Wecena and pro bono work

May 17th, 2009, for immediate release

FSF France [1] and wecena [2] have signed a collaboration agreement the goal of which is to find companies which would be ready to benefit the association, and the scientific and educational projects it supports, through voluntary service involving the labor of its employees between contracts.

Wecena reduces the "numerical fracture of skills" which separates the non-profit world from the business world. It allows partnerships and non-government organizations working in the educational, eleemosynary, or public health sectors to benefit from the work of computer engineers and consultants between contracts at their companies. The latter thus commit themselves to a form of pro bono work at minimal cost since the French tax system grants important tax savings to SSII (Société de Services en Ingénierie Informatique - information technology consulting companies) and to consulting firms that accept to offer their services to non-profits free of charge.

FSF France houses numerous free software projects the GNA.org forge. Let us cite, amongst others, Xenomai [3], Decade [4], Savane [5], and PyVot [6]. These programs could benefit from the support of wecena and thereby from the skills of engineers between contracts. The latter could contribute to the maintenance, administration, and exploitation of GNA.org. For instance, an engineer specialized in development of embedded software-like the software in Wireless Access Points-could contribute his/her expertise to unlock the technological bolts of the Xenomai project. Or, a writer could fill in the gaps for the documentation of Savane, which is essential for the emergence of new methods of collaborative work. All skills have a place in free software.

FSF France therefore encourages all companies interested in the development of their employees between contracts to contact Jean Millerat, social entrepreneur and wecena initiator "so that this intelligence mine might be exploited to the fullest."

References

[1] - http://www.fsffrance.org/

[2] - http://www.wecena.com/

[3] - xenomai

[4] - Decade

[5] - Savane

[6] - PyVot

About Free Software Foundation France

The FSF France (http://www.fsffrance.org/) is a non-profit organization dedicated to all aspects of Free Software. Access to software determines who may participate in a digital society. Therefore the freedoms to use, copy, modify and redistribute software - as described in the Free Software definition - allow equal participation in the information age. Creating awareness for these issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues of the FSF France.

About Wecena

Wecena, a social enterprise initiative, offers information services companies an innovative form of corporate patronage: donate the slack period of engineers between assignments. Wecena makes technological agility accessible to organizations, foundations, and public research centers who are at the cutting edge of social innovation for the public good. Join the projects, which are supported, at http://www.wecena.com/projects.

Press contacts

Loïc Dachary. E-mail : loic@gnu.org Phone : +33 6 64 03 29 07

Jean Millerat. courriel : Jean.FSF@wecena.com Tél : +33 1 77 45 53 44