News from January 2005 to May 2005
ISOC-Bulgaria has updated the website of the Bulgarian Big Brother Awards and took the
initiative for the content management and further updates. There were created new sections
on the website and an automatic form for the nominations. ISOC-Bulgaria awaits replies from
the invited persons whose are going to form the jury.
http://bg.bigbrotherawards.org/
Internet Society – Bulgaria sent request for accreditation for participation at the
PrepCom-2 of the Tunis Phase(17-25 February 2005) WSIS conference in Geneva.
http://www.itu.int/wsis/preparatory2/pc2/index.html
ISOC-Bulgaria sent the translated Bulgarian version of the Creative Commons (CC) License
to the Creative Commons Corporation for approval. ISOC-Bulgaria is awaiting for the official
approval to continue its planned activities on launching the CC.
As a result from the Steering committee meeting of the project “Support to e-government
initiatives based on the Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) at the local (municipality) level
in the South-eastern Europe”, ISOC-Bulgaria prepared a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
between the interested parties in the development and implementation of the e-Governance in
Bulgaria – Internet Society Bulgaria and the Coordination Center for Information,
Communication and Management Technologies (CCICMT). The aim of the MoU parties is to
contribute in initiatives for the development of the Information society, implementation of
the Bulgarian e-Government Strategy and to implement free/open source applications at
municipal level. The MoU idea was accepted as a good one by the chairman of the CCICMT
during the SC meeting.
ISOC-Bulgaria received a gratitude letter from the Bulgarian Chief Prosecutor, Mr. Nikola
Firchev, in order to express his recognition for the strong civil position of ISOC-Bulgaria
and its signals sent to alert the prosecution for illegal monopoly actions of Microsoft
Bulgaria.
At the end of December, 2004, the Chairman of ISOC-Bulgaria Mr. Veni Markovski sent two
separated alerts – one to the Competition Protection Commission and second to the Customers
and Trade Protection Commission about the changes in the support conditions for the serial
port digital signature readers, offered by the authorized dealers “Information services” PLC
and “Bankservice”.
The signals are covering serious violation of the “Competition Protection Act”.
http://portal.bg/news.php?cat=main&read=20042812001
ISOC-Bulgaria prepared and distributed a press-release to the media about the starting of
Bulgarian Big Brother Awards Nomination period. Civil society was invited to nominate the
institution, company or public personality, who most of all violated the Human rights, or
provided illegal surveillance, wiretapping, etc. As a result of this appeal, there were
collected 14 Nominations until Jan.21.
ISOC-Bulgaria initiated and conducted a meeting with Ms. Albena Panainte and Mr. Eugene
Brott from ABA-CEELI Criminal Law Reform Program about launching an initiative for
elaboration of recommendation for proper conduct in Internet, targeting the children and
underage. The other issue was the idea of organizing a workshop on Cybersafety and to invite
Parry Aftab from wiredsafety.org
ISOC-Bulgaria initiated the preliminary activities for organization of ccTLD Workshop for
the South eastern region. The main goal is to get together the ccTLD Administrators from
South East Europe and to provide them the opportunity to exchange experience and
successfully working models, as well as to be informed on the cutting-age technologies, used
in the field of domain administration, to strengthen working relations and build tradition
of best practices exchange. The preliminary document for the meeting has been prepared by
ISOC-Bulgaria.
On Jan, 11th the city of Vratsa joined the FOSS Project, implemented by ISOC-Bulgaria.
The Municipality of Vratsa partly migrated to Free/open source software. The next activity
there will be to perform a training for the employees.
Letters of interest to participate in the FOSS project were received from the
Municipalities of Dryanovo and Belovo.
ISOC-Bulgaria distributed pre-election program, concerning the development of the
Information society to key Bulgarian political parties, among them the socialist-democratic
party, the Movement for Freedom and Rights.
ISOC-Bulgaria was invited to comment the standpoint of International Chamber of Commerce
about the SPAM and the other unsolicited messages, and to propose specific actions for SPAM
prevention.
As a result from the signals to CPC and CTPC, sent by ISOC-Bulgaria, the newspapers
Novinar and Sega Daily posted articles about the problem.
The Institute of Public Administration and European Integration (IPAEI) launched under
the initiative of ISOC-Bulgaria a training for the State administration on Linux basics,
called “Introduction to LINUX OS”
ISOC-Bulgaria's coordinator Dessi Pefeva was interviewd by the newspaper “Business news”.
The commented topics were about the reason of the high – vulnerability of the small
businesses and how they can avoid risks and improve their computer safety without investing
a lot of money. ISOC-Bulgaria were asked about its activities in the field.
On Jan, 20th the Municipality of Belovo also joined the FOSS Project. The experts from
ISOC-Bulgaria installed free/open source software on 19 computers at the municipality.
Trainings are planned for the first week of February. ISOC-Bulgaria cooperated in this
activity with 2 experts from a similar project in Georgia, implemented under the auspices
and funded by OSI Georgia. The experts presented and participated in the process of
migration in order to obtain valuable experience and to achieve best practices.
