Government opts for open source

Hi All.

The article below was written by Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi the South African
Minister of Public service and Administration.

article from itweb

Government opts for open source
http://196.30.226.221/sections/columnists/guestcolumnist/fraser-moleketi0307
04.asp?A=COL&S=Columnists&T=Columnist&O=A
By Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi
Posted: 4 July 2003
The increasing role of information technology in government offers an 
integral tool for the strengthening of state institutions. Last year, at 
the eAfrica Conference, a conference about developing information 
technology in governance on our continent, delegates - both politicians 
and officials - told of the challenges of providing government services 
in countries ravaged by decades of war, famine and political 
instability, where infrastructure is minimal.

Along with IT development comes considerable cost. In a developing 
country like SA, billions are spent on software licences - billions of 
dollars in valuable foreign exchange, money going out the country that 
could be used to build houses, roads, hospitals and schools, are going 
to multi-national companies in order to use their software.

Is there an alternative? Yes, and it is called open source software (OSS).

Government adopts an open source software strategy

SA is now joining a growing list of countries whose governments formally 
recognise the value of OSS. Last month Cabinet approved the OSS strategy 
compiled by the Government IT Officers Council joining a diverse range 
of countries, including Germany, Mexico, China and others in explicit 
recognition and utilisation of OSS.

Not only will we save taxpayers' money directly but because government 
is the country's largest IT user, its adoption of OSS is expected to act 
as stimulus for adoption in other sectors.

The value of OSS

Cost

OSS has the potential to improve the cost and speed of service delivery 
and thereby efficiency in the public service. It can also impact 
positively on quality. Existing OSS can be obtained at low expense and 
then redistributed widely without further payment for licences. This 
creates a potential for significant cost saving. Furthermore, because 
different vendors all have access to the source code, they can compete 
to sell their support services, exercising downward pressure on prices.

Support

As long as there is a market for support, the open source code allows 
anybody to provide it, whereas proprietary software (PS) support is 
dependant on the development company. If that company goes out of 
business, the support can disappear with it.

Security

Some critics maintain that using OSS is a security risk. Real experts 
can allay that fear. In fact, the availability of source code has the 
added advantage of enabling the user organisation to study it, determine 
whether its functioning poses any security risks and amend the software 
if so desired. Furthermore, when new problems are found, solutions are 
available far sooner than with PS, as anyone can examine the problem and 
find its solution.

Versatility

Because the OSS development communities are in general not associated 
with specific platforms, OSS can normally run on different platforms. (A 
platform is either the hardware used to run a programme, or the 
operating system - for example MS Windows - or a combination of the 
two.) Where it cannot, the open source code can make it possible to 
adapt, so that it does function on the desired platform. OSS is in many 
cases able to function on older machines that are no longer suitable for 
running the latest versions of comparable PS.

Forex savings and local development

OSS shifts the expenditure from licensing paid in forex to software 
adaptation and training, which can be done by local service providers.

Potentially better software

The more popular OSS is being used and further developed by many 
individuals across the world. Collectively these user communities tend 
to be able to find and fix flaws in programs faster than a company that 
develops and sells proprietary software, The peer review made possible 
by open source code brings many more minds to bear on the software and 
leads to software which is more error-free and resource-efficient than 
proprietary software.

How is OSS utilisation going to be driven?

Two institutions in the Minister of Public Service and Administration's 
stable that are playing a leading role in OSS development are the State 
IT Agency (SITA) and the Centre for Public Service Innovation.

SITA is committed to establishing an OSS unit that will provide the 
support capacity for OSS applications. The Centre for Public Service 
Innovation has taken on the task of launching a number of demonstrator 
projects, aimed at implementing the OSS development philosophy for a 
selected number of applications, in order to demonstrate how the OSS 
model works in practice.

The process of establishing the "Digital Meraka", the CSIR's new OSS 
Resource Centre, has begun. The centre will strive to stimulate the OSS 
approach in SA and contribute to related efforts on the African 
continent and in the rest of the world.

Government's involvement in OSS

There are different levels of involvement in OSS, ranging from simply 
procuring and using existing OSS to managing and supporting its own OSS 
projects. Government has already for some time used OSS packages that it 
merely procured and implemented. Now we must develop a culture in 
government where new software development proceeds mostly through the 
OSS route. Government will become a software provider to many 
stakeholders, including other governments, enabling them to obtain the 
software easily and with the opportunity to change or develop it further.

Getting the balance right

The vision of the South African government is that a favourable balance 
between software imports and exports will develop.

The way in which IT companies are changing their business models to 
accommodate the emergence of OSS will be an interesting dynamic to 
watch. Already we see proprietary source code being made available 
(albeit under controlled conditions), software been given away to 
specific groups, and upgrades in more rapid, smaller steps. Even if OSS 
does not attract the envisaged following, this opening up of source 
codes by the major companies - as a result of the growing interest in 
open source software – is a significant development.

We are once again willing to look at innovation that will contribute 
towards a better life for our people and the peoples of our continent.

This Linux in Government list is sponsored by Linux Journal.