MANILA, Philippines -- IBM is being eyed to support a national open source software center that will serve both local software companies and end-users.

The project is being spearheaded by the Cebu Education Development Foundation (CEDF-IT), organizer of the Philippine Open Source Summit later this month in Cebu.

Bonifacio Belen, CEDF-IT executive director, said this open source center will gather stakeholders including multinational firms like IBM, a big supporter of the open source movement.

The project's target launch is around October, in time for the Asia Open Source Software Conference, a bi-annual event founded by Japan-based Center for International Computerization and Cooperation (CICC).

The conference will also be hosted in Cebu and organized by the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT).

Representatives from 21 member-countries will sign a memorandum of agreement on open-source. CICT is representing the country in the CICC.

All of these member-countries have already appointed their respective open source software centers except for the Philippines, according to Belen.

An open source center is envisioned to provide support for local software developers such as in the area of certification, for example. A common perception associated with open-source is the lack of technical support available.

"If we are able to create a body that tests and certifies locally developed applications, it would be a big boost to market adoption," said Belen, who is also involved in an open source software company based in Cebu.

IBM, Belen noted via telephone interview, has thrown its support to a similar initiative in Hong Kong. He is hoping IBM does the same for a Philippine open source center. IBM, he added, is sending a foreign executive to deliver an address during the October conference.

IBM's local office has deferred to comment on this matter but confirmed that it is supporting both open source events to be held in Cebu.