regional information and communication...

REGIONAL INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT PROGRAMME (RICTSP)

COMESA Regional FOSS Framework Final Report

Drawn by:

Division of Information and NetworkingCOMESA SecretariatLusaka, ZAMBIA

Prepared by:Wire Lunghabo JamesICT [email protected], Uganda

June, 2009

COMESA Regional FOSS Framework – Consultant's Report 1

mailto:[email protected]

FOSS Study for the COMESA Region - Table of ContentsExecutive Summary...................................................................................................................................41.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................................5

1.0.1 Background..................................................................................................................................51.0.2 Objective......................................................................................................................................51.0.3 Terms of Reference......................................................................................................................61.0.4 Methodology................................................................................................................................6

2.0 REGIONAL FOSS SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS..............................................................................72.0.1 What is FOSS...............................................................................................................................72.0.2 Free as in Freedom.......................................................................................................................72.0.3 FOSS Communities......................................................................................................................72.0.4 FOSS Regional Projects...............................................................................................................82.0.5 FOSS in Academia......................................................................................................................92.0.6 FOSS in Private Sector...............................................................................................................10

3.0 REGIONAL CASE STUDIES...........................................................................................................113.0.1 Uganda Martyrs University (UMU)...........................................................................................113.0.2 Solusi University........................................................................................................................113.0.3 Government Initiatives...............................................................................................................11

4.0 REGIONAL SWOT ANALYSIS......................................................................................................114.0.1 Strengths.....................................................................................................................................114.0.2 Weaknesses................................................................................................................................124.0.3 Opportunities..............................................................................................................................124.0.4 Threats........................................................................................................................................12

5.0 COUNTRY STUDIES.......................................................................................................................135.0.1 Madagascar.................................................................................................................................135.0.2 Malawi........................................................................................................................................145.0.3 Uganda........................................................................................................................................145.0.4 Egypt..........................................................................................................................................15

6.0 FOSS Best Practices...........................................................................................................................166.0.1. FOSS Policy – The South African Government Experience....................................................166.0.2. The Malaysian Public Sector Open Source Software Program................................................18

6.0.2.1 Estimated cost savings in Pilot Projects.............................................................................206.0.2.2 PHASE II STRATEGY......................................................................................................21

7.0 Study Findings...................................................................................................................................227.0.1 FOSS in Government Study.......................................................................................................22

7.0.1.1 Respondents........................................................................................................................227.0.1.2 FOSS Usage........................................................................................................................237.0.1.3 Reasons advanced for the use of FOSS..............................................................................247.0.1.4 Reasons Advanced for not using FOSS..............................................................................257.0.1.5 Support Availability...........................................................................................................267.0.1.6 Views on FOSS..................................................................................................................26

7.0.2 General FOSS Study..................................................................................................................277.0.2.1 Respondents........................................................................................................................277.0.2.2 FOSS Usage........................................................................................................................277.0.2.3 ICT Policies........................................................................................................................27


7.0.2.4 FOSS Activities..................................................................................................................287.0.2.4 Software Piracy...................................................................................................................297.0.2.5 FOSS Community interaction with Government ..............................................................30

8.0 Why Governments should consider FOSS.........................................................................................318.0.1 Strategic importance of FOSS ...................................................................................................31

8.0.1.1 Strategic Benefits................................................................................................................318.0.1.2 Economic Benefits..............................................................................................................34

9.0 Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)........................................................................................................3410.0 Recommendations............................................................................................................................3511.0 Proposed Logical Framework for COMESA FOSS engagement ...................................................40

11.0.1 Proposals on Selected Activities..............................................................................................4412.0 Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................4613.0 References, useful links...................................................................................................................48


COMESA REGIONAL FREE AND OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE (FOSS) STUDY

Executive Summary

Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) has evolved over the years from its geeky appeal and now to its mainstream acceptance. In the early days of FOSS existence, its promoters were always dismissed as wishful thinkers. The likes of Richard Stallman faced a lot of criticism for thinking ideally and expecting a model of shared resources and development would be able to lead to a thriving software industry globally.

It is a well known fact that whenever anything tries to challenge the natural established course of doing things, then a lot of resistance will come up. While many companies in the I.T world developing software believed that for one to make good software and be sure of good revenues, they had to secretively design this software, hide any possible access to its source code and only sell a finished good to the customer (The Proprietary model); The FOSS enthusiasts had divergent beliefs that software code should be freely available for any one with interest to audit, modify and share with others (The Open Source model).

While each school of thought has its pros and cons, it goes without saying that the Open Source model is one of the powerful means with which the COMESA region and Africa at large can expect to create an impact on the global scene.

For long, various I.T enthusiasts have been involved in the use, distribution and training of FOSS in the COMESA region at a personal and institutional level. Unfortunately, little or no Government intervention has been noticeable. It is therefore commendable to see that the regional Governments are coming up to recognise and entrench the use and promotion of FOSS.


1.0 Introduction

1.0.1 Background

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is a regional economic grouping comprising 19 member states spanning Northern, Eastern and Southern Africa. The member states are Burundi, Comoros, Congo DR, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It has an area of about 12 million square kilometers and a population of over 374 million.

The Article 139 of the COMESA Treaty empowers the COMESA Secretariat to foster the development of information systems to enable easy access to the region’s information and promote good governance through the provision of best practices in the information age.

COMESA recently embarked on a programme to promote the use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) as a means to make ICTs more accessible and improve the IT skills in the region, at a relatively lower cost. Following the Fourth Technical Committee Meeting on Information Technology in March, 2008 a workshop on FOSS was held in Tripoli, Libya in May, 2008 and one of the recommendations made was to engage a consultant to undertake a study on the feasibility and potential of FOSS in the COMESA region.

1.0.2 Objective

The objective of the assignment is to develop a FOSS framework for the COMESA region. The study will also provide a clear way forward for the FOSS programme in COMESA.


