The Linux Foundation Signs Contract with Japanese Developers

The Linux Foundation and the Information-technology Promotion Agency (IPA), a Japanese government research institute supporting open source software and IT infrastructure development have announced today the signing of a collaboration agreement.

The Linux Foundationd and IPA will cooperate to accelerate the adoption of Linux and open source software in domains like technology development, legal activities and standardization. Their activities as partners will start at the User Conference at the IPA Forum 2007, which will be held on 30th October at the Meiji Kinen-kan in Tokyo, Japan.

The announcement came during a period of time when the interest in open source use in Japan is at a high level. Some good examples would be the increasing use of Linux in consumer electronics devices produced in Japan and the Tokyo Stock Exchange's decision to use Linux for its next generation enterprise system. In July this year, the Japanese government put on a high priority the adoption of open standards for all its IT procurements.

Jim Zemlin, executive director of The Linux Foundation stated: "Japanese companies and developers have been strong supporters of the LF since Day One. We're determined to do more to support Linux and open source developers in Japan. This agreement is part of the LF's aggressive regional promotion activities and an important way for the open source community to continue to expand."

Buheita Fujiwara, chairman of the Information-technology Promotion Agency added: "Our two organizations are leading the adoption and use of Linux and open source software, and by working together on joint summits, technology developments and legal activities, we can help Japanese companies promote the use of Linux. Japanese open source software will continue to play a very important role in the worldwide open source revolution."

From the predictions of the analyst firm Gartner, it seems that open source software use will grow even more in Asia, with 60 percent of large and mid-size government agencies using it in their main business processes by the year 2010, compared to less than 15 percent in 2004.