The Pakistan Computer Association (PCA) has decided to organise an extensive training program from August 17 to provide a unique opportunity to IT professionals and computer vendors for learning and understanding the Open Source Operating Systems (OS OS).
According to an announcement of the Association here on Sunday, the stakeholders would be given detailed orientation sessions about this operating system, which would be available almost free of cost to the stakeholders, ending the monopoly of expensive software in the country. This would be first of its kind of training program where IT experts and other stakeholders would be provided an opportunity to learn about low cost operating system helpful in Pakistan business environment and working conditions of local corporate culture. The PCA would not charge any cost of training, but would provide literature, data and training advice from national and international experts to learn about the Open Source Operating Systems (OS OS).
The training will help the IT professionals to learn how to operate state-of-the-art software technology and launch the same in Pakistan effectively. Hence, an affordable new IT would be available to all users in Pakistan besides protecting and ensuring following the Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) Regulations.
The IT industry of Pakistan needs to enhance its adaptability to grasp the emerging global trends and to ensure smooth application of the rapidly changing technology and to attract further investment in the sector the Pakistan Computer Association (PCA) has taken special initiative of providing training opportunity in Open Source Operating Systems (OS OS) to the stakeholders of the industry throughout Pakistan.
The trend of Open Source OS is rapidly growing and getting popular in Europe and rest of the world. To ensure/promote its application, some countries have even managed special legislation from their parliaments in their countries. The first phase of the countrywide training would be held on Monday, August 17, 2009 in Islamabad and the same training would be conducted in the other parts of the country subsequently.
The IT industry of the country, while appreciating the initiative of the PCA, has demanded that the government should persuade the software companies to introduce country-specific prices for the country, so that the public at large should benefit through affordable prices. This is more so keeping in view the fact that Pakistan is a poor and one of a third world countries wherein unaffordable exorbitant prices are beyond the purchasing power of the common end users.
The PCA has announced that all these high profile trainings would be conducted by certified and qualified professionals in collaboration with Pakistan Software Export Board and Muhammad Ali Jinnah University, Islamabad, and, more importantly, it would be provided free of cost. Certificates would be awarded among the participants on the conclusion of the workshop.
Munawar Iqbal, President of PCA (central) has said that the training facility will be available to IT professionals and preferably vendors only to ensure productivity and effective usefulness of the training programme. He added that through professionally adequately trained, well conversant, manpower and by following in letter and spirit IPR Regulations new venues of international investment in this sector would be possible.