Dear all,<br>Good idea.<br> 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.<br><br>John.<br><br><b><i>Gakiria <gakiria@gmail.com></i></b> wrote:<blockquote class="replbq" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"> Dear All,<br><br>Came across the info below and thought it might be of interest to us.<br><br>Regards<br><br>Andrew<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">->>> SA Government Goes Open Source>>>>>> Sumayya Ismail and Sapa | Johannesburg, South Africa>>> 27 February 2007 09:32>>><br> <div><div class="Wj3C7c"><br>>>> South Africa is joining countries such as Brazil, India and Uganda in<br> >>> implementing open-source software in all government departments -- and<br> >>>
getting rid of widely used Microsoft Windows desktop programmes that<br> >>> come with expensive licences.<br> >>><br> >>> Open-source software can be shared by many users without a need for<br> >>> licences. The actual code can be accessed by anyone to make changes and<br> >>> adapt it to different situations.<br> >>><br> >>> A Cabinet-approved policy and strategy to implement such software will<br> >>> lower administration costs and enhance local IT skills, Themba Maseko,<br> >>> head of the Government Communication and Information System, said last<br> >>> week.<br> >>><br> >>> "All new software developed for or by the government will be based on<br> >>> open<br> >>> standards, and government will itself migrate current software to Foss<br> >>> [free and open-source software]," he told a media briefing at<br> >>> Parliament.<br>
>>><br> >>> By April, a project office will be set up by the Department of Science<br> >>> and<br> >>> Technology, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, and the<br> >>> State Information Technology Agency to ensure the smooth implementation<br> >>> of<br> >>> the new strategy.<br> >>><br> >>> Karl Fischer, the government's open-source project manager, says some<br> >>> government departments have already been using open-source software for<br> >>> "back-end" processes such as mail servers.<br> >>><br> >>> He said the new strategy will place open-source software in all areas of<br> >>> government. From mail servers to desktop applications such as word<br> >>> processors, there will be a move towards Linux-operated open-source<br> >>> software.<br> >>><br> >>> Petition<br> >>> Last year,
Sangonet and other NGOs petitioned the government and<br> >>> Minister<br> >>> of Public Service and Administration Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi to adopt<br> >>> an<br> >>> open-source software policy following a declaration signed at the 2005<br> >>> Go<br> >>> Open Source conference at the Sandton Convention Centre.<br> >>><br> >>> The petition was endorsed by the Centre for Policy Studies, the Freedom<br> >>> of<br> >>> Expression Institute and the Institute for Security Studies, among<br> >>> others.<br> >>><br> >>> It urged the government "to take a stronger, direct leadership role to<br> >>> the<br> >>> benefit of all". The government accounts for more than 50% of the<br> >>> country's ICT use and should set a precedent that favours open source<br> >>> and<br> >>> its underlying principles, it added.<br>
>>><br> >>> "As a developing country, South Africa, along with all the countries on<br> >>> the African continent, needs you and our government to act as agents of<br> >>> positive change in our society and trigger shifts in the ICT market<br> >>> dynamics, in order to favour the supply of local ICT content, support,<br> >>> skills and service providers, and to reduce our long-standing dependence<br> >>> on imports and the negative effects created by this dependence," the<br> >>> petition stated.<br> >>><br> >>> It further held that in the spirit of broad-based black economic<br> >>> empowerment, the government had a responsibility to implement<br> >>> open-source<br> >>> software and make it easier for other, smaller ICT users to access the<br> >>> hardware and technical skills needed to sustain it.<br> >>><br> >>> David Barnard,
director of Sangonet, says it is possible the petition<br> >>> prompted the government to implement open-source software. However, the<br> >>> decision had been "brewing within government" for a while, he said.<br> >>><br> >>> Fischer confirms that it was an internal government decision to<br> >>> implement<br> >>> open-source software fully. But, he added: "Obviously we do listen to<br> >>> what<br> >>> [civil society] have to say."<br> >>><br> >>> Benefits<br> >>> Government personnel will be trained to use the new software at the<br> >>> Meraka<br> >>> Institute's training centres throughout the country. Open-source<br> >>> training<br> >>> materials are also freely available, making them more affordable and<br> >>> accessible to users.<br> >>><br> >>> Despite these training requirements and other initial
costs, Fischer<br> >>> says<br> >>> open-source software will be more affordable in the long term. "Our<br> </div></div>>>> hardware won't need upgrading
but it would have needed upgrading if<br> <div class="Ih2E3d">>>> we<br> >>> switched to Windows Vista. Linux will work out cheaper."<br> >>><br> >>> The cost of Linux is significantly less than that of the Microsoft<br> >>> licences the government has been paying, he says, although he declined<br> >>> to<br> >>> give the actual cost of the new operating system, as it will only be<br> >>> implemented fully by December this year.<br> >>><br> >>> "Because the whole open-source community is backing us, we can harness<br> >>> the<br> >>> whole community to help us," Fischer says. "People are very keen to help<br> </div>>>> out where they can
and where they can't, we will have to
get the<br> <div class="Ih2E3d">>>> necessary skills, and we have the funds for it."<br> >>><br> >>> Pfungwa Serima, MD of Microsoft South Africa, says the software giant<br> >>> fully supports the standards on which open-source software is based, as<br> >>> it<br> >>> is "in line with our software development strategy in enabling<br> >>> interoperability between software from multiple vendors, thus allowing<br> >>> customers to choose the application for their specific requirements".<br> >>><br> >>> Judgement reserved<br> >>> Though "on-the ground" institutions and training centres are already set<br> >>> up, Sangonet's Barnard says he will reserve judgement until he sees the<br> >>> initial roll-out plans. "This is a huge opportunity for South Africa to<br> </div>>>> make it work
but it may be one of those decisions that were<br> <div
class="Ih2E3d">>>> undertaken,<br> >>> but the follow-through is just not there."<br> >>><br> >>> Fischer says that along with a cut in costs, the open-source strategy<br> >>> will<br> >>> also foster inter-community development, transparency and sharing, and<br> >>> build local skills to enhance and support the new software. "And,<br> >>> instead<br> >>> of giving money away to multinationals, we are keeping it and putting it<br> >>> to use internally."<br> >>><br> >>> However, Barnard says a major challenge is the lack of public<br> >>> understanding of the principles of open-source software.<br> >>><br> >>> "The important thing is for people to understand the economic, social<br> >>> and<br> </div>>>> other values we could derive from it
and in the bigger mindset is the<br> <div class="Ih2E3d">>>> creation
of an information society in the country. [We need] proper<br> </div>>>> understanding
the capacity, expertise and political will to do<br> <div class="Ih2E3d">>>> something<br> >>> to implement it."<br> >>><br> >>> However, the strategy does "look good on paper", he adds, and its<br> >>> implementation will "say to the world that South Africa is -- in a<br> >>> national, political and strategic way -- committed to open source".<br> >>><br> >>> SAPA.<br> >>> --<br> >>><br> >>><br> >><br> ><br> ><br> <br> </div></div> _______________________________________________<br>kictanet mailing list<br>kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke<br>http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet<br><br>This message was sent to: ngethe.kariuki2007@yahoo.co.uk<br>Unsubscribe or change your options at
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