1.0.3 Terms of Reference

To carry out a study which will lead to the development of a comprehensive programme on FOSS for COMESA, and contribute to the wider adoption of FOSS in the region.The expert will therefore:i) Carry out a survey on FOSS in the regionii) Consult the ICT policies and hold discussions with stakeholders on the adoption of FOSS in ICT policies and strategiesiii) Centralise all information on FOSS projects in the region, by providing the information on relevant links to international best practicesiv) Facilitate the development of FOSS Communities, based on best practices in other regional groupingsv) Provide expert advice on the Total Cost of Ownership on software expenditure in the COMESA Member Statesvi) Assist COMESA in the identification of projects where FOSS will have maximum impactvii) Advise COMESA in the thematic areas for engagement of a Memorandum of Understanding with organizations promoting FOSSviii) Develop a FOSS framework for the region

1.0.4 Methodology

Four countries were selected for a detailed study. This involves a close study of General ICT policies and specific FOSS policies if any for the four pre-selected countries.The countries selected are;EgyptUgandaMalawiMadagascar

Two Survey questionnaires were prepared to target; The Government Officials as one group and the other survey was aimed at the rest i.e. Corporate Community, Academic Institutions, ICT Professionals and ICT advocates. These are being conducted as online surveys expected to cover all the COMESA countries. Information on key contacts in each country was got from the COMESA secretariat and the rest was received through other contacts on the Internet.

The questionnaires used in the survey attempt to address all the wide ranging issues expressed in the Terms of Reference. For others like information on best practices, the Internet is acting as a useful resource for information.


2.0 REGIONAL FOSS SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

2.0.1 What is FOSSFree and Open Source Software (FOSS) is software which is liberally licensed to grant the right of users to study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code. This approach has gained both momentum and acceptance as the potential benefits have been increasingly recognized by both individuals and corporate players.

2.0.2 Free as in FreedomThe emphasis of the 'Free' in FOSS is freedom and is best articulated by the French word 'Libre'. In some cases FOSS is referred to as FLOSS (Free/Libre and Open Source Software). Quite often, FOSS enthusiasts concentrate on promoting FOSS as a Free (Gratis) option which while largely true, should not be the main emphasis. The primary benefit of FOSS is the freedom it offers its users.

2.0.3 FOSS Communities

Appreciation of FOSS in the COMESA region has stronger roots in the Private, NGO, Civil Society and Academic sectors. The numerous organised FOSS communities that are found in most COMESA countries are testimony to this.

Country Status URLLibya Active http://fossil.ly Egypt Active http://www.eglug.orgSudan Active http://www.linux4sudan.orgEthiopia Active http://www.efossnet.orgEritrea Not KnownDjibouti Not KnownUganda Active http://www.linux.or.ug Kenya Active http://skunkworks-ke.blogspot.comRwanda Active http://Brianio.com/Rwanda-linux-users-group/ Burundi Not KnownZambia Active http://www.opensource.org.zm Malawi Unclear Malawi Open Source Society -MOSSZimbabwe Active http://zwlug.sourceforge.netSwaziland Not KnownMadagascar Active http://www.antananarivo.centre-linux.org Comoros Active Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF)

SupportedSeychelles Not KnownMauritius Active http://www.lugm.org DRC Not Known

Status of FOSS Communities in COMESA member states


http://fossil.ly/

http://www.lugm.org/

http://www.antananarivo.centre-linux.org/

http://zwlug.sourceforge.net/

http://www.opensource.org.zm/

http://Brianio.com/Rwanda-linux-users-group/

http://www.lpakenya.org/

http://Linux.or.ug/

http://www.efossnet.org/

http://www.linux4sudan.org/

http://www.eglug.com/

Most of these groups mentioned in the table above have on-line mailing lists through which their members interact with each other more regularly. Some reach the extent of having physical meetings and activities aimed at promoting and advocating for FOSS. Members usually span from the technically astute to the advocates and well wishers.

Some countries like Egypt and Zimbabwe have more than one FOSS community with many of them being based at higher institutions of learning while others are based in the different cities of the country.

These groupings have a tendency of getting involved in community activities aimed at popularising ICT like IT Open Days, BarCamps, Software Freedom Day Celebrations, Training Clinics among others.

2.0.4 FOSS Regional Projects

To avoid being labeled merely consumers, FOSS enthusiasts in the COMESA region have gone ahead to make their mark in coming up with software solutions that meet the needs of the local environment. Those worthy of mention are;

• Coopworks (www.coopworks.org) : CoopWorks is a management information system for farmer producer organizations. It supports financial management and marketing. Computerized business administration and governance increase the economic efficiency and improve the competitiveness of the farmers' organizations. It has its origins in Kenya.

• Mbuni (www.mbuni.org): Mbuni is a fully-fledged Free/Open Source Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) gateway. It includes both core network MMS switching (i.e. MMSC) capabilities as well as messaging gateway (i.e. MMSC infrastructure integration) features, and is suitable for operators and MMS Value Added Service (VAS) providers. It was kickstarted by a Ugandan programmer and is now a global project with deployments in major Telecommunications companies.

• AVOIR: The African Virtual Open Initiatives and Resources (AVOIR) builds capacity in software engineering in Africa using Free Software (Open Source) as the vehicle. AVOIR is a network with a node in each member institution. Each node participates in the development, deployment and support of software, seeks business and partnership opportunities that lead to sustainability, implements software in support of their institutional requirements, participates actively in communication and collaboration activities, and helps to market the network, and its products and services.


http://www.mbuni.org/

COMESA region participating Universities include;• Jommo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology• Makerere University Kampala• National University of Rwanda• Uganda Martyrs University• University of Nairobi

• Software Translation: There are numerous translation efforts of FOSS application interfaces into local languages. Some of them are:

o Openoffice.org into Kinyarwanda languageo Openoffice.org into Kiswahili (www.kilinux.org) o Mozilla Firefox into Lugandao Greenstone Digital Library Software (www.greenstone4ethiopia.com):

The Greenstone Support for Ethiopia is collaborative effort of greenstone volunteers, Getway II Ethiopia, and UNESCO. The goal is to establish a GSDL user community in Ethiopia and promote the GSDL in the country. This will create the opportunity for libraries (research and academic) and archiving institutions to use the GSDL to digitize, organize, disseminate, and preserve their publications - written primarily in local and foreign languages. Full conversion into Amharic language has been achieved.

• DEBO: This is a Management Information System for ARV drug management. It was initiated by Ethiopian and South African software developers.

• Drupal-ISPConfig Module: This is a remote configuration tool for configuring Isp Config directly from Drupal. It is managed and supported by a Ugandan webhosting company. http://drupal.org/project/ispconfig

• EHMIS: This is a Health Management information system that was developed in Uganda targeting hospitals. Its development site is www.ehmis.net.

• PC-BSD Installer: This is a project that was initiated by a Kenyan FOSS programmer and is now the very basis for the PC-BSD operating system installation. Details on http://pcbsd.org .

