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September 8, 2008

For many years, Microsoft has long been an ardent proponent of proprietary software, but now it is no longer fighting the global army of open source developers and especially in the Philippines, where the Linux and open source community have been growing rapidly and constantly.

To prove its point, Microsoft will soon open its first open source and interoperability lab in the Philippines.

The software giant’s local subsidiary teamed up with the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) and the National Computer Center (NCC) for the establishment of the Microsoft Open Source Interoperability Lab, which will officially begin operations in a few weeks.

The media announcement of the facility was attended by company executives led by Microsoft Philippines managing director Rafael Rollan and Microsoft Asia Pacific vice president for sales and marketing Ken Wye Saw, as well as CICT commissioner and NCC directorgeneral Tim Diaz de Rivera.

The lab will be located inside the CICT-NCC Building in the University of the Philippines Diliman campus.

Students, IT professionals and software application developers who would like to test their open source applications on the Microsoft platform can use it for free.

As the lab is primarily aimed at local developers, a Filipino-owned software firm that specializes in mobile 2.0 / Web 2.0 solutions is getting the first aim at the facility.

Said to be the very first of its kind in Asia, Microsoft's new open source interoperability lab is expected to churn out locally-made interoperable technologies that will benefit most if not all the Linux and open source community.

The creation of the lab stemmed from the need faced by industries today to make their existing systems work together with different technologies from past and present and regardless of platform, according to Microsoft.

Wilfredo dela Cruz, president of D3 Systems said "with this new lab, we can build solutions for our clientele based on their business needs and technology requirements. We can now test the reliability, integration and interoperability of the solutions we develop."

Contrary to popular notion, Microsoft claimed it had collaborated before with companies identified with the open source community. The company said it started its Linux Interoperability Lab four years ago, and opened the Open Source Software Lab on Dec. 3, 2006.

The Redmond software giant also said it has led projects that highlight how the company is working to be a partner, rather than a threat to open source. These initiatives include the opening of the first open source lab in Brazil, enhancing support for the Open Document Format (ODF), and open engagement and collaboration with non-profit open source group Apache Software.

Microsoft’s Saw said the interoperability lab is just one of the many activities that the company is embarking on to promote interoperability in the Philippines.

Preempting questions as to why a company the size of Microsoft would open an interoperability lab, Saw said the company has introduced its interoperability principles in February 2008.

"We hope that by giving our developers access to tools and support, we will enable them to design and create solutions that cater to the needs of a wider audience," Saw said.

Source: Microsoft.

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