During the three-day workshop, experts from the Maghreb countries will present best practices in using FOSS in their respective countries. This will enable participants to reinforce the capacities of universities in the field of technical education through the use of FOSS, and to develop tools in order to make public services more transparent.

The first day of the workshop will consist in presenting best practices carried out by civil society, training and research institutions as well as the public sector at large. During the second day, the participants will discuss existing training opportunities through the use of FOSS and design model curricula. The last day will be dedicated to drafting the terms of reference for the acquisition of software in the public services.

This workshop is a follow-up to the recommendations of the <a href="ev.php?URL_ID=25657&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201">sub-regional workshop on policies for the promotion of access to public information in the Maghreb</a>, which took place in Rabat (Morocco), from 26 to 28 November 2007. These recommendations highlighted the following needs:

• creation of a national and/or regional pole that would encourage the use of FOSS by public administrations through the development of applications and contents corresponding to their needs;
• establishment of an information exchange network in partnership with international organizations, public and private sectors, and civil society in order to share best practices at national, sub-regional and regional levels;
• development of scientific research in universities and research centres in order to produce Arab Free and Open Source Software and to translate into Arabic the most important existing FOSS;
• organization of conferences and seminars to raise the awareness of the public and the media about the challenges of FOSS.