Open source solutions provider Red Hat ( www.redhat.com ) has announced that it will work with six local independent software vendors under the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore's (IDA) Infocomm Local Industry Upgrading Programme (iLIUP), which promotes strategic and mutually beneficial partnerships between Singapore's Infocomm Local Enterprises and multinational companies.

The move is part of Red Hat's Open Source Collaborative Innovation (OSCI) initiative in Singapore. "The OSCI initiative plays an important role in helping Red Hat to build a vibrant open source community globally," said Mr Jim Whitehurst, Red Hat President and Chief Executive Officer.

The six iLIUP partners are:

• C3S, a service provider which specialises in fault tolerant, information assured, mission-critical solutions,
• Cxrus Solutions ( www.cxrus.com ), which is a systems integrator for virtualisation, high-performance computing, Linux, storage and web solutions,
• Ecquaria Technologies ( www.ecquaria.com ), which provides consulting and e-government solutions,
• Malifax Technologies ( www.malifax.com.sg ), which focuses on mobility, data communications, networking and hosted platform solutions,
• Philip Tang & Sons (www.notam.com), which is a multi-channel enabled Internet and mobile solutions provider, and
• Y3 Technologies ( www.y3technologies.com ), which provides innovative solutions for supply chain management and healthcare informatics.

"Open source is a perfect platform for us to develop and commercialise mission critical software, which in turn would make open source applications more attractive for corporations to deploy," said Col (NS) Yun Ta Chun, Managing Director of C3S. "This tie-up will also mean that the company can leverage on Red Hat's global marketing efforts."

Mr Whitehurst (right): The OSCI initiative plays an important role in helping Red Hat to build a vibrant open source community globally.

Citing a Gartner study, Mr Whitehurst said the research company predicts that 80 per cent of applications will have some open source components by 2011. And that is one of the reasons why Malifax Technologies is participating in the programme. "Prior to this, the company was only developing on the Windows platform as the company believed that the market was not ready to accept open source," said Ms Feng Mei Yee, Senior Sales Manager of Malifax Technologies. However, she noted that the market was changing and with Red Hat being more aggressive, the take up for applications running on open source is expected to be greater in future. "This is a good time to be involved in developing open source solutions and to use open source to penetrate the small and medium size enterprises," she added.

In the case of Philip Tang & Sons, providing open source solutions is not new, but this partnership will allow the company to formalise its relationship with Red Hat, said Technical Director Ferdinand Tang.

According to Mr Whitehurst, the OSCI launch in Singapore is "a forerunner of similar programmes that will be launched elsewhere in the region".

Besides partnering local software developers, the other OSCI programmes unveiled are the expansion of the Red Hat Academy in Southeast Asia, the initiation of the Home of Open Source in Singapore and the setting up of Red Hat Open Source Centres.

As part of the Red Hat Academy expansion, Mr Whitehurst announced that Singapore Polytechnic (SP), the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and the Asia Pacific College of the Philippines have joined Bangkok University and Temasek Polytechnic to include Linux Essentials, Linux Networking Administration and Linux Security into their curriculum.

ITE will also host the Home of Open Source, which will bring together open source evangelists, solution developers and users and local Linux user groups for collaborative discussion and innovation. In addition, an SP-Red Hat Training Centre of Open Source Competency will be set up at Singapore Polytechnic and a Red Hat Open Source Development Centre at Temasek Polytechnic.

• For more information on IDA's iLIUP programme, click here .