Ospyn, an Indo-Singaporean company with a proven track record in major e-governance projects, signed an agreement with Openinside, a Bahrain ICT provider, on the sidelines of a major ICT conference being held in the Kingdom.

The MoU is focused around working together to support the provision and utilisation of open-source technologies, ahead of a potential joint venture being established in the future, said a top official after signing the deal at 'Meet ICT Bahrain 2012' organised by Gulf Future Business at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre on Monday.

"Bahrain has long been a leader in supporting technology investment and innovation, which encouraged us to seek a Bahrain partner to expand our Mena region operations and specifically target expansion of open-source technology in the region," remarked Prasadu Varghese, the MD and CEO of Ospyn.

"We are delighted to have found a like-minded and committed partner in Openinside, and we look forward to a long and successful relationship," he noted.

“We are also thankful to the team at Bahrain Economic Development Board, who supported us during the whole process, facilitated the initial meeting with Openinside during the Gitex exhibition in October, and have continued to support both firms as we’ve worked towards the agreement announced today,” he added.

Kamal bin Ahmed, the Minister of Transportation and acting chief executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), who attended and spoke at the official opening of the conference, said, “This announcement is testament to how events such as MEET ICT provide a great opportunity for local, regional and international companies to meet and explore potential partnerships, as well as providing a platform to view the strong infrastructure we have in Bahrain and recent developments that have been made in this sector.”

The two-day conference will see key industry professionals, government officials and high-level decision makers discuss major issues concerning the ICT sector in the Middle East.

The theme of this year’s conference, “Leading Business Growth, Through ICT Advancements” is being covered through the various sessions and panel discussions, looking at the gaps in the market for new supply, the requirements of the Gulf market in general, and Bahrain in particular, and how to meet the needs of these markets.

The line-up of leading international participants at the conference includes Microsoft, Oracle, and Cisco, in addition to over 35 Bahraini, Arab and international speakers, who all have outstanding contributions in the industry.

Government representatives from Bista, eGov, Mumtalakat, EDB and TRA also attended many of the sessions and roundtables of the conference.-TradeArabia News Service