• Baobab Health Partnership; They develop Health Information Systems for Malawian Hospitals.

2.0.5 FOSS in Academia

A number of Academic Institutions have already entrenched the use of FOSS with some going to the extent of including it in the training syllabus. Examples here include;

● Makerere University Kampala● Uganda Martyrs University● Strathmore University


http://pcbsd.org/

http://www.ehmis.net/

http://drupal.org/project/ispconfig

http://www.greenstone4ethiopia.com/

http://www.kilinux.org/

● Jommo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology● The East African Center for Open Source Software (EACOSS)● Solusi University

Academic institutions seem to be one of the key areas where people get initially introduced to FOSS, associate with the enthusiasts and later start playing an active role in its use or advocacy. The formal recognition of FOSS by a these institutions has also increased the interest and opened up new opportunities for the students and staff.

In some instances there have been partnerships with the private sector to transfer skills in FOSS as a way of capacity building.

2.0.6 FOSS in Private Sector

The private sector is the biggest user and promoter of FOSS in the region so far. This seems to stem from the ease with which decisions can be made in private organizations and the continuous desire to explore opportunities that lead to greater cost cutting and increased efficiency of operation.

The Internet Service Providers are credited for having popularised the use of FOSS through the need to avail their customers with cost effective solutions for internet connectivity. While initially most organisations were using FOSS systems like Linux on the edge of their networks to connect to the internet and be protected from external intruders, the increasing skills of FOSS among I.T administrators have led FOSS usage into the networks of organisations with a number of them being managed on FOSS based back-end solutions.

The increasing risk of software piracy has led to greater adoption of FOSS as was evidenced by the situation in Kenya when the Internet Cafes began making mass migrations to Linux use after being threatened by the Business Software Alliance which was accusing them of pirating Microsoft Windows and other proprietary software. A similar trend is beginning to take place in Uganda ever since Microsoft began officially communicating to various companies that are not complying with their software licensing.


3.0 REGIONAL CASE STUDIES

3.0.1 Uganda Martyrs University (UMU)UMU is a Ugandan University that pioneered the entrenchment of FOSS into its operations. It was the first Ugandan University to come up with a FOSS Policy in 2003. This then paved way for a total migration of the University’s I.T infrastructure to be based on FOSS. Linux was the chosen Operating system and alternatives were availed to all the other applications that the staff and students used on a day-to-day basis.

3.0.2 Solusi UniversityIn late 2006 the university acquired 240 computers from Computer Aid International. These machines came without any operating system software. The university had to find a way around the huge cost of Microsoft Windows operating system software.A decision was then made to use Ubuntu Linux. In no time, all the 240 PCs were running the Ubuntu Operating System. The university now also has 7 servers utilising Linux to provide Online services to its community. 99% of the network using Free and Open Source Software.

3.0.3 Government Initiatives● The Parliament of Uganda deployed FOSS in its Data Centre and currently has a

team of support personnel and developers in-house.● The Parliament of Zimbabwe announced in November 2008 that it is going to

migrate to Ubuntu Linux on all Computers in the Parliament. As a result, interest has been shown by Malawi too.

4.0 REGIONAL SWOT ANALYSIS

4.0.1 StrengthsThe COMESA region has the following strengths in line with ICT empowerment;● Rapidly growing number of ICT professionals● Big number of institutions taking up ICT training● Increasing rate of ICT adoption by Government, Private Sector and Civil Society.● Efforts aimed at extending the boundaries of ICT use and need beyond urban

areas.● The civil society led ICT Communities that are currently in existence


4.0.2 Weaknesses● Lack of ICT policies for some countries● Poorly structured ICT policies● Lack of FOSS policies or FOSS recognition in National ICT policies● Low political will to put ICT at the top of the agenda● Lack of finances to fund ICT programmes● Lack of proper planning for ICT● Poor Internet Connectivity● Detachment of Government personnel from Civil Society

4.0.3 Opportunities● Rapidly decreasing cost of technology● The mushrooming Sea Fibre Cables on the Eastern Coast of Africa. Since FOSS

requires online interaction amongst participants who tend to be geographically dispersed, the cost of access therefore determines participation of would be developers and users. The advent of fibre access on the eastern coast will drastically reduce the cost of internet access which is currently dominated by satellite technologies.

● Global economic crisis. The current financial squeeze affecting the world economy has forced many organisations to re-think their budgets in all spheres. One of those is the IT sector where previously organisations were spending without thinking twice, today, they are keen on identifying alternatives that could help bring down costs but still avail the much needed sophistication in computing.

● The growth of the Global Outsourcing Industry● The ever increasing costs of labour in developed countries● Growing number of foreign investors interested in the region● Localisation of technology to suit local needs● Crack down on software piracy

4.0.4 Threats● Ready Availability of Vendor Locked-in ICT Solutions● High Cost of Proprietary Software solutions


5.0 COUNTRY STUDIES

5.0.1 Madagascar

According to the World Bank ICT at a Glance report of 2006, The Government of Madagascar prioritises the ICT sector at level 7 which is the highest in the possible ratings. This sends across a good message to the ICT industry within the country.

Policy SituationMadagascar's ICT for Development policy document is quite comprehensive and is worth the effort that was put into it. It happens to be highly development oriented with the emphasis on using ICT to achieve the development.A key observation in this policy is its acknowledgement of the use of FOSS to advance the development agenda. As some of the action areas it talks of;

● Promotion of FOSS use to mainstream freedom in technology choices.● Facilitate development, ownership and distribution of FOSS applications

It also identifies Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) as a key partner for FOSS based research.This is the most FOSS friendly policy among the four study countries.

FOSS SpreadIn Madagascar, the AUF is doing a very good job in organising and bringing together the FOSS community. FOSS appreciation and usage is mainly in the Academic institutions and there are a number of community groups organised under “l'Association Malagasy des utilisateurs de Logiciels Libres (AMUL)”. There is even a translation/localisation project of Gnome into Malagasy.

The current challenge is that FOSS has not permeated the business world and Government and there is a lot to do to achieve that. Unfortunately, there seems to be a disconnect between the FOS community and the Government functionaries. This is betrayed by the fact that the FOSS community does not seem to be aware about the kind of empowerment the ICT Policy has given FOSS and the initiatives the Government is willing to engage in to advance the use of FOSS in national development.


