Prof De's Committee, after consulting the FOSS Community and its leaders, made several recommendations to the Government of Kerala, of which setting up of a nodal organization for supporting and extending Free Software activities in the state, at the same time linking with communities, developers, groups and institutions abroad. Given the fact software is globalized, it was suggested by the FOSS community that this organization is international in character in order to enable ease of working with FOSS communities that span continents.
The Government accepted this recommendation, and began implementation by registering the International Centre for Free and Open Source Software (ICFOSS) in 2009. It began the search for a Director immediately, but the initial attempts did not yield any result. Subsequently, the Government set up a Search Committee, which identified, Mr. Satish Babu, a well-known IT professional and FOSS Advocate with considerable experience in Development & NGO sectors as well as with national & international professional societies. Mr. Satish Babu took over as the first Director of ICFOSS from 1 March 2011, and set up office at Technopark, Trivandrum.
Dr. Jayasankar Prasad C took charge as Director with effect from 1 September 2015. The Governance of ICFOSS is entrusted with the Governing Body appointed by the Government of Kerala (see here for the list of members). . And ICFOSS team details are available here.ICFOSS also constituted an Internal Complaints Committee as per section 4(3) of the Sexual Harassement of Women at Workplace.
ICFOSS today carries out a number of FOSS-related activities in a model that brings together Academia, Industry, Government and the FOSS Community. Activities of ICFOSS presently includes R & D; Support to FOSS software development; FOSS Pilot Programs; technology assistance to Government programs and institutions; Local Language computing; Student FOSS activities; Internet Governance; Studies on FOSS; Exploring FOSS Certification; and Capacity Building of students to enter the FOSS Community.
Swatantra Incubator is an ICFOSS program designed to support innovative startups in IT, IoT, and FOSS technology sectors. It provides a nurturing environment with resources, expertise, funding, mentorship, and networking opportunities to help entrepreneurs develop and commercialize their ideas. The program offers access to software and hardware research labs, as well as pre-incubation and state-of-the-art facilities to overcome common challenges and accelerate growth. Swatantra Incubator has contributed significantly to the IT sector by creating over 400 direct and 500 indirect employment opportunities. Swatantra is considered as one of the associate incubators of Kerala Startup mission.
