Pillars

Mission & Vision

Mission: To advance the adoption and development of Free/Libre and Open Source Software, support the creation and dissemination of open knowledge, and provide comprehensive education in Information Technology, thereby fostering an open and inclusive society through free communication standards.

Vision: To build a technologically empowered, open, and inclusive society in Kosovo and beyond, where open-source principles drive innovation, collaboration, and equitable access to knowledge and technology.

Mission & Values through 3 Essential Pillars

November 2024

FLOSS Promotion and Advocacy To advocate for open-source policies, educate the public on the benefits of FLOSS, and work with government and institutions to promote transparency and collaboration in software development. It involves hosting events, creating campaigns, and publishing materials to spread the FLOSS philosophy Open knowledge/education and Skill Development Hands-on learning, offering tools, infrastructure, workshops, courses, and mentorship to help people and teams grow both professionally and personally. Community Building/Empowerment/Engagement Creates space and opportunities for individuals to contribute, share ideas, and work together on shared goals. It includes organizing events, providing resources, and empowers community members to take initiative and lead projects.

Expanded Version

Pillar 1: FLOSS Promotion and Advocacy

Free Libre Open Source Software Kosova (FLOSSK) is a non-governmental organization based in Prishtina, established in 2009 to support, promote, and develop free and open source software. Additionally, we contribute to open and participatory knowledge, education in information technologies through open courseware, and the development of open standards, culture, and an open society, facilitated by free communication.

Since its founding, FLOSSK has been involved in bringing the IT community closer to free and open source projects by organizing yearly conferences, workshops, meetups, and actively participating in public policy development.

Advocacy

1. Dokumenti i Qeverise
2. DuMeDite

Promotion

Local Chapters

WIKI -

OSM

OSGeo

Local User Groups

InfoSec

Linux (Operating Systems)

Wordpress

Open Hardware

AI

Programming Languages ( Python / PHP / etc)

Etc ..

Partner User Group

AWS

Google Developer Group

Pillar 2: Open Knowledge / Education & Skill Development

Research and Development (R&D) is a crucial component of FLOSSK because it drives innovation, problem-solving, and technological advancement within the organization's mission of promoting free and open-source software. FLOSSK leverages R&D to explore new ways to localize technology, improve IT education, and develop open knowledge platforms that address local and regional challenges in Kosovo.

Notable projects

In - House R&D

Hackerspace Labs - Electronics Lab

Hackerspace Labs - Woodworking Lab

Hackerspace Labs - Metalworking Lab

Brewing Lab

R&D Partnerships

Geography Lab - University of Prishtina FSHMN

Skender Luarasi Techincal School, Suhareke

Various forms of training programmes have been developed which contribute and promote the usage of Open Source Technologies in order to increase the skills of participants for the competitive labor market; as well as contributing to our objective in Open Courseware by collaborating with Higher Educational Institutions.

• Trainings and Workshops (Various Open Source Technologies, QGIS training, Drone usage, Data Science)
• Bootcamp (structured trainings)
• Rapid Prototyping (R&D, Product development using Open Source)

Pillar 3: Community Building / Empowerment / Engagement

One of the organizational strengths that has been refined over the years is Event Organising, which branches in two parts - Commercial events/activities supported by various donors, and “In-House” events that are tightly related to our core activities (FLOSSK Brand) such as Meetups, Usergroups, and Tech & Beer.

Notable events

Non Commercial Conferences / Events

Local

SFK

Local Chapters Meetups

Tech & Beer

Mapathons

Editathons

etc

International

SotMSEE

Deb Conf

FOSS4G

Commercial Conferences / Events

Tech Camp (1,2)

DSF

Hackathons