OSI Sponsors International Competition in Free and Open Source Software Multimedia

The OSI is thrilled to announce the launch of the International Competition in Free and Open Source Software Multimedia (ICOM). Organized by the Sena Primary School (SK Sena), Malaysia and Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) along with the state government of Perlis, Malaysia and the Ministry of Education Malaysia the video competition is open to students from around the world: from primary school children to those attending institutions of higher learning. The main objectives of ICOM are as follows:

  1. To encourage creative thinking and teamwork among participants
  2. To promote active use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in education
  3. To create a platform for healthy competition among students at the international level

Participants have about 3 months, until the end of July, to plan, shoot, edit and upload/submit their works and may choose to develop, dramas, news stories, documentaries or public service messages on topics related to education, communication or local interests. All entries will be judged by education and media personnel from Malaysia, and winners will receive certificates and awards, including some cool OSI t-shirts! We will also be posting the winners’ videos on the OSI site as well.

Of course the most exciting feature of the competition is that each video will use only open source licensed software for all pre-production, production and post-production work. What a fantastic way to promote the awareness and use of open source tools, enhancing access to technology within education, while creating innovative programs for teaching and learning–we simply need more of this within governments, education and communities. Indeed the ICOM organizers have developed an excellent catalog of open source applications for graphic and video production (http://icom.sksena.edu.my/downloads-bot).

The OSI is honored to have been asked to sponsor the competition and we hope educators from across the globe will take advantage of, not only the opportunity to engage their students in an international, cross-cultural, multi-discipline educational experience, but also introduce and promote the value, benefits and quality of open source tools as well.

You can learn more about the competition on the “ICOM: Free Software, Free Minds” website, or contact the organizers directly at [email protected].