Partners and Funders

Mahiti and Tactical Tech see this event as a crucial piece in their longer-term work with the voluntary sector in the region. Both organisations are dedicated to building the NGO/technology sector and are engaged in a large number of initiatives outside of the training context. These range from driving regional localisation initiatives to influencing policy discussions, and from creating guides and toolkits to developing new technology service delivery models for the voluntary sector. This event will act as a vehicle for broadening the circle of those involved in such initiatives, as an opportunity to seed future projects, and as a venue for new ideas, opportunities and projects to emerge.

The event is guided by an advisory board of established non-profit and FOSS professionals from across the South and South East Asian region. The organisers will also collaborate with regional FOSS projects such as IOSN, and international NGO technology groups such as the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and Aspiration.

Asia Source is funded by donations from Hivos, the Open Society Institutes Information Program and the Open Society Institutes South East Asia Initiative. Support will also be received through donations from IOSN and O’Reilly publishers.

Organisers

Mahiti

Mahiti aims to provide affordable and appropriate Information Technology services. They specialise in the areas of web / Intranet / kiosk / multimedia applications, consultancy and training. They design and execute projects in the areas of resource mobilisation, collaboration, advocacy, e-governance, e-commerce, process automation, supply chain management, content management systems and knowledge sharing. Also specialising in the use of Open Source and Free Software.

Tactical Technology Collective

Tactical Tech is an Amsterdam-based NGO working to increase technology use within NGOs in developing and transition countries. Together, its founders have more than ten years of experience working to encourage the tactical use of technology by the voluntary and educational sectors. The organisation directs and supports between forty and fifty projects yearly in the areas of alternative access and strategic technology use and is the primary advisor to the Open Society Institute's 'Technology Support for Civil Society' project.

Funders

Open Society Institute

The Open Society Institute (OSI) is a private operating and grantmaking foundation based in New York City that serves as the hub of the Soros foundations network, a group of autonomous foundations and organizations in more than 50 countries. OSI and the network implement a range of initiatives that aim to promote open societies by shaping government policy and supporting education, media, public health, and human and women's rights, as well as social, legal, and economic reform. To diminish and prevent the negative consequences of globalization, OSI seeks to foster global open society by increasing collaboration with other nongovernmental organizations, governments, and international institutions.

Hivos

Hivos is a non-governmental organisation, rooted in the Netherlands and guided by humanist values, that wants to contribute to a free, fair and sustainable world where citizens, women and men, have equal access to resources, opportunities and markets and can participate actively and equally in decision-making processes that determine their lives, their society and their future.

International Open Source Network

The International Open Source Network (IOSN) is a Centre of Excellence for Free / Open Source Software in the Asia-Pacific Region. IOSN is an initiative of the Asia-Pacific Information Development Programme (APDIP), which has been supporting the strategic and effective use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) for poverty alleviation and sustainable human development in the Asia-Pacific region since 1997. Via a small secretariat, the IOSN is tasked specifically to facilitate and network Free / Open Source Software advocates and human resources in the region.

Collaborations

Aspiration

Aspiration connects nonprofit organizations with software solutions that help them better carry out their work. We want nonprofit organizations to obtain and use the best software to maximize their effectiveness and impact so that they, in turn, can change the world.

Aspiration identifies what is available and what is missing in the nonprofit and NGO software arena. We foster relationships, delivery systems, and sustainability strategies between NGOs and their tech support organizations around the world.