5.0.2 Malawi

Malawi's ICT sector is growing just like most other African countries. A lot is taking place in terms of Government investment and private sector led initiatives.

Policy SituationThe country's ICT policy is designed around an ICT-led social economic development vision with an orientation towards ICT exploitation and production policy orientation. It further goes ahead to identify ICT production initiatives among which is;

● Computer assembly operations● Repair and maintenance of ICT equipment● Software development for the local and domestic market

The direct linkage of this policy to development implies that integrating FOSS should be able to facilitate attainment of some of the development goals like the software development initiative.

FOSS SpreadIn Malawi, FOSS is mainly used in Academic institutions and Non Governmental Organisations. There have been a number of individuals with FOSS interest in Malawi and without doubt they still do exist. In 2005, the FOSS community was organised under the Malawi Open Source Society (MOSS) and this group went ahead to participate in a number of initiatives aimed at promotion of FOSS in the country. MOSS partnered with Schoolnet Malawi in 2006 to lobby and advocate for the use of FOSS in schools.

However, of late, MOSS is very inactive and yet it was the flag bearer community group in Malawi. Little or no activity is reported on FOSS in Malawi and despite the presence of individual FOSS enthusiasts who have honed their skills through international programs and events like INWENT, AfricaSource and FOSSFA, there is a need to re-establish the FOSS community.

5.0.3 Uganda

Uganda has such a dynamic and vibrant ICT sector that has registered double digit growth figures ever since the year 2000. It grew by 33% in the year 2006 – 2007.

The country has a dedicated ICT Ministry. It has a mandate of providing strategic and technical leadership, overall coordination, support and advocacy on all matters of policy, laws, regulations and strategy for the ICT sector. It also ensures sustainable, efficient and effective development, harnessing and utilization of ICT in all spheres of life to enable the country achieve its national development goals.


Policy SituationUganda has a National ICT policy Framework initially developed in 2002 and revised in October 2003. It is indeed comprehensive in nature but unfortunately does not make mention of Free and Open Source Software anywhere. The policy objectives and strategies do not capture FOSS and its abilities to facilitate ICT transformation.

FOSS SpreadUganda has always had a vibrant Open Source community which started in the mid 1990s. While it was mainly composed of technophobic people, today it has grown to embrace non technical people whose interest is in the values of the Free and Open Source Software movement.

The Uganda Linux User Group has been in existence since the year 2001 and most activity has been on the internet through mailing lists communication. However, lately, there has been a shift towards engagement in physical gatherings that involve celebrating activities like Software Freedom Day and Free Training and knowledge exchange sessions (Bar-Camps).

FOSS use growing but mainly in the area of Server Systems. Its growth has been facilitated by the Internet Service Providers that tend to recommend FOSS based Mail, Firewall or Proxy Servers. This has led many companies and Government organisations to adopt the use of FOSS.

One remarkable development in Uganda was the set up of the first ever FOSS specialised training Institution in the East African region called ' The East African Center for Open Source Software '. This center boosted the corporate acceptance of FOSS by offering standardised and certified training opportunities to IT people who wanted to extend their knowledge into the FOSS world. It also enabled the employers have a benchmark for assessment of skills.

5.0.4 Egypt

Egypt created the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology in 1999 and happened to be one of the first African countries to do so. The country is a leading African country in ICT infrastructure deployment, and usage with impressive indicators. As of January 2009, Egypt had;

● 15.8 Fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants● 56.65 Mobile Cellular Subscribers per 100 inhabitants● 16.66 internet users per 100 inhabitants


● 95% of the population covered by mobile cellular telephony

Within the COMESA region, Egypt certainly stands out as one of the leading nations in ICT usage and penetration.

Policy SituationThe Egyption ICT Strategy 2007 – 2010 is a well developed document that builds on the successes of the initial strategy document. It is worth noting though that it makes no mention of Free and Open Source Software and how it can be used to leverage the planned mass spread of ICT skills and usage.It talks of an ICT Trust Fund whose forms of delivery of services is through the Mobile IT Clubs. However, despite seeing collaboration efforts with some multinational companies, there seems to be no attempt to work with any local Free and Open Source Software advocates and users.

FOSS SpreadEgypt has a vibrant community of Free and Open Source Software Enthusiasts who are grouped under the Egyptian Linux User Group. However various local communities of FOSS users do exist in the various cities like Cairo, Alexandria, among others. The first communities were established in 2001. FOSS use seems to be restricted to startup and medium sized companies with the larger entities opting for proprietary solutions mainly. The Government isn't doing much to take up FOSS use. The national ICT strategy is conspicuously silent on FOSS.One peculiar observation is that while officially the Government is silent on FOSS, some of its personnel are very knowledgeable about FOSS and are trying to push for official recognition in the relevant policies.

6.0 FOSS Best Practices

6.0.1. FOSS Policy – The South African Government Experience

In 2001, the National Advisory Council on Innovation launched an initiative to promote wider usage of FOSS in South Africa. A discussion document was released which was then submitted to the Cabinet. Cabinet supported the idea and requested that a committee be set up to manage the process.

The Government IT Officers Council (GITOC) subsequently formed an OSS Workgroup to investigate. It then recommended that:

● Government recognise FOSS as a legitimate alternative to proprietary software to be used in Government Information systems.


● Government avoid any unfair discrimination in implementation of FOSS.● Government funded research on the development and utilisation of FOSS be

initiated.A plan of action was laid out and the South African Government began its long walk with FOSS. By 2003, it had come up with a FOSS Policy, the first of its kind in Africa and among the only few ones in the World.In 2005, a conference was organised to assist in the development of an enhanced National Open Source Policy and Strategy. Its output led to the revision of the FOSS policy.

The revised policy stipulates the following:1. The South African Government will implement FOSS unless proprietary software

is demonstrated to be significantly superior. Whenever the advantages of FOSS and proprietary software are comparable FOSS will be implemented when choosing a software solution for a new project. Whenever FOSS is not implemented, then reasons must be provided in order to justify the implementation of proprietary software.

2. The South African Government will migrate current proprietary software to FOSS whenever comparable software exists.

3. All new software developed for or by the South African Government will be based on open standards, adherent to FOSS principles, and licensed using a FOSS license where possible.

4. The South African Government will ensure all Government content and content developed using Government resources is made Open Content, unless analysis on specific content shows that proprietary licensing or confidentiality is substantially beneficial.

