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Alexandria, Egypt
Proposal for OOoCon


Section 1 – Mandatory Information

Proposed Date(s)

June is recommended were it is the summer time, for reservations please check this link.

Location (country, city)

Egypt, Alexandria.

Bibliotheca Alexandrina is located on a superb site on the historic eastern harbor of Alexandria, almost exactly where the old library and the royal palace of the Ptolemies once stood, the complex comprises three main elements: the pre-existing conference center, the planetarium and the new building.

Bibliotheca Alexandrina is a center of excellence that has be hosted several international events in different fields and Wikimania 2009 was one of the latest related events inside its well equipped Conference Center.

Special visa or entry requirements (e.g. vaccinations)

Most visitors are not required to have a visa prior to coming to Egypt, as it can be obtained at the country's ports of entry. The citizens of the following countries are required to be in possession of a pre-arrival visa:

Afghanistan, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bosnia-Herzegovina, China, Croatia, Georgia, Hong Kong(BN(O) only), India, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz, Lebanon, Macedonia, Malaysia, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Pakistan, Palestine, The Philippines, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Sri-Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, and Tunisia.

However, for the best information concerning visas, we recommend you to contact the Egyptian embassy or consulate in your country. Check the list of Egyptian embassies in various countries. A Visa would normally cost between $15 and $90 USD, depending on the applicant's nationality (about $20 for US citizen). Those in possession of a residence permit in Egypt are not required to obtain an entry visa if they leave the country and return to it within the validity of their residence permit or within six months, whichever period is less. For Full Information: The Egyptian Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Conference venue(s) (e.g. university campus, municipal buildings)

Bibleotheca Alexandina, Alexandria, Egypt.

Conference facilities (e.g. WiFi, video streaming/recording)

Conference Center

The Small Theater

The Delegates Hall

Lectures Hall

The Auditorium

Multipurpose Hall

Accommodation (especially any low cost hostels etc)

near by the bibliotheca, there are number of low-cost hotels such as (Ramsis) 3 stars hotel 20 mins walking distance away of the BA costs 120 EGP for double room. very nice people and trusted as well and we have deals with them many times before.

External transport links (nearest airport(s))

Nozha Airport

This airport doesnt accommodate all the airlines only ( Kuwait airlines, Lufthansa, Egyptair, Olympic , Aljazeera, El-arabia, Royal Jordanian) this airport is 30 mins away of the BA taxi can cost from 10 to 15 EGP.

Borg Al arab airport

This airport is 1:30 hrs away of the BA and very far and airport taxi will cost around 100 EGP otherwise they can take a mini bus for 4 to 6 EGP drop in Raml station and from there a taxi for 3 to 4 pounds with luggages can be taken.

Plus Cairo International Airport (3 hours away from Alexandria).

Internal transport links (within city)

Taxies are most familier and cheap relativly we have our organizing team but we are looking to recruit some Alexandrians for on-sites and logistics.

Team Lead (main contact person)

Motaz M. Elewa

Team Members

All members should be willing and able to commit at least 3 hours per day to planning the conference during the last two weeks before OOoCon

group of Ofok NGO affiliated members with the partnership of specialized and experienced volunteers.

Local events that are taking place in parallel (or immediately before/after)

CT4ALL Project: ICT4All is an innovative project that is budding from Ofok Human Development Initiative (OHDI) that is intended to contribute to the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D). Bringing IT literacy to as many people as possible; through offering basic IT courses supported by global IT pillars such as Cisco Systems and Sun Microsystems in the form of completely free scholarships targeting universities undergraduates where students will be taught by an instructor, gain access to the on-line curriculum and Educational Guide for free. Additionally, there will be a discount for Certifying International Exams.

ICT4All project is looking forward to serve 100.000 students, delivering IT Essentials: PC Hardware and Software through the Cisco Networking Academy Program and Open Solaris Operating System 10 Essentials through the Sun Academic Initiative. All certificates will be internationally recognized and issued directly from Cisco and Sun.

Section 2 – Proposal

In 400 words or less, answer this question:

Why should the Community award OOoCon 2009/2010 to your team?

Egypt is a leading country on the field of ICT ON the MENA Region where active communities and organizations from users and developers are formed; working toward improving the ICT culture, specially open source technologies; several youth groups are acting to spread the usage of Open Source Softwares. Hosting OOoCon 2009 and 2010 in Egypt will be a great boost for these efforts and will encourage the usage and the development of the Open Source technologies and OpenOffice.org specially.

Our team is a group of experienced members who have a great believe on the Open Source technology and they are eager to contribute on organizing such an event, which will find hospitality from Egyptian participants, organizers and sponsors.

Choosing Alexandria and Bibliotheca Alexandrina specifically to grantee giving this event its real value and to present the essence of the Egyptian culture and heritage on touristic trips and sites which will make OooCon 2009 and 2010 a unique experience for all participants.

Attachments

A copy of the proposal in PDF