Open Software Macedonia organized this last weekend an installation festival called Install Fest where all interested citizens, with a help of experienced users, could have the GNU/LINUX operating system installed on their computers.Open Software Macedonia this last weekend (May 15th-16th; 11:00 a.m.-20:00 p.m.) organized an installation festival called Install Fest where all interested citizens, with a help of experienced users, could have the GNU/LINUX operating system  installed on their computers.The main idea of this action was popularisation of the GNU/LINUX operating system among computer users in Macedonia and promotion of Open Software as an alternative over agains the non-opened software. A legal software was installed at the Install Fest. UNESCO declared Open Software  a “public good” and included it in the EU strategy for informational development.More information on: http://www.ossm.org.mk/installfest/

Centre for education and prosperity “Gjuha-shqipe” reacted on the article Windows XP in Albanian published on Metamorphosis’ web site. In the article was stated that the Albanian version of Windows XP was prepared by the Czech company “Moravia” while the Centre claims that they have prepared the translation. The published article originated from the web site of Macedonian daily newspaper Dnevnik and the Foundation Metamorphosis is not responsible for the information provided in the article.

The letter appeals for prompt adoption of the Law on Free Access to Information that considers the recommendations given by the ARTICLE 19 and is consistent with international standardsNongovernmental organisations ARTICLE 19, Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia, PRO MEDIA and Transparency Macedonia send open letter to the President of the Republic of Macedonia, President of the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia and the President of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia stating their concerns regarding the weaknesses in the latest Draft Law on Free Access to Information, as well as lacking of real progress towards its adoption. The letter that was signed by 126 Macedonian civil society organisations (Metamorphosis Foundation has also signed the petition) appeals for prompt adoption of the Law on Free Access to Information that considers the recommendations given by the ARTICLE 19, Global Campaign for Free Expression and is consistent with international standards. Download the Letter Download the Comments on the Draft Law on Free Access to Information

“After several employees of the municipality of Makedonska Kamenica attended the training for OpenOffice.org they have asked for OpenOffice.org in Macedonian language to be installed on their computers,” said Pero Mitrevski, mayor of the municipality of Makedonska KamenicaAs a result of the training for OpenOffice.org conducted by Metamorphosis Foundation and USAID’s project for successful decentralization – Make Decentralization Work Project for employees of the Macedonia’s local self-government units, municipality of Makedonska Kamenica started to actively use OpenOffice.org on all computers in the municipality. “After several employees of the municipality of Makedonska Kamenica attended the training for OpenOffice.org they have asked for OpenOffice.org in Macedonian language to be installed on their computers. Now, OpenOffice.org has been installed on all the computers, employees have already acquired basic skills and it is easier for them to work since the software is in Macedonian,” said Pero Mitrevski, mayor of the municipality of Makedonska Kamenica. Makedonska Kamenica is a small municipality with 11 personal computers and 1 server. The municipality has system administrator responsible for the computers. Survey conducted by Metamorphosis in May 2006 shown that free and open source software is great solution for Macedonian municipalities since their budget is restricted or they have not allocated resources for purchasing software licenses.

These Guidelines address the implementation of the Electronic SouthEast Europe These Guidelines address the implementation of the Electronic SouthEast Europe Agenda (eSEE Agenda) provision 1a “‘Adopt regionallycoordinated guidelines for the creation of the National InformationSociety Policies (NISP), which will serve as the basis for all legislativeand other regulatory action” eSEEurope National Information Society Policy Guidelines.pdf (303KB)

OpenOffice 2.0.1 is now officially available in MacedonianOpenOffice 2.0.1 is now officially available in Macedonian. The news is published on the OpenOffice.org website. To download Macedonian version visit the page with localised packages and select Macedonian from the column with the operating system you use. OpenOffice was localised during the translation marathon that took place on September 17th to 19th, 2005 and was organised by Free Software Macedonia and Foundation Metamorphosis. Over 70 volunteers were translating the package for 56 hours, and the result is now available for everybody.

