[kictanet] Fwd: SA Government Goes Open Source

[John Kariuki]

Dear all,
Good idea.
 The ICT Policy contemplated the  use of open source as a component of encouraging growth of local software industry in order to increase competition,access,diversity of choice and to enable users to develop solutions.

John.

Gakiria <gakiria at gmail.com> wrote: Dear All,

Came across the info below and thought it might be of interest to us.

Regards

Andrew

->>> SA Government Goes Open Source>>>>>> Sumayya Ismail and Sapa | Johannesburg, South Africa>>> 27 February 2007 09:32>>>
 
>>> South Africa is joining countries such as Brazil, India and Uganda in
 >>> implementing open-source software in all government departments -- and
 >>> getting rid of widely used Microsoft Windows desktop programmes that
 >>> come with expensive licences.
 >>>
 >>> Open-source software can be shared by many users without a need for
 >>> licences. The actual code can be accessed by anyone to make changes and
 >>> adapt it to different situations.
 >>>
 >>> A Cabinet-approved policy and strategy to implement such software will
 >>> lower administration costs and enhance local IT skills, Themba Maseko,
 >>> head of the Government Communication and Information System, said last
 >>> week.
 >>>
 >>> "All new software developed for or by the government will be based on
 >>> open
 >>> standards, and government will itself migrate current software to Foss
 >>> [free and open-source software]," he told a media briefing at
 >>> Parliament.
 >>>
 >>> By April, a project office will be set up by the Department of Science
 >>> and
 >>> Technology, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, and the
 >>> State Information Technology Agency to ensure the smooth implementation
 >>> of
 >>> the new strategy.
 >>>
 >>> Karl Fischer, the government's open-source project manager, says some
 >>> government departments have already been using open-source software for
 >>> "back-end" processes such as mail servers.
 >>>
 >>> He said the new strategy will place open-source software in all areas of
 >>> government. From mail servers to desktop applications such as word
 >>> processors, there will be a move towards Linux-operated open-source
 >>> software.
 >>>
 >>> Petition
 >>> Last year, Sangonet and other NGOs petitioned the government and
 >>> Minister
 >>> of Public Service and Administration Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi to adopt
 >>> an
 >>> open-source software policy following a declaration signed at the 2005
 >>> Go
 >>> Open Source conference at the Sandton Convention Centre.
 >>>
 >>> The petition was endorsed by the Centre for Policy Studies, the Freedom
 >>> of
 >>> Expression Institute and the Institute for Security Studies, among
 >>> others.
 >>>
 >>> It urged the government "to take a stronger, direct leadership role to
 >>> the
 >>> benefit of all". The government accounts for more than 50% of the
 >>> country's ICT use and should set a precedent that favours open source
 >>> and
 >>> its underlying principles, it added.
 >>>
 >>> "As a developing country, South Africa, along with all the countries on
 >>> the African continent, needs you and our government to act as agents of
 >>> positive change in our society and trigger shifts in the ICT market
 >>> dynamics, in order to favour the supply of local ICT content, support,
 >>> skills and service providers, and to reduce our long-standing dependence
 >>> on imports and the negative effects created by this dependence," the
 >>> petition stated.
 >>>
 >>> It further held that in the spirit of broad-based black economic
 >>> empowerment, the government had a responsibility to implement
 >>> open-source
 >>> software and make it easier for other, smaller ICT users to access the
 >>> hardware and technical skills needed to sustain it.
 >>>
 >>> David Barnard, director of Sangonet, says it is possible the petition
 >>> prompted the government to implement open-source software. However, the
 >>> decision had been "brewing within government" for a while, he said.
 >>>
 >>> Fischer confirms that it was an internal government decision to
 >>> implement
 >>> open-source software fully. But, he added: "Obviously we do listen to
 >>> what
 >>> [civil society] have to say."
 >>>
 >>> Benefits
 >>> Government personnel will be trained to use the new software at the
 >>> Meraka
 >>> Institute's training centres throughout the country. Open-source
 >>> training
 >>> materials are also freely available, making them more affordable and
 >>> accessible to users.
 >>>
 >>> Despite these training requirements and other initial costs, Fischer
 >>> says
 >>> open-source software will be more affordable in the long term. "Our
 

>>> hardware won't need upgrading Â
 but it would have needed upgrading if
 >>> we
 >>> switched to Windows Vista. Linux will work out cheaper."
 >>>
 >>> The cost of Linux is significantly less than that of the Microsoft
 >>> licences the government has been paying, he says, although he declined
 >>> to
 >>> give the actual cost of the new operating system, as it will only be
 >>> implemented fully by December this year.
 >>>
 >>> "Because the whole open-source community is backing us, we can harness
 >>> the
 >>> whole community to help us," Fischer says. "People are very keen to help
 
>>> out where they can Â
 and where they can't, we will have to get the
 >>> necessary skills, and we have the funds for it."
 >>>
 >>> Pfungwa Serima, MD of Microsoft South Africa, says the software giant
 >>> fully supports the standards on which open-source software is based, as
 >>> it
 >>> is "in line with our software development strategy in enabling
 >>> interoperability between software from multiple vendors, thus allowing
 >>> customers to choose the application for their specific requirements".
 >>>
 >>> Judgement reserved
 >>> Though "on-the ground" institutions and training centres are already set
 >>> up, Sangonet's Barnard says he will reserve judgement until he sees the
 >>> initial roll-out plans. "This is a huge opportunity for South Africa to
 
>>> make it work Â
 but it may be one of those decisions that were
 >>> undertaken,
 >>> but the follow-through is just not there."
 >>>
 >>> Fischer says that along with a cut in costs, the open-source strategy
 >>> will
 >>> also foster inter-community development, transparency and sharing, and
 >>> build local skills to enhance and support the new software. "And,
 >>> instead
 >>> of giving money away to multinationals, we are keeping it and putting it
 >>> to use internally."
 >>>
 >>> However, Barnard says a major challenge is the lack of public
 >>> understanding of the principles of open-source software.
 >>>
 >>> "The important thing is for people to understand the economic, social
 >>> and
 
>>> other values we could derive from it Â
 and in the bigger mindset is the
 >>> creation of an information society in the country. [We need] proper
 
>>> understanding Â
 the capacity, expertise and political will to do
 >>> something
 >>> to implement it."
 >>>
 >>> However, the strategy does "look good on paper", he adds, and its
 >>> implementation will "say to the world that South Africa is -- in a
 >>> national, political and strategic way -- committed to open source".
 >>>
 >>> SAPA.
 >>> --
 >>>
 >>>
 >>
 >
 >
 
 

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