5. The South African Government will encourage the use of Open Content and Open Standards within South Africa.

An implementation strategy was then laid out with various state institutions taking up responsibilities like Meraka, SITA – State Information Technology Agency among others.

Action areas included;● Disseminate information within Government

● Initiate trial use and development

● Establish a global position and maintain strategic partnerships

● Consult with partners and stakeholders


● Establish and execute a supporting research programme

● Consolidate support capacity

● Include FOSS utilisation in short and medium-term plans

● Level playing fields

● Develop and execute a supporting communications strategy

● Establish and nurture a legislative environment that supports the development and use of FOSS as envisaged in this policy.

6.0.2. The Malaysian Public Sector Open Source Software Program

The Government of Malaysia embarked on a programme to encourage the development and implementation of Open Source Software (OSS) in the Public Sector. This was to be handled in two phases, Phase 1 and Phase 2.

The Objectives were;

● Reduce total cost of ownership

● Increase freedom of choice of software usage ● Increase interoperability among systems ● Increase growth of ICT industry ● Increase growth of OSS industry ● Increase growth of OSS user and developer community ● Reduce digital divide

A Public Sector Open Source Software masterplan was drafted and looked into the following areas;

● Establish strategic direction and framework ● Develop an implementation plan and road map ● Establish an Open Source Competency Centre to support OSS implementation in

the Public Sector ● Formulate policies, standards and guidelines

The OSS Vision for the Public Sector is “Creating and enhancing value using OSS within the Public Sector ICT framework in providing efficient, secure and quality services.”

An Open Source Competency Centre (OSCC) was set up as a single point of reference for support and guidance in the implementation of OSS in the public sector.


The OSCC's objectives are;

● To provide the direction in the development and use of OSS ● To create greater awareness on OSS ● To provide information, expertise and physical infrastructure to support OSS

implementation ● To facilitate collaboration between the Government and OSS Industry in the areas

of education, research and development ● To position Malaysia as a world class OSS technology hub ● To contribute to the development of local OSS expertise

Targets were set for phase 1 and they were;

Activities Target

Awareness ● 100% of CIOs and IT personnel are OSS literate

Re-skilling● 60% of IT personnel are OSS trained● 10% of IT personnel are OSS certified● 20% of Teachers responsible for school IT labs are OSS

trained

Education● 40% of Institutions of Higher Education utilise OSS

education and tools● 20% of School IT labs utilise OSS education and tools

Procurement ● 60% of all new servers (hardware) procured are able to run open source operating systems

Implementation

● 20% of School IT labs have OSS installed (e.g Office Productivity)

● 60% of web servers use (software) OSS● 30% of office infrastructure (email, DNS and proxy) use

OSS● 30% of desktop solutions (e.g web browser, email reader)

use OSS●


By the end of Phase 1, the achievements were;

6.0.2.1 Estimated cost savings in Pilot Projects

The 5 pilot projects were :

● Economic Intelligence Database System (EIDS) - Ministry of Finance ● Treasury Portal - Ministry of Finance ● Elektonik Sistem Maklumat Latihan (eSILA) - Public Service Department ● Learning Management System (LMS) - Ministry of Education ● NurITA Portal - Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development

After the execution of the Pilot Projects, the following recorded: 80% savings in overall licensing cost58% reduction in development and consultancy efforts7 % savings in software support services30.5% savings in overall cost


6.0.2.2 PHASE II STRATEGY

In Phase II, three main themes have been outlined to drive the various strategies for Accelerated Adoption. These are :

● Sustain - Perpetuate the success of Phase 1 achievements through continuity and enhancement of previous initiatives.

● Catalyse - Establish the essential services and infrastructure that can rapidly boost the OSS adoption in the Public Sector.

● Accelerate - Execute the Phase II implementation plan to accelerate OSS adoption.


Targets to be achieved under Phase II by 2010 are;

Activities Targets

Human Capital Development

● 80% of IT personnel are OSS trained and reskilled

● 5% of IT personnel trained are OSCC certified

● Achieve recognition on certification by International Body

Education ● 30% of Institutes of Higher Learning participate in OSCC Certified Training Program (CTP)

OSS community Collaboration

● 50% of local IT vendors are providing OSS services.

Implementation ● 100% district coverage with at least one school at each district adopting OSS.

● 100% of agencies adopting OSS solutions.

● 80% of agencies using OSS back-end infrastructure.

● 30%of agencies using OSS desktop solutions.

7.0 Study Findings

The study survey was conducted in three parts.● Survey of Government Officials to get a snapshot of FOSS in Government.● Survey of ICT practitioners and well-wishers● Discussions with FOSS enthusiasts

7.0.1 FOSS in Government Study

7.0.1.1 Respondents

The main respondents were technical staff and Ministry / Department directors. They all have heard about FOSS and know what it is. This dispels the notion that is rampant in the FOSS community that Government officials don't know anything about FOSS. While a few years back there might have been a huge gap in knowledge on FOSS in Government, today, the situation has definitely changed for the better.


7.0.1.2 FOSS Usage

An overwhelming majority of the respondents are FOSS users mainly utilising firefox and Mozilla web browsers, the OpenOffice.org word processor, the Linux Operating system and MySQL database.

FOSS Usage chart comparison at an individual level.

The institutional use of FOSS reflects a different picture and is significantly far less than the individual usage. 47.1 % of the institutions are using FOSS with the rest stuck to proprietary software. The figure on the next page reflects this.


0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

Individual FOSS Usage

Use FOSSDont Use FOSS

FOSS Usage at institutional level

7.0.1.3 Reasons advanced for the use of FOSS

Without doubt, FOSS has been noticed by Government officials in the COMESA region and this in itself is a sign that it is making headway. Key factors cited as influencing the adoption of FOSS are;

1. Low Cost: Some Governments do believe that the free availability of most FOSS software and its minimal licensing costs is an attractive proposition in this era of cost cutting. Comparisons of FOSS costs with alternative proprietary software will leave one with an almost obvious choice to opt for the open source alternative. Governments like that of Mauritius are looking at reducing the cost of ownership of software and thus FOSS is well placed to enable them achieve that.

2. Freedom of Modification: The ability to alter the software to suit localised needs is looked at as an enabling factor in technology adoption. This therefore makes it ideal for FOSS to take root in the IT environment.

3. Secure: The software is generally viewed as very secure, virus free and stable. In Uganda it was cited that, one of the key motivating factors in the use of FOSS in Government is the reduction in IT problems that need attention.

