[ossig] What is OSC CLub?

[Chua Wen Kiat <jiyuu0@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The OSC Club program was conceptualised with a vision of educating young adults in OST (Open Source Technology) through the support of the community. We are attempting to pursue the government's vision to introduce and encourage Malaysians to use OST. Our plan is to educate the tertiary students by giving them the opportunity to work on a Linux distro. We will work with the education sector, the universities and colleges, to be more specific. We believe these are the right target group to acquire the skills as they will not resist to changes in technology. 

We are committed in working with the education sector to produce highly skilled students equipped with OST knowledge and experience to meet the demands of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) industries in Malaysia. It is also a challenge to develop skills strong enough to export Malaysian ICT services to other countries. We will bring the Linux and open source knowledge to the students, by breaking the COST barrier. The members of the club will pass on the knowledge from one to another (seniors to juniors) without any cost element involved. Once it is free, and the students understand its benefits, they will try.

We will be launching the OSC Club in various universities and campus, by inviting all the students to join as members. The proposed benefits to the members of OSC Club are as follows: 

* GNU/Linux CDs - operating systems and applications systems 
* Open Source e-Newsletter - up-to-date news in the Open Source world 
* Workshops - how to use GNU/Linux, Office Productivity, Internet, Multimedia, etc 
* Competitions - portal designing, business plan, hacking, gaming, artwork, etc 
* Seminars - by professional working adults from the ICT industry 
* Activities - installation fest, hangouts, movies, student camps, etc 
* Intercollegiate - interaction with OSC Club members of other universities / colleges 
* Industrial Projects - participation in pilot and commercial projects 
* Certificate - upon completion of 4 workshops 
* Job Opportunities - students with OST may be recommended / referred 
* Extra Income - by assisting us, be a trainer, part-time job assignment, etc 

The perceived value of the above benefits and activities in commercial world may exceed RM1,000. OSC Club is a non-commercial project, with the intention of spreading the OST knowledge throughout the country. The educational institution will also do their bit by providing the members their facilities like lecture rooms, computer labs, AV equipment. 

We plan to introduce the OSC Club to all tertiary educational institutions giving the student-members the opportunity to interact, work on projects together and attend tutorials, workshop and participate in events. We will co-ordinate the activities of the club, provide trainers, provide distros, training material, etc; and eventually hand it over to the students to run it as any other clubs or societies in the universities. The OSC Club will jointly be managed by the students and us and the numbers of members are expected to increase throughout every enrolment session. The educational institution may also supervise the activity of the club. . 

So far we have approached the 15 educational institutions, and the response has been overwhelming. Every educational institutions that we approached, has agreed to operate an OSC Club in their campus. We are targeting a membership of 12,000 higher education students in the first year.

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