OSS 2012 Call For Contributions
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The 8th International Conference on Open Source Systems
(http://oss2012.org/)

Hammamet, Tunisia, 10-13 September 2012


Scope of OSS 2012
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Over the past two decades, Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) has introduced new successful models for creating, distributing, acquiring and using software and software-based services. Inspired by the success of FLOSS, other forms of open initiatives have been gaining momentum. Open source systems (OSS) now extend beyond software to include open access, open documents, open science, open education, open government, open cloud, open hardware, open artworks and museum exhibits, open innovation and more. On the one hand, the openness movement has created new kinds of opportunities such as the emergence of new business models, knowledge exchange mechanisms, and collective development approaches. On the other hand, the movement has introduced new kinds of challenges, especially as different problem domains embrace openness as a pervasive problem solving strategy. OSS can be complex yet widespread and often cross-cultural. Consequently, they require an interdisciplinary understanding of their technical, economic, legal and socio-cultural dynamics.

The goal of 8th International Conference on Open Source Systems, OSS 2012, the first to be held in Africa, is to provide an international forum where a diverse community of professionals from academia, industry and public sector, and diverse OSS initiatives can come together to share research findings and practical experiences. The conference is also meant to provide information and education to practitioners, identify directions for further research, and to be an ongoing platform for technology transfer, no matter which form of OSS is being pursued.

OSS 2012 accepts submissions in the following categories: research papers, industry papers, formal tool demonstrations, lightning talks and posters. OSS 2012 also invites proposals for tutorials and workshops, submissions to the doctoral symposium, and submissions of panels. Accepted papers will be included in the conference proceedings, which are published by Springer. The major conference theme is long-term sustainability with OSS.


Topics of Interest
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OSS sustainability
- Sustainability models of OSS
- Building sustainable OSS communities
- Role of OSS in ICT and sustainable development
- Mining sustainability related data from OSS communities
- Experience reports and lessons on sustainable OSS ecosystems

OSS as innovation
- Adoption/ use / acceptance of OSS
- Dissemination / redistribution / crowdsourcing of OSS systems
- Expanding scientific research and technology development methods through openness
- Adopting innovation in OSS projects

OSS practices and methods
- OSS and traditional / agile development methods
- OSS and decentralized development
- Knowledge and documentation management in OSS

OSS technologies
- OSS over the Internet
- Security of OSS
- Interoperability / portability / scalability of OSS
- Open standards / open data / open cloud / open hardware / open exhibits
- Reuse in OSS
- OSS for entertainment
- OSS for education
- Architecture and design of OSS

Economic / organizational / social issues on OSS
- Economic analysis of OSS
- Business models of OSS
- Maturity models of OSS
- OSS in public sector
- OSS intellectual property, copyrights and licensing
- Non-Governmental Organizations and OSS


Important Dates (Deadlines)
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Submissions due: March 9, 2012

Workshop proposals: March 16, 2012

Panels and tutorials proposals: May 25, 2012

Results to authors: April 13, 2012

Camera-ready copy due: May 11, 2012

Early registration: June 15, 2012


Submission
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Upload contributions in PDF format at http://oss2012.org/.


Organization
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General Chairs:
Walt Scacchi, University of California, Irvine, USA
Tommi Mikkonen, Tampere University of Technology, Finland

Program Chairs:
Imed Hammouda, Tampere University of Technology, Finland
Björn Lundell, University of Skövde, Sweden

Local Organizing Chairs:
Said Ouerghi, University of Manouba, Tunisia
Khaled Sammoud, University of Tunis el Manar, Tunisia