[ourfloss] Re: [esocialaction] ChangeUp funding for East Of England FOSS in the VCS project

[Chris Bailey]

Hi Malcolm,

It is good to know about this. Thanks! I got the go ahead this afternoon 
to install an Asterick (thus) server to set up a VOIP service aimed at 
providing an exclusive VOIP service for the East Of England VCS. I am 
working with an organisation in Bulgaria that has been installing 
Asterick for the NGO sector there and they are doing this for me. But it 
will be good to have contact with UK experience in using this to see 
what kind of VOIP services we can then develop for the VCS.  Maybe we 
can set up an email list to discuss this.

The Circuit Rider conference in October is planning a workshop on VOIP 
and also on Community Wireless Broadband. I know you regard them as 
rather amateur, but I think you should look at them again and get 
involved. They do now do have a central role in the ChangeUp ICT 
developments.

I think a lot of things are now beginning to move along the route of 
producing "branded" ICT products for the VCS. A VCS Linux distribution, 
a VCS VOIP network and, as we discussed, a VCS "Broadband in a a Box" 
distribution.

I will be back to you later on on Community Broadband Network. We are 
still in the process of selecting a cross section of the Cambridgeshire 
VCS to examine their key ICT problems. I am sure this will ultimately 
pinpoint broadband Internet problems.

regards,

Chris

Malcolm Corbett wrote:

>Hi Chris,
>There are people in the Community Broadband Network with experience of
>open source VOIP platforms like Asterix and a number of
>trials/deployments around the country.
>
>Regards,
>Malcolm
>
>Malcolm Corbett
>Director
>Community Broadband Network
>Phone: +44 20 8318 4506
>Mobile: +44 7770 896534
>Skype: malcolmcorbett
>Web: www.broadband-uk.coop
> 
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Chris Bailey [mailto:chrisbailey at socialrights.org] 
>Sent: 30 August 2005 16:13
>To: m.corbett at cooptel.net; ourfloss at email-lists.org;
>esocialaction at email-lists.org
>Subject: [esocialaction] ChangeUp funding for East Of England FOSS in
>the VCS project
>Importance: Low
>
>
>Cambridge Independent Advice Centre has been informed that we will be 
>receiving some ChangeUp funding for experimenting with the use of Open 
>Source software in the VCS. This is for the East of England region and 
>is separate from the Cambs Circuit Rider Project that we have received 
>ChangeUp funding for at sub-regional level.
>
>There are four areas the project will be covering:
>
>* Open Source on the desktop.
>
>10 organisations will receive a dual boot computer with Linux and 
>Windows and will try out open source programs running under both Windows
>
>and Linux only and will receive 20 days training and support on using 
>the software. We are aiming to produce a special "Linux for the VCS" 
>distribution.
>
>* Open Source on the server.
>
>2 organisations will be set up with a Linux server to test its
>potential.
>
>* Developing open source legal case tracking software working with 3 
>centres in the Region who need such software.
>
>* Setting up an open source VOIP server and trying out its usefulness 
>for 10 users in the region.
>
>Preparation for this project has drawn quite heavily on experiences of 
>using Open Source software in the NGO sector in Bulgaria, particularly 
>Interspace's Open Source eRider project that has been running for more 
>than two years now and Internet Rights Bulgaria's work in developing 
>open source legal case tracking software for the Bulgarian NGO sector. 
>Both these organisations will be assisting in this present project. We 
>intend basing the "Linux for the VCS" distribution on Interspace's 
>"Linux for NGOs", which is a Debian Linux distribution simplified for 
>NGO use.
>
>Each participating organisation will be required to produce a final 
>evaluation of how useful they found the open source software for their 
>organisation and this will be written up into an overall evaluation.
>
>Chris Bailey
>Cambs Circuit Rider Project
>
>_______________________________________________
>esocialaction mailing list
>esocialaction at email-lists.org
>https://www.email-lists.org/mailman/listinfo/esocialaction
>
>
>  
>