4. Skills Availability: Some government departments have been able to acquire skills through exchange programmes and thus have the necessary staffing that can deploy and maintain FOSS based systems. The Kenya e-Learning Center is one such entity that worked with INWENT, a German Government non-profit organisation dedicated to human resource development, advanced training and dialogue.


44.00%

45.00%

46.00%

47.00%

48.00%

49.00%

50.00%

51.00%

52.00%

53.00%

54.00%

Institutional FOSS Usage

Use FOSS Dont Use FOSS

Perc

enta

ge

5. Government Policy: A formal drive by some Governments to encourage the use of FOSS is seen as a green light for its internal adoption. The Eritrean Government is encouraging the use of FOSS in its operations while the Kenyan ICT policy has a reference to FOSS that states; “The Government will encourage the growth of local software industry by increasing awareness among stakeholders of the opportunities offered by different software models, including proprietary, open-source and free software in order to increase competition, access, diversity of choice and to enable users to develop solutions." pp.14

7.0.1.4 Reasons Advanced for not using FOSS

The use of FOSS is still facing a number of challenges in Government and the issues advanced by the officials include;

1. Lack of Support: The inability to readily get support services in the event that a disaster occurs, the lack of formal support services for open source software, lack of documentation and lack of knowledge about FOSS support personnel availability all combine to provide a nightmare to some government officials. This is certainly a valid concern but its intensity varies from country to country.

2. Lack of Trained Staff in FOSS: The lack of in house FOSS skills at both technical and user levels is viewed as a hindrance to its adoption.

3. Security Concerns: Issues have been raised around interoperability of FOSS and proprietary software solutions, and systems integration. The much better interoperability between different proprietary software systems makes the adoption of FOSS such a challenge.

4. Lack of Policy: In Governments, policy moves things. The lack of specific Open Source software policies or at least mentions and recognition of FOSS in the ICT Policies of many countries in the COMESA region is only hindering its adoption. Many Government officials confess how hard it is to introduce something that is not backed up by policy.

5. Awareness: There is a poor awareness about FOSS and its benefits among most Government staff and it is one of the main reasons FOSS is never considered. Instead, the popularity and knowledge about most proprietary softwares ends up eroding any opportunity for FOSS adoption.


7.0.1.5 Support Availability

Support services are always cited as a key area of concern when dealing with ICT. Therefore, FOSS is no exception to this rule. While the majority state that they don't have easy access to support services, the study also found that over 90% got their support online with local expertise coming second.

Availability of support

7.0.1.6 Views on FOSS

The respondents' views on FOSS can be classified as;

1. Economic: ● FOSS leads to a reduction in costs and thus is ideal for institutions that do

not have enough funds to invest in purchasing proprietary software solutions.

● The worsening global economic crisis is likely to lead to increased adoption of FOSS. This is as a result of many Governments slashing budgets and yet expecting continued improved services.

● FOSS mainly demands an investment in human capital, this is a cost that can be controlled by the institution itself rather than a third party (vendor).

2. Strategic: ● Foss offers an excellent opportunity to harness and channel the enthusiasm,

energy and innovativeness of youth for productive ends.● The freedom to modify the software is a very good opportunity for the


44.00%

45.00%

46.00%

47.00%

48.00%

49.00%

50.00%

51.00%

52.00%

53.00%

54.00%

Ease of getting Support

Easy Not Easy

Perc

enta

ge

development of locally tailored and suitable variants of the software.

● There is a need to develop a better support services framework in the country before FOSS can be taken up en masse.

● Its stability and ability to withstand attacks is expected to reduce on the down time of IT systems.

● Avoid vendor lock-in to proprietary IT products and services.

● Mandate the use of products that meet and support open standards.

3. Legislative: ● There is need to have national policies on FOSS and appropriately

identified local bodies to drive the agenda of FOSS forward.● Encourage changes in government policy and regulatory environments with

regard to FOSS.

● Mandate the consideration of FOSS solutions alongside proprietary ones during procurement.

7.0.2 General FOSS StudyThis part of the study involved people who are not necessarily part of the Government establishment.

7.0.2.1 Respondents

The respondents were mainly FOSS support personnel, Advocates, Users, and well-wishers. They were drawn from ten of the COMESA region countries.

7.0.2.2 FOSS Usage

FOSS is perceived to be widely used in the Academic Sector, Government, Small and Medium Enterprises and Large Companies. The intensity of use in each sector though varies from country to country. In some countries like Uganda, the level of adoption of FOSS in Large Companies is found to be more pronounced than in Kenya where the proprietary software still has a big hold on that market.

7.0.2.3 ICT Policies

COMESA member countries are in various stages of adopting ICT policies. While some like Egypt, Kenya and Mauritius have well defined ICT Policies in place, others are still in a halfway phase with draft documents like Malawi, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Some like Eritrea do not have any policy at all.


Below is the situation as at June 2008.

7.0.2.4 FOSS Activities

Most of the respondents were part of a FOSS Community in their country of residence. There is a heavy proliferation of FOSS groups in the COMESA countries. Thirteen COMESA countries have fully organised Open Source user groups complete with Web Presence.


Some of the activities that they engage in are;

● Training programmes – Open Source Zambia, Uganda Linux User Group, Skunkworks in Kenya, the Egyptian LUG and FOSS Libya do have active programmes aimed at passing on FOSS skills.

● Awareness – Events aimed at popularising FOSS like Open Source Days, Software Freedom Day among others are capitalised upon to create awareness.

● Support – These user groups have one thing in common and that is the online Mailing lists. This media is used a lot in providing support to one another aimed at ensuring that others learn from those that are experienced. In some cases it has resulted in actual physical support provision by one party to another.

● Advocacy – Of recent, some of these user groups are beginning to engage the authorities with opinions on policies and other issues. The Ugandan Linux User group has participated in the formulation of some policies by having its members submit their views to the Parliament, the same is true of Ubuntu Zimbabwe that is said to be engaging the Parliament of Zimbabwe over its pronouncement of migrating to FOSS based systems.

7.0.2.4 Software Piracy

This refers to several practices which involve the unauthorized copying of computer software. It is considered to be rampant in most of the COMESA member states. The fifth annual Business Software Alliance and IDC Global Software Piracy Study, May 2008 sampled some countries in this region and their standings were as below.

