Curaçao Open Foundation

The Curaçao Open Foundation (also known as Open Curaçao or Kòrsou Habrí) is a non-profit foundation based in Curaçao that promotes open source software, open standards and open data. It is best known for releasing a Papiamentu spellchecker for OpenOffice and LibreOffice, first published in 2011 with funding from UNESCO, and for organizing workshops, seminars and community projects around free and open technologies. The foundation's website, opencuracao.com, serves as a hub for news, events and resources related to open source in the Caribbean region. It has participated in international initiatives such as Software Freedom Day and has been the subject of a UNESCO survey on open standards, open data and open source in the Caribbean. The organization is run by a volunteer board and remains active in the Curaçao tech community.

The Curaçao Open Foundation, also known as Open Curaçao or Kòrsou Habrí, was established to promote open source software, open standards and open data in Curaçao and the wider Caribbean. Its website, opencuracao.com, has been active since at least the early 2000s, with archived posts dating back to 2002. The foundation gained prominence in 2011 when it released a Papiamentu spellchecker for OpenOffice and LibreOffice, funded by UNESCO. This tool addressed a gap in digital language support for Papiamentu, the native language of Curaçao. In 2013, UNESCO conducted a survey on open standards, open data and open source in the Caribbean, visiting Open Curaçao and interviewing board members including president Marta Dijkhoff, secretary Elly Hellings, treasurer Henk Lubbers, and board member Urso Wieske. The foundation has organized numerous events, including workshops on geolocation and OpenStreetMap, and community projects such as Nos Ta Konektá, which aims to connect youth with technology. It has also participated in Software Freedom Day and other open source advocacy activities. The foundation continues to publish updates on its website, with the latest spellchecker version 2.0 released in 2019.

• Released first version of Papiamentu spellchecker for OpenOffice and LibreOffice with UNESCO funding.

• UNESCO conducted a survey on open standards, open data and open source in the Caribbean, visiting Open Curaçao.

• Launched a new version of the Papiamentu spellchecker at a conference at ICUC.

• Started Nos Ta Konektá project in Ser’i Domi, aimed at youth with no access to technology.

• Organized workshop on geolocation and OpenStreetMap for teachers and interested parties.

• Released version 2.0 of the Papiamentu spellchecker for OpenOffice and LibreOffice.

Non-profit foundation advocating for open source, open standards and open data in Curaçao and the Caribbean.

• Papiamentu spellchecker for OpenOffice and LibreOffice

  Open source spellchecker for the Papiamentu language, first released in 2011 with UNESCO funding, version 2.0 released in 2019.

• Nos Ta Konektá

1. 1Open Curacao / Kòrsou Habrí -opencuracao.com
2. 2UNESCO conducts survey about Open Standards, Open Data and Open Source in the Caribbean. - Open Curacao / Kòrsou Habríopencuracao.com
3. 3Curaçao Open Foundation - Wikidatawikidata.org