Jordan: The Open Source Hub Of The Middle East

Ingres Corporation and the Government of Jordan announced today that they have joined forces to establish the first ever agreement between an international company and a government to promote and drive open source adoption.

Ingres and the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology of Jordan (MOICT) have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to achieve the widespread use of information technology and communication, particularly open source technology from Ingres, throughout the local software infrastructure in Jordan.

As part of the MOU, Ingres will promote Jordan as a hub for the open source technology in the region; organize "boot camps" to address technical requirements for the community; offer free training to certify individuals from the IT industry; arrange executive calls to assist MOICT in understanding the world-wide open source market; provide software and support for a laboratory in one of Jordan's leading universities; train a group of specialists to implement a specific government service project and support MOICT initiatives to promote open source through workshops, academic initiatives, and local partner support.

As part of the agreement, the MOICT of Jordan will ensure the Government of Jordan will promote open source adoption within government departments; assign IT resources to develop new functions for Ingres products with the community version of Ingres Open Source Database to create a community of developers; and confirm open source as an alternative for purchasing software in the Government of Jordan.

"Government agencies are always looking for the best way to quickly deliver quality services for their citizens using advanced technologies, but they also have an obligation to taxpayers to drive down their IT procurement costs," said Roger Burkhardt, CEO, Ingres.

"The open source model delivers cost savings through a subscription model that provides excellent support with a cost that is aligned to the value delivered and totally eliminates the expense of proprietary license fees. We applaud the Government of Jordan as being the first to sign an agreement with an open source company to ensure the adoption of open source across the country. This is a huge first step and we hope to see other governments follow Jordan's lead by taking concrete actions to adopt open source to accelerate innovation and reduce the taxpayers costs," he added.

Ingres understands that the university students of today are the chief technology officers of tomorrow, so the objective of the MOU will begin with the university system in Jordan where students will have the opportunity to learn about open source and begin working on open source projects. With the help of Duroob, an Ingres partner in the region, open source training on Ingres products will be provided in English, as well as the local language.