Over 800 people were in attendance in Brasilia for the opening ceremony of CONSEGI as more people continued to stream in throughout the day. According to Sandra Sipp (Coordinator of Social Communication for SERPRO) over 2000 people registered to attend the conference, including high-ranking Brazilian officials such as Minister of Science and Technology Sérgio Rezende, Minister of the General Secretary of the Presidency Luiz Dulci and many other government officials from all over Latin America. The event is free and open for everyone and on the first floor is an all-Linux computer lab. There is also an on-going workshop showing people how to recycle computers by replacing hardware and using free software.

This event is a unique free software gathering in that it is bringing together public officials who have been working hard to implement free software solutions within their governments as a way to benefit society at large. One of the major topics in the debates and panels is how IT solutions can be used to create more transparency between the state and the public it is supposed to serve. These initiatives promote democracy in a way that is truly foreign to many people in the United States in that they use technology to give citizens easy access to information about government funding and work, allowing them to follow it and be a part of the political process that affects their lives.

The second day of CONSEGI includes 14 workshops, a panel about Digital Inclusion projects and presentations about using free software for remote education projects.