Country Piracy Rates 2007

Percentage (%) Cost (US$ M)

Egypt 60 131

Kenya 81 28

Mauritius 57 4

Zambia 82 2

Zimbabwe 91 3

Software Piracy Levels of selected COMESA member states

Turning a blind eye to software piracy has been identified as being very detrimental to any Government in the long run as it has the tendency of pushing away potential investors in the ICT field and makes the society ever dependent on what they can not afford.


7.0.2.5 FOSS Community interaction with Government

The general FOSS users believe that interaction with Government is a very welcome move and they are all for it. As to whether there is readiness by the FOSS communities for this interaction, the majority indicate that they are ready with a few expressing uncertainty in terms of lack of good internal organisation as FOSS user groups. Any engagement that is going to be carried out with the Governments is certainly going to require a lot of formality and this is where internal organisation is key for these user groups.

The community members believe that they can engage with the Government in the following ways;

● Policy Development.

● Joint FOSS Promotion.

● Increased awareness of FOSS among Government officials.

● Removing segregation against Free and Open Source software in the procurement / tendering system.

● Availability of Research and Development funds for FOSS Projects.

● Integration of FOSS in the Local ICT Policy.

● Preference provision for FOSS related ICT providers.

● FOSS Skills Development / Training.


8.0 Why Governments should consider FOSS

Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is more than just a software development methodology. It not only increases access, ownership and control of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), but also provides a framework for the usage and sharing of intellectual capital in a way that is applicable to many areas of development endeavour.

FOSS provides many socio-economic benefits. The most commonly cited are fostering the ICT industry through increased competition, lowering the ICT application cost and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), increasing access to powerful yet localized ICT applications, increasing security of ICT applications and providing vendor independence.

Despite all the benefits, it is likely that without a national FOSS policy, the uptake of FOSS in any country is far too slow for its needs. FOSS requires policy intervention due to its limited, lack of attention to its many non-commercial benefits and the need to overcome entrenched legacy systems.

8.0.1 Strategic importance of FOSS FOSS brings many compelling benefits to a nation, especially a developing nation with limited resources. Due to differences in countries' circumstances, there might exist some variances within their motives for FOSS adoption. However, the most common motives are;

8.0.1.1 Strategic Benefits

1. Developing Local Capacity/Industry; This has two perspectives to it i.e. The capacity to use and the capacity to develop software. With the growing fight against software piracy and implementation of tight copyright laws in the various states, users are getting to realise the high cost of proprietary software that they have been using virtually for free of cost. This is likely to constrain the ability of the citizens to participate in the information society and building local knowledge communities as the cost of a basic proprietary operating system is equivalent to several years' wages for the average citizen. Through the very minimal or zero licensing costs and free redistribution of software, FOSS can help alleviate this danger.Developing nations tend to lack development capacity of software. It is no wonder that most developing nations specialise in importing software solutions that are already developed. FOSS can help develop the human capacity required to sustain


an ICT infrastructure thereby allowing the nation to kick start its ICT industry and advance to a stage where it can begin to fully utilise the benefits of ICT internally. This can be achieved due to the following factors unique to the FOSS model;

Low barriers to entry. FOSS, which encourages free modification and redistribution, is easy to obtain, use and learn from. Proprietary software tends to be much more restrictive, not just in the limited availability of source code but also because of licensing, patent and copyright limitations. FOSS allows developers to build on existing knowledge and pre-built components, much like basic research.

Foss as an excellent training system. The open and collaborative nature of FOSS allows a student or software engineer to examine and experiment with software concepts at virtually no direct cost to society. With technical manuals, guides and 'hot-tos' spread all over the internet, this documentation is the equivalent of thousands of dollars of manuals and textbooks, all available and freely redistributable.

FOSS as a Source of Standards. By being involved in setting the standards in a particular FOSS application, a region can ensure that the standard produced takes into account regional needs and cultural considerations.

The FOSS business model is such that revenue is generated primarily through the sale of services as opposed to the product sales which is rampant in the proprietary business models. This ensures that the bulk of the revenue remains in the local economy thereby leading to the growth of the industry.

2. Reducing Imports / Conserving Foreign Exchange; Most of the widely used software in the world is produced in very few countries. USA based companies alone provide a significant contribution and these include; HP, IBM, Solaris, Microsoft, Oracle, Adobe, McAfee, Symantec among others. To license their software, all other countries end up importing licenses an their large cost can end up placing an enormous burden on the financial resources of a developing nation. FOSS by its very nature can be obtained at little or no cost and any associated services through the service oriented model thereafter ensure that there is retention of the money spent in the local economy as opposed to its being dished out to multinational companies with little or no presence in the country. South Arica, Taiwan, Malaysia, China and South Korea have followed a similar motive.

3. Enhancing National Security; The world is increasingly becoming digital. This therefore means that nations need to start getting concerned about their digital security and not only concentrate on the physical security as it has been


historically. Because of the closed access nature of most proprietary software solutions, one is not able to know what is inbuilt in them and this could even be to the detriment of your security. In 1999, there was the famous discovery of a secret 'NSA Key' in the Microsoft Windows Operating Systems which it is believed gave the US National Security Agency access to computers loaded with the Windows Operating systems. Cisco Systems and Netgear were found guilty of hard coding secret usernames and passwords in some models of their routers. It is the mistrust of such 'black-boxed' unauditable foreign software that has led China to embrace FOSS.

4. Reducing Copyright Infringements; Copyright infringement is the unauthorised duplication of software. This combined with lax laws can hurt a country in many ways. Membership of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and access to its benefits are strongly influenced by the level of protection given to copyright and patents in a country. A country with a poor copyright protection record is less attractive to investors. A culture of copyright infringement can also hurt local software development. Some bilateral and multilateral trading agreements with developed nations require that copyright infringement be addressed. In its Fifth Annual BSA and IDC Global Software Piracy Study released in May 2008, the Business Software Alliance indicated that US$ 2.446 billion dollars were lost through software piracy in the Middle East and Africa. FOSS adoption can help a nation avert this.

5. Enabling Localisation; Many countries do not have that many speakers who understand the few widely spoken international languages like English, French and Spanish. This therefore ends up acting as a barrier to the adoption of ICT with most software at the users' disposal requiring knowledge in these international languages. The situation is worsened by the fact that commercial software producers will only make a translation into a local language if it makes commercial sense.This is where FOSS becomes handy. Due to the open modification ability, different users world over are able to tailor software products to meet their local needs. This can greatly help the various citizens in COMESA countries that have proficiency in local languages.


