Open Water Symposium – 28 - 31 October 2019 Using free and/or open-source software as sustainable tools to support water resources management in all sectors of activity

 UNESCO is organizing from 28 to 31 October 2019 in Rabat, Morocco, an Open Water Symposium dedicated to African and Arab countries. During this event, several specialists will showcase open and/or free software dedicated to various aspects of water resources management, and will provide training sessions to selected participants (decision-makers, government representatives, students, professors and researchers, etc.).

This Open Water Symposium is in line with the work of the Global Open Water Network, which aims at promoting Joint Research, Development and Education on Open Source software and Open data for Integrated Water Resources Management. Integrated modelling tools have becoming important tools for water resources management, but their use has been limited due to costly licences and lack of data, especially in developing countries. With the Global Open Water Network, we aim at promoting open source software and open data by offering training (e-learning and workshops), and cloud services providing easy access to and easy use of computer infrastructures, data and open source software for water resources applications. For more information, click here.(link is external)

 Objectives of the Open Water Symposium

• Presenting and further access to and use of free and/or open-source software, with the aim of increasing openness of content, technology and processes;
• Training various actors of the water sector on these software to improve water resources management as well as sustainable water security and peace;
• Expanding access to information, knowledge and technologies to support water resources management.