ISOC-Bulgaria's coordinator Ms. Julia Velkova was interviewed by “Computers” newspaper
about the FOSS initiative, the lessons learned, accumulated experience, the process of
migration, etc. The FOSS project becomes more popular and receives public awareness. The
article is published in the issue 3, 2005.
ISOC-Bulgaria circulated a platform for the development of the Information Society in
Bulgaria to the main political forces - DPS, ODS, and BSP.
ISOC-Bulgaria started the preliminary activities about an initiative to organize a
training in the Estonian e-Government Academy for one representative of each political
force. ISOC-Bulgaria sent invitations and negotiations with the interested parties are in
progress.
On Jan, 26th an article regarding the statement, made by the Minister of the State
Administration in Bulgaria, Mr. Kalchev was published in the most popular online German Magazine Heise.de. The article is pointing that The Bulgarian government does
not want to extend their existing contract for the time being over software licenses of
Microsoft, published in “Trud” newspaper. This is a result of the multitude alerts and
signals made by ISOC-Bulgaria on the case.
The Chairman of ISOC-Bulgaria was invited by the President of the Republic of Bulgaria to
announce officially the report called “Bulgaria 2010? (The Economic Challenges). The
statements made by Veni Markovski was quoted widely by minister of economy and vice-premier
Lidia Shuleva, the chairman of the Bulgarian Industrial Association Bozhidar Danev, etc.
On Jan. 30th ISOC-Bulgaria was invited to BG e-Forum Plovdiv
2005, organized by the regional center of the Bulgarian Socialistic Party and Bulgarian
Socialistic Youth. The event was faced to the e-governance, software liberty, information
society. Veni Markovski spoke about the role of the ruling circles in the development of the
information society, the importance of liberate software. He was interviewed by the local
newspapers and journalists. Dessi Pefeva presented the FOSS project and pointed its
progress. She made parallel on the existing systems and the potential savings possible with
the migrations to free/open source software.
On Feb. 3rd. ISOC-Bulgaria participated at the official ceremony of the 1st National
inquiry “Political Person of the Year”, organized by News.bg.
ISOC-Bulgaria held a meeting with experts from Open Society Institute – Assistance
Foundation in Azerbaijan. They are starting similar project in Azerbaijan and asked about
our experience in implementing FOSS Project. On February 4th the experts took part in the
training of employees in Kardjali, who will be responsible to work with the documents,
received by the website for e-services.
On the 8th of February, the mayor of the Bulgarian Municipality of Kardjali, Mr. Hasan
Azis, officially launched an
e-services web site – http://kardjali.foss.bg The web site is developed by the consultants
of ISOC-Bulgaria, and it is completely on the basis of free and open source software, and
the municipality will not have to pay for licenses or additional software to use it. The
main goal of the web site is to improve and strengthen the communication between the
municipality of Kardjali and the citizens, providing the possibility of electronic
communication channels. The first services offered electronically are for submission of
letters, complaints, requests and for issue of Template 30.
ISOC-Bulgaria finished filling the tool for the Bulgarian content in the website of
Creative Commons. It is going to be alive on March,1st. The official launch of the Creative
Commons is planned for May, 16th, when Larry Lessig is invited to speak about. ISOC-Bulgaria
is organizing the event. Meanwhile, Katitza Pereda from Peru contacted ISOC-Bulgaria to gain
some knowledge on the process of this initiative. ISOC-Bulgaria shall grant its best
practices and experience to help the popularization of Creative Commons.
ISOC-Bulgaria was reached by Brad deGraf from the USAID, contacted ISOC-Bulgaria to ask
for assistance in the implementation of a initiative for “Digital Animation
Capacity-building in Developing Countries”. ISOC-Bulgaria connected some studios in Sofia
with the initiative. A meeting in Sofia is planned for the end of March and ISOC-Bulgaria
will provide coordination and assistance for it.
On 17th February, Julia Velkova from ISOC-Bulgaria made a presentation at the Presidency
about Free and open source software in the administration. The presentation aimed to
introduce what FOSS is, to show the opportunities available through the usage of free/open
software and to present the Bulgarian progress in the field. The presentation was
accompanied with offer for migration to FOSS and relevant training.
On 18th February was held an Organization Committee meeting for determining some issues,
concerning the received nomination for the “Big
Brother Awards” and to determine a date for the official ceremony. It was decided to be
organized a press conference, in order to inform the medias about the forthcoming event, to
explain the necessity of rising the sensitiveness of the civil society about their personal
data and their rights to protect this data. The press conference was set for the 28th
February in Sofia Press.
A Memorandum of Understanding, covering aspects as cooperation in the fields of
e-Governance development, support to e-Government initiatives based on free and open source
software, joint programs and projects, cooperation in regional organizations relating to
e-Governance, organizations of and participation in conferences, symposiums, courses,
workshops, exhibitions and other joint meetings, etc. The MoU was send to the following
organizations: “Free Software Association”, “Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry” and
“Economy Initiative Union”
On 17th February Julia Velkova visited the municipality of Razlog to examine the model of
one-stop shop implemented in Razlog which is an example of Model Municipality. The
achievments of the municipality could be used as a best practices model in FOSS Project.
