<s>
The	O
state	O
of	O
Kerala	O
,	O
in	O
India	O
has	O
had	O
an	O
active	O
Free	B-Application
software	I-Application
community	O
since	O
early	O
1980s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
initial	O
users	O
were	O
those	O
who	O
started	O
using	O
TeX	B-Application
in	O
the	O
city	O
of	O
Thiruvananthapuram	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Subsequently	O
Free	B-Application
software	I-Application
users	O
groups	O
were	O
formed	O
in	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
different	O
cities	O
like	O
Thiruvananthapuram	O
,	O
Kochi	O
and	O
around	O
engineering	O
colleges	O
in	O
the	O
state	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Free	B-Application
software	I-Application
community	O
in	O
Kerala	O
was	O
instrumental	O
in	O
creating	O
a	O
policy	O
environment	O
at	O
the	O
state	O
government	O
level	O
that	O
was	O
biased	O
towards	O
Free	B-Application
software	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
government	O
of	O
Kerala	O
policy	O
on	O
Free	B-Application
software	I-Application
gives	O
first	O
preference	O
to	O
Free	B-Application
and	I-Application
Open	I-Application
Source	I-Application
software	I-Application
for	O
its	O
IT	O
requirements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
state	O
claims	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
only	O
state	O
in	O
the	O
world	O
where	O
IT	O
education	O
is	O
imparted	O
over	O
a	O
Free	B-Application
software	I-Application
operating	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Government	O
also	O
encourages	O
projects	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Simputer	O
that	O
is	O
low	O
cost	O
,	O
based	O
on	O
open	O
software	O
,	O
and	O
attuned	O
to	O
the	O
needs	O
of	O
the	O
common	O
man.In	O
2007	O
,	O
government	O
of	O
Kerala	O
released	O
its	O
ICT	O
policy	O
where	O
one	O
of	O
its	O
objectives	O
was	O
to	O
mandate	O
appropriate	O
use	O
of	O
Free	B-Application
Software	I-Application
in	O
all	O
ICT	O
initiatives.The	O
Government	O
realizes	O
that	O
Free	B-Application
Software	I-Application
presents	O
a	O
unique	O
opportunity	O
in	O
building	O
a	O
truly	O
egalitarian	O
knowledge	O
society	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Government	O
will	O
take	O
all	O
efforts	O
to	O
develop	O
Free	B-Application
Software	I-Application
and	O
Free	O
Knowledge	O
and	O
shall	O
encourage	O
and	O
mandate	O
the	O
appropriate	O
use	O
of	O
Free	B-Application
Software	I-Application
in	O
all	O
ICT	O
initiatives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
two	O
prominent	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
mailing	O
lists	O
and	O
communities	O
around	O
these	O
mailing	O
lists	O
in	O
Kerala	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
is	O
around	O
the	O
Free	B-Application
Software	I-Application
Users	I-Application
Group	I-Application
,	I-Application
Thiruvananthapuram	I-Application
and	O
the	O
other	O
is	O
the	O
Indian	O
Libre	O
User	O
Group	O
,	O
Kochi	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
primary	O
activities	O
of	O
the	O
users	O
groups	O
were	O
around	O
offering	O
support	O
to	O
Free	B-Application
software	I-Application
users	O
and	O
in	O
running	O
technology	O
and	O
awareness	O
sessions	O
for	O
the	O
public	O
and	O
in	O
institutions	O
and	O
running	O
install	O
fests	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
the	O
years	O
several	O
government	O
entities	O
in	O
the	O
state	O
of	O
Kerala	O
switched	O
/	O
started	O
significantly	O
using	O
Free	B-Application
software	I-Application
solutions	O
in	O
their	O
operations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2008	O
,	O
the	O
Kerala	O
State	O
Electricity	O
Board	O
moved	O
to	O
a	O
Free	B-Application
software	I-Application
platform	O
called	O
ORUMA	O
to	O
run	O
their	O
billing	O
operations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Kerala	O
Khadi	O
and	O
Village	O
Industries	O
Board	O
moved	O
to	O
a	O
Free	B-Application
software	I-Application
platform	O
built	O
by	O
Keltron	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ICFOSS	O
is	O
an	O
autonomous	O
agency	O
set	O
up	O
by	O
the	O
Government	O
of	O
Kerala	O
in	O
2011	O
with	O
the	O
mandate	O
of	O
popularizing	O
Free	B-Application
and	I-Application
Open	I-Application
Source	I-Application
Software	I-Application
for	O
universal	O
use	O
;	O
consolidating	O
the	O
early	O
FOSS	O
work	O
done	O
in	O
Kerala	O
;	O
and	O
networking	O
with	O
different	O
nations	O
,	O
communities	O
and	O
governments	O
to	O
collaboratively	O
promote	O
FOSS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SPACE	O
is	O
a	O
not-for-profit	O
society	O
which	O
has	O
been	O
working	O
closely	O
with	O
the	O
Government	O
and	O
several	O
of	O
the	O
government	O
departments	O
and	O
agencies	O
in	O
driving	O
Free	B-Application
software	I-Application
adoption	O
in	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
agency	O
has	O
also	O
been	O
running	O
a	O
center	O
called	O
INSIGHT	O
which	O
is	O
actively	O
pursuing	O
taking	O
Free	B-Application
software	I-Application
to	O
the	O
differently	O
abled	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SMC	B-Application
is	O
a	O
Free	B-Application
software	I-Application
collective	O
which	O
works	O
in	O
the	O
space	O
of	O
Indic	O
language	O
computing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SMC	B-Application
is	O
the	O
upstream	O
maintainers	O
for	O
Malayalam	O
fonts	O
and	O
tools	O
for	O
popular	O
GNU/Linux	O
based	O
operating	O
systems	O
such	O
as	O
Fedora	O
and	O
Debian	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
also	O
maintain	O
localizations	O
for	O
Free	B-Application
Software	I-Application
Desktops	O
(	O
GNOME/KDE	O
)	O
and	O
applications	O
such	O
as	O
Firefox	B-Application
and	O
Libre	B-Application
Office	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kerala	O
hosts	O
a	O
regular	O
international	O
conference	O
on	O
Free	B-Application
Software	I-Application
which	O
runs	O
once	O
every	O
2	O
–	O
4	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
conference	O
is	O
done	O
with	O
the	O
involvement	O
of	O
the	O
Government	O
of	O
Kerala	O
and	O
the	O
Free	B-Application
software	I-Application
community	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
International	O
Center	O
for	O
Free	B-Application
and	I-Application
Open	I-Application
Source	I-Application
Software	I-Application
(	O
ICFOSS	O
)	O
has	O
been	O
responsible	O
for	O
organizing	O
the	O
last	O
two	O
editions	O
of	O
the	O
conference	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
National	O
Institute	O
of	O
Technology	O
Calicut	O
conducts	O
an	O
annual	O
Free	B-Application
software	I-Application
conference	O
called	O
the	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
held	O
on	O
the	O
campus	O
during	O
the	O
month	O
of	O
February/March	O
every	O
year.After	O
a	O
gap	O
of	O
3	O
years	O
due	O
to	O
COVID-19	O
FOSSMeet'23	O
is	O
scheduled	O
to	O
be	O
held	O
from	O
February	O
10th	O
to	O
12th	O
.	O
</s>
