Nir Simionovich has been involved with the Open Source community in Israel since 1997. His involvement with the Open Source community started back in 1997, when he was a student in the Technion-Israel's Technology Institute-in Haifa. Nir quickly became involved in organizing Open Source venues and events, promoting the usage of Linux and Open Source technologies in Israel. In 1998, Nir started working for an IT consulting company (artNET experts Ltd), where he began to introduce Linux-based solutions for enterprises and banks. By the year 2000, Nir had become a SAIR/GNU certified Linux trainer and administrator, slowly educating the future generations of Linux admins. In 2001, Nir moved to the cellular content market, working for a mobile content delivery company (m-Wise Inc.-OTC.BB: MWIS.OB). During his commission at m-Wise, Nir successfully migrated a company that was built purely on Windows 2000 and ColdFusion to open source technologies, such as Mandrake Linux (today Mandriva), Apache Tomcat, and Kannel (open source SMS/WAP gateway). Coming to 2006, Nir had co-founded Atelis (Atelis PLC-AIM: ATEL). Atelis is a Digium distributor and integrator. During the course of 2006, Nir developed an Asterisk-based international operator services platform for Bezeq International, which replaced a Nortel DMS-300 switch. This platform is currently in use by Bezeq International in Israel, serving over 4000 customer a day. In mid 2007, Nir left Atelis to become a freelance Asterisk promoter and consultant. Nir is currently providing Asterisk consulting and development services for various companies, ranging from early-stage start-up companies, through VoIP service providers and VoIP equipment vendors. In his spare time, Nir is the founder of the Israeli Asterisk users group, the website maintainer of the group, and an Asterisk developer, dealing mainly with the localization aspects of Asterisk to Israel. Coming to 2008, Nir's company (Greenfield Technologies Ltd) won the Digium Innovation award at AstriCon 2008, in the pioneer division-for its implementation of a phone-based prayer system, allowing people from around the world to pray at the western wall in Jerusalem.