On 28th February Dessi Pefeva was invited to the National radio “Hristo Botev” program to
comment the topic “Internet frauds”. There were considered specific threads regarding
enticing business offers, received by email, and some useful information how to protect our
data.
On 28th of February was held a press conference about the idea and goals of Big Brother
Awards Bulgaria. During the conference Dessi Pefeva presented the website, created and
maintained by Internet Society Bulgaria – the place, where can be found complete information
about the awards, the process and guidelines for nomination. She also presented the most fascinating
nominations received.
On 28th February European's IDABC programme launched information about the achievements
of ISOC-Bulgaria in the field of FOSS Project. The information was published both as a case study and as a news.
The editor, Ms. Maeva Zebrovski stated that it was a pleasure to work with motivated people.
On 28th February in the Municipality of Vratsa ISOC-Bulgaria's team provided training on
the usage of OpenOffice.org suite for 14 municipal employees. There was also provided a
training for one system administrator and one employee from the documentary department on
how to operate with the e-Services city website, developed by ISOC-Bulgaria. City
authorities are planning to benefit from the website, as its functionality was introduced to
the Deputy Mayor of Vratsa.
On March, 1st. An MoU between
ISOC-Bulgaria and Free Software Association was signed.
The two organizations will work together to organize the visits of Prof. Larry Lessig in
May.
The Chairman of ISOC-Bulgaria, Veni Markovski received by the email a Letter of
Recognition from the office of the Minister of Transport and Communications, Mr. Nikolay
Vassilev. He expresses his gratitude to Veni Markovski for the support and media coverage
concerning the initiative for computerization of the schools in Bulgaria.
ISOC-Bulgaria is going to contribute to the annual Electronic Privacy Information
Center(EPIC) survey of the privacy laws and privacy-related developments in more than 60
countries in the world. The survey is entitled "Privacy and Human Rights" (PHR)
and ISOC-Bulgaria officially will organize the updates for the year passed in the survey, by
the interested and involved in the field organizations.
On March, 3th to 5th Julia Velkova and Veni Markovski from ISOC-Bulgaria participated in
the TOSSAD project (Towards Open Source Software Adoption and Dissemination which is funded
under the EU 6th Framework Program) first meeting in Istanbul. The goal of the meeting was a
presentation of the each partners' planned activities under the TOSSAD Project, as well as
get-acquainted, coordination and management activities.
On March, 5th, Computerworld Bulgaria newspaper issued an article about the launch of the
website for e-Services, granted free to the Municipality of Kardjali by ISOC-Bulgaria.
On March, 8th ISOC-Bulgaria and Bluelink Portal team agreed to sign a Memorandum of
Understanding for future partnership and collaboration.
ISOC-Bulgaria is nominated for the prestige “Development Gateway Award” for its efforts
in popularization and making affordable and accessible the usage of information and
communication technologies (ICT) to improve people's lives in developing countries.
Implemented by ISOC-Bulgaria FOSS Project is the nominee, as an innovative initiative in the
field.
On March, 15th ISOC-Bulgaria is going to participate with presentation on a seminar,
organized by the Ministry of Education, under the project for computerization of the
schools, according the initiative “Training for teachers”. The presentation is going to be
about “Free/open source software – opportunities, benefits, solutions” and aims to point at
the future perspectives, both for the institution and for the students, related to the
knowledge and usage of FOSS.
On 17th and 18th of March Dessi Pefeva is going to represent Bulgaria and the Project
Lead ISOC-Bulgaria, who is implementing and developing the Creative Commons License
translation and localization in Bulgaria, at the 1st European Creative Commons Conference in Amsterdam,
Netherlands. Accordingly prepared Creative Commons Bulgaria Overview is going to be included
in the Country report.
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what's
new
Sofia, January 06, 2006 
Prime Minister Stanishev (left)
talks to future Chief Prosecutor Velchev (right) and Supreme Court judge Belaselkov (middle) about the
IT policy of Bulgaria and how to combat cyber crime.
Sofia, November 21, 2005
Sofia, Sept. 15th, 2005
Sofia, August 16th, 2005
Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov is member of the Internet Society.
He's the second Bulgarian President in a row to join the organisation. Mr. Parvanov
joined ISOC in May 2001, while he was head of the Bulgarian Socialist Party. His
relations with ISOC date as back as 1997, when ISOC-Bulgaria supported the socialist
party during difficult time period.
Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov is member of the Internet Society.
He's the second Bulgarian President in a row to join the organisation. Mr. Parvanov
joined ISOC in May 2001, while he was head of the Bulgarian Socialist Party. His
relations with ISOC date as back as 1997, when ISOC-Bulgaria supported the socialist
party during difficult time period.
