The Linux Foundation has announced a new collaborative agreement with Japan's Information Technology Promotion Agency (IPA), a government research institute that promotes information technology development and broadly supports the use of open standards and open-source software.
The collaborative agreement is part of a plan to mutually assist in promoting open standards and the acceleration of open-source software adoption in Asia. The Linux Foundation will be participating in the upcoming IPA Forum 2007 User Conference in Tokyo.
"Our two organizations are leading the adoption and use of Linux and open-source software, and by working together on joint summits, technology developments and legal activities, we can help Japanese companies promote the use of Linux," said IPA chairman Buheita Fujiwara in a statement. "Japanese open-source software will continue to play a very important role in the worldwide open source revolution."
The Linux Foundation was formed earlier this year when the Open Source Development Labs merged with the Free Standards Group. The continuing evolution of the commercial Linux ecosystem had steadily diminished the need for both organizations and a restructuring was deemed necessary to compensate for the realities of the present day. The Linux Foundation has since started several new projects of value to the Linux community, including the creation of the Linux Weather Forecast and hosting upcoming legal summits.
The IPA has prior ties with the Open Source Development Labs, most notably as a contributing member of the Data Center Linux working group and as the primary source of funding for the Data Center Linux Open Printing project. The IPA is also heavily involved with open-source advocacy efforts in Asia as a facilitator of the Japan OSS Promotion Forum, which aims to broaden software choice in Japan and is a member of the Northeast Asia OSS Promotion Forum.
Open-source software is rapidly becoming an essential part of Asia's IT infrastructure. According to analyst firm Gartner, over 60 percent of large and mid-size government agencies in Asia will use open-source software for critical components of their operations by 2010.
Last month, the Linux Foundation announced that the Asianux 3.0 Linux distribution conforms to the Carrier Grade Linux specification, a set of standards for security, performance, and availability devised by the Linux Foundation.
Governments are beginning to acknowledge that open technologies will play a crucial role in bringing lower costs and greater empowerment to IT in coming years. This collaborative agreement will hopefully provide insight into how governments can work with the open-source software community to ensure that the tangible benefits of leveraging open-source software are realized.
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