learning devices for the visually impaired students. The team is also exploring the development of general utility devices for the visually impaired community. These activities are based on the directions put forward by the experts of the Visually Impaired schools, all over Kerala.<\/p>\n

      Currently the Centre is looking for possible collaborative activities in association with JNU, NewDelhi for recognising ICFOSS, as an accredited Research Centre under Jawaharlal Nehru University. The collaboration is for pursuing Reserach & Development leading to Doctoral and Post Doctoral degrees as well as MS programs in multidisciplinary areas by utilising the expertise of ICFOSS in various FOSS related domains such as Computational Linguistics, Management and Entrepreneurship, Computational Finance, Artificial Intelligence, GIS, Assistive Technology, IOT, e Governance and Language Technology for exploring the potential of ICT technologies in achieving sustainable development goals.<\/p>\n

      ICFOSS is also conducting Women Hackathons, as part of the Gender & Technology initiatives with the intention of attracting more girl students and women in general to Free Software programming.\u00a0 This will prepare the women to use free software effectively, deepen their understanding of free software concepts and build an appreciation technology and enable them to contribute to free software projects as well as develop their technical capabilities. ICFOSS also provides Women Hackathon Fellowships every year (maximum of 5 fellows), to individuals with general technical skills, understanding of free software, interest in gender issues and having leadership qualities. ICFOSS also offers training to women, in various areas of FOSS research through winter and summers schools.<\/p>\n

      Back-to-Work is another initiative under G&T. It is an intensive trainings in various free software domains for women who have a career gap in their profession to restart their career. We have conducted two such trainings as a pilot run. Through this programme ICFOSS\u2019s effort to facilitate placement for the participants in reputed companies\/organisations has reached a positive outcome.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

      Areas of Research Undertaken <\/div>

      <\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
      Open IoT<\/td>\nContent Management System<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      Assistive Technology<\/td>\nOpen Hardware<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      Language Computing<\/td>\nNatural Language Processing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      e-Governance<\/td>\nNew Media Arts<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      Geographical Information System<\/td>\nEducational Informatics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      Drone Technology<\/td>\nInteractive Digital Content<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      Open Source ERP<\/td>\nArtificial Intelligence and Machine Learning<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div><\/div>
      Collaborations:<\/div>