LinuxAsia 2007 comes up at a time when the Indian open source market has hit a growth curve.

Going by a recent survey by the Forum for Open Source Initiatives in India (FOSII), the organisers of LinuxAsia 2007, the Indian market for open source, including IT solutions, training and consultancy, hardware, embedded software etc, recorded a combined growth of 60 per cent last year. Over 50 per cent growth was reported in open source software and related services.

And, given the support from government and financial services sectors, the industry is set to reach new heights this year. At the same time, there is widespread concern regarding the availability of human resources and capital to exploit the potential market.

According to the findings of the survey, nearly 55 per cent of the players experienced over 50 per cent growth and these included many of the heavyweights of the OSS/Linux industry. The top-five verticals that drove the business demand were government, banking and financial services, manufacturing, education and the IT industry itself.

According to the survey, the current year promises to be even bigger. While a little over half the companies surveyed are targeting a growth of over

50 per cent, many of the major players reported a target of 100 per cent growth in their OSS-related business.

Elaborating on the details of the survey findings, Atul Goel, executive editor of Linux for You, which conducted the study, said that there were three major areas of concern that could pose a challenge to the growth of OSS in the country. These three challenges were (i) lack of resources to tap the markets - throwing open a major opportunity for venture funds looking for their next growth area, (ii) lack of trained and skilled manpower - indicating an unaddressed demand that educational institutions could exploit, and (iii) unsure customers who while convinced about the benefits were not quite sure how to leverage OSS for their organisations.

Issues like these and many more are going to hog the limelight at LinuxAsia 2007, Asia’s premier open source conference and expo to be held in New Delhi, the countdown for which has already begun.

This year, the annual meet, scheduled between 31 January and 2 February 2007, will be themed on `innovations in the field of open source to help develop pro-poor technologies and thus bridge the digital divide’. - EFYtimes