The independent multidisciplinary Jury of the World Summit Award Macedonia selected the Macedonian representatives to the global contest through a transparent and open process.As part of the process for selection of the WSA-Macedonia, the Jury had a public meeting on June 5, 2007 in the Economic Chamber of Macedonia, when most of the candidates presented their projects in person. After the presentations, the Jury continued debating via e-mail and the relevant category committee held additional meeting on June 8 on the premises of Metamorphosis Foundation. This meeting provided the final decisions on the winners in all eight WSA categories: Category Maceodnian  candidate for the global WSA contest* Organization or Institution Direct links Type e-Government ApplyOnLine Agency for Civil Servants of RM link Web e-Health Children’s Health NGO Detska nasmevka [Children’s smile] link Web e-Science Mobile server for global monitoring Boris Sekirarski link Web e-Learning Educational CD-ROM “Bojan & Jana in the world of games” Vizijanet (supported by Metamophosis) link CD e-Enterntainment Kade vecher [Where to go out tonight] Martex link Web e-Culture Portal: Digitization of cultural heritage Institute of Informatics of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Math., UKIM, Skopje link Web e-Business National Tourism Portal Exploring Macedonia link Web e-Inclusion Portal for Accessible IT NGO Open the Windows link Web In addition, the Jury issued resolute condemnation of all who use e-contents to promote hate speech (racism, ethnic and religious hatred, homophobia,

Metamorphosis Foundation organises OpenOffice.org training for representatives of local self-government units in Republic of Macedonia. The training is held in Riviera Hotel in Ohrid, from 15 to 20 January, 2007. About 100 employees in 25 Macedonian municipalities will be trained during the six day trainingMetamorphosis Foundation organises OpenOffice.org training for representatives of local self-government units in Republic of Macedonia. The training is held in Riviera Hotel in Ohrid, from 15 to 20 January, 2007. About 100 employees in 25 Macedonian municipalities will be trained during the six day training.   OpenOffice.org applications will be presented at the training, and the participants will get familiar with the basic functions of these applications. Each participant will receive OpenOffice.org tutorial , as well as Get your job done CD . Apart from raising capacity of the local self-government units for use of information and communication technologies in everyday work, the training also aims to decrease piracy rate in Macedonia by promoting the use of free and open source software. The training is organised within the Implementing E-Local Governance in Macedonia project that Metamorphosis Foundation implements in partnership with USAID’s project for successful decentralisaiton – Make Decentralisation Work Project.

World promotion of Macedonia as the first wireless country is overshadowed by the facts regarding the internet users in MacedoniaWorld promotion of Macedonia as the first wireless country is overshadowed by the facts regarding the internet users in Macedonia. With only 6% of the population using internet Macedonia holds the last place in the region, while on the broader level we can be compared with African development countries. Only 70% of Macedonian citizens have never used internet, and only 28% of all computers are connected on the internet. The main reason for low level of internet usage is the high costs for this service and for computer equipment. Despite the internet services market is liberalized, other providers cannot be serious competition to the main player Makedonski Telekomunikacii and to decrease the price. Living standard of Macedonian citizens must not be neglected, since with average salary of 200 euros cannot afford 30 euros per month for ADSL internet. When it comes to chose between bread and internet, the choice is obvious. Other limiting factors for bigger internet penetration are the low level of ICT literacy, above all among elderly people, and lack of content in Macedonian. Internet is used for sending and checking e-mails and for entertainment. E-banking, online shopping, paying bills and filling in forms via internet and other services are yet to be developed. Monopoly or Duopoly In order to increase internet

Search engine Najdi! visited the e-Business Department at the Faculty of Economics in Skopje and in hte daily newspaper VremeOn December 29th, 2005 Petar Kajevski, creator of search engine Najdi! visited the e-Business Department at the Faculty of Economics in Skopje. The main objective of the visit was Mr. Kajevski to explain e-business principles based on the experience with Najdi!On January 4th, 2006 Petar Kajevski visited the daily newspaper Vreme and performed the training for the journalists (ppt., 641 KB). He presented the search engine Najdi! and gave useful advices for easier, efficient and optimized internet search. “Qualitative and quick finding of information, no mater how simple it looks, is complex process. One needs to know a lot of details, one needs to know how search engine works in order to obtain accurate and precise information in very short time. That was the objective of these presentations – people that very often use search engines to optimize their queries,” said Mr. Kajevski.Search engine Najdi! was the winner of a national World Summit Award in e-Enclusion category.