Description de l'organisation

Free Libre Open Source Software Kosova (FLOSSK) is a non-governmental organization based in Prishtina established in 2009 in order to support, promote and develop free and open source software. Besides this, we also contribute to open and participatory knowledge, education in information technologies through open courseware, and open standards, culture and open society using free communication. Throughout our work years we have had partnerships with US Embassy in Kosovo, German Agency for International Cooperation, Ipko Foundation, Wikimedia Foundation, OpenStreetMap Foundation, OSGeo Foundation, Debian Project, Balkan Green Foundation, CIvil Rights Defenders, Municipality of Prishtina, etc. The target group for the European Solidarity Corps is young people interested or skilled in technology, mainly in open source. The volunteers will benefit from this project by being introduced to our communities and being skilled in programming, welding, scalding, etc. but they will also have the encouragment and freedom to develop their creativity. In general, FLOSSK targets young people who want to have after-school practical activities, but we also try to focus on the general population to raise awareness on the benefits of using open source. Part of our mission is to have an impact in public policies through our activities of promoting open-source alternatives.

FLOSSK Values:
Sharing
Openness
Decentralization
Free access to computers
World Improvement (foremost, upholding democracy and the fundamental laws we all live by, as a society)

We contribute to the global community of free/libre and open source software.

We do this by:

- Tech event organizing - FLOSSK was established with the aim to organize the Software Freedom Kosova Conference. Since then we have organized TechCamp, State of the Map Southeast Europe and are slated to run the global DebConf conference in 2022.

- Technical and VET training - we train and touch youth through our workshops and courses on work-related skills and by contributing to open source projects. Besides focusing on technical education, our projects also include general education that will serve young people for future employment. These projects are designed to support the development of responsive, demand-driven and practical opportunities for students.

- Civic tech work - This field gives us a way to enhance the relationship between people and government with software used for communication, decision-making, service delivery, and political process. We aim to assist the government in delivering citizen services and strengthening ties with the public.

Our activities and projects are mostly focused on integrating free software in many aspects of life. Besides this, we are interested in enhancing information technology development in Kosovo by integrating youth in our projects and activities. Young people are an important part of our fields of work. FLOSSK has over 40 members and volunteers who are part of our decision-making process and projects.