We are delighted to announce that the next edition of Open Source Conference Albania is taking place in the warm city of Tirana on 16th & 17th of May 2020.

If you are looking forward to spending a weekend fully dedicated to open source software and culture, meeting up with friends from different communities, hosting a talk, workshop or meetup on a topic you are passionate about, while enjoying the nice weather and great food in the city, come and join us in Tirana, Albania.

About OSCAL: OSCAL (Open Source Conference Albania) is the first annual conference in Albania organized to promote software freedom, open source software, free culture and open knowledge. The Conference will gather free libre open source technology users, developers, academics, governmental agencies and people who share the idea that software should be free and open for the local community and governments to develop and customize to its needs; that knowledge is a communal property and free and open to everyone.

This is the 7th edition of the conference. As we always try to bring new year we have been proud to have a variety in our sessions

• broad range of technical topics
• over 90 hours of sessions
• over 70 diverse speakers
• more than 20 exhibitors
• exclusive city tour
• hackerspace parties
• diverse and inclusive environment

This year theme is: Internet Freedom FTW

For years, netizens have praised the collaborative tools empowered from the internet and the decentralized character of the network of networks. At the same time, hacktivists and whistle-blowers have warned us about the raising interest in controlling, filtering and censoring the internet as we know it.

Unfortunately, our biggest fears are becoming a reality. We read more and more reports about net neutrality being lost, massive surveillance operations being conducted, domain names being blocked, news outlets being censored and governments are fighting tools like encryption. A disturbing phenomena happening in Albania, the Balkans and also worldwide. The World Wide Web, an amazing tool used to share knowledge, information and one of the fastest communication tools is now being used against us and we need to act!

It has to start somewhere;
It has to start sometime;
What better place than OSCAL in Tirana?
What better time than 16-17 May 2020?
OSCAL 2020: presentations, workshops, community meetups and info booths gathered for #InternetFreedom

Participation and attendance is totally free, though the organizers gratefully accept donations andsponsorship. Further details and calls for participation will be announced in the coming weeks.

Call for proposals is open until 1st of April: https://cfp.openlabs.cc/oscal-2020/cfp

Contact information:

• website: oscal.openlabs.cc
• email: oscal@openlabs.cc
• twitter: OSCALconf

OSCAL is organized by Open Labs Albania, a non governmental, not for profit organization, dedicated to promote openness, freedom, transparency and decentralization by amplifying its voice as a community altogether.