8.0.1.2 Economic Benefits

6. Increasing Competition; The software industry especially in mature markets tends to have high barriers of entry, something which tends to limit competition in the market to a few large players. FOSS reduces these barriers to entry by providing to software companies a feature rich high quality base of software to build on. When deploying FOSS, software companies compete on the services and additional innovations that they add to the existing FOSS base rather than reaping financial benefits from research and development performed many years ago.

7. Reducing Total Cost of Ownership; Total cost of ownership (TCO) is a financial estimate designed to help consumers and enterprise managers assess direct and indirect costs (Wikipedia). FOSS applications save money in several ways. In 2001, online retailer Amazon.com shaved millions of dollars from its technology costs by switching to Linux. The company achieved a 17 million dollar savings as a result of the decision.

8. Avoiding Vendor Lock-in; Many organizations are finding that they are tied to their existing software vendors. Due to intentionally incompatible data formats, large investments in legacy systems and patent restrictions, switching to a different supplier can often be a costly and lengthy undertaking. These organizations are then almost held hostage by their software vendor, forced into purchasing bundled systems that they do not need or upgrading when there is no need to do so.

9.0 Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

TCO is a key measure to determine the real value of a project. It is also viewed as a financial estimate designed to help consumers and enterprise managers assess direct and indirect costs. (Wikipedia.com)

While most times, consideration for cost of software deployments is made based on initial purchase and deployment costs, in reality, there are a lot more costs involved. This is what led to the development of the term Total Cost of Ownership.

At each stage of the software lifestyle cycle, we have costs that are incurred. It is therefore crucial to have an appreciation of all these costs when making technology deployment undertakings. Some costs are direct while others are indirect.


Direct costs tend to be composed of the software, its licenses, accompanying hardware, upgrades, peripherals, technical services, training among others. While the indirect costs do include peer support, formal learning, post sales support, System downtime among others.

Hidden costs are another category that is being considered lately. These are costs that are difficult to detect as they are not really evident or well known. Examples include; Loss of productivity due to adverse user's attitude and acceptance, time spent in searching for documentation and support, training not considered in the budget. Some hidden costs may at the same time be indirect costs.

It is globally acknowledged that it is qualitatively difficult to qualitatively analyse all the TCO factors at play when coming up with TCO comparisons. However a study by Cybersource Pty Ltd in 2002 which was later updated in 2004 titled “Linux Vs Windows, Total Cost of Ownership comparison” approached this in a much broader sense and the eventual results tipped Linux as having the lower TCO.

10.0 Recommendations

Following the input from the various sectors of the COMESA member countries and the study on available literature, herewith are a number of recommendations. These are categorised as;

a) Policy

1. That all COMESA Countries have ICT Policies in place. As a region, for activities like this FOSS initiative to be of good impact, it is crucial that the member states all have an ICT policy guide that they follow. This will ensure that


AcquisitionRetirementOperationDeployment

any engagements internally or externally follow a defined strategic approach.2. That FOSS be integrated into the national ICT Policies. One of the greatest

challenges of entrenching FOSS into Government is the lack of a policy. For starters, recognition of FOSS in national ICT policies will kick start off the move as it allows those interested civil servants to work within the rules.

3. Specific FOSS Policy development by the member countries. Eventually, it is ideally good that all member states have specific FOSS policies like the South African Government did. This ensures a closer watch and planning for the FOSS sector in the economy.

4. Adoption of Policies aimed at equal consideration of FOSS in public procurement. It is common practice for tender requirements to show open bias towards FOSS. This is usually in the way the tender information is structured. Sometimes it is as a result of the lack of knowledge about FOSS among the Government officials or consultants preparing the tender documents while other times it is a deliberate effort aimed at driving the use of particular solutions.

5. Institution of inter-country cooperation initiatives on promotion, use and development of FOSS. As a region, COMESA countries stand to achieve a lot more if they can have crosscutting initiatives aimed at learning from one another, sharing best practices and harmonising aspects like skills development in FOSS. This is entirely due to the fact that different countries are at different stages of FOSS adoption e.g. Rwanda's growing FOSS use in Government and the private sector could easily be replicated by Burundi where little activity is being registered in FOSS.

6. Mandating the use of permissive FOSS licenses on all software developed using public funds. This allows easy modification and improvements on the software by the general community.

7. Preference provision for locally based FOSS ICT providers. This is an economic strategy that aims at ensuring that the money stays in the economy. As opposed to spending money on solutions which will lead to capital flight, it is in the interests of any Government to ensure that a large majority of their expenditures are retained locally. Hence the validity of such a provision.

b) Awareness

1. Increase FOSS Awareness among Government Officials2. Promoting FOSS as a Common Good relevant to Development. FOSS can be

looked at as a public basket from which we all tap into in order to improve our lives and activities. It is therefore likely that with the growth in ICT's leverage towards development, FOSS can help developing countries leapfrog.

3. Creating awareness on FOSS license issues as well as standardisation. Because


FOSS is generally viewed as 'free of cost', there tends to be hostility towards it especially from would be software developers and businesses who view it as charitable software. However, a close analysis of the type of licenses one can use in FOSS reveals that one can still earn a decent income from developing FOSS.

4. Promotion of FOSS to the general public.5. Promotion of FOSS usage in business. Many businesses are always looking at

getting the best value of money from their investments. FOSS does offer them this opportunity. However, without knowledge of its abilities and benefits, these businesses especially SMEs will still stay stuck with either expensive solutions, pirated solutions or no solution at all.

c) Human Resources

1. Alter School ICT curricula to focus on generic skills. Oftentimes, students are taught vendor specific skills in their computer training which makes them get dependent on those particular vendors and their products. Govt effort should focus on ensuring that the training undertaken is imparting skills that are crosscutting. A good example is the skills required to use Excel Spreadsheet and its OpenOffice.org equivalent called Impress are one and the same.

2. Introduction and promotion of Professional training in FOSS related skills. For any organisation to hire staff, they usually need to rely on a professional assessment of the staff. This therefore means having some qualification of an institution that is recognised. The same is necessary for FOSS.

3. Promotion of certification in FOSS skills4. Creation of National curriculum guidelines on FOSS training. This needs to be

done early enough in order to control standards of training. Once not attended to, you have a proliferation of institutions venturing into FOSS training with each making all sorts of claims but delivering nothing of value to the society.

d) Private Sector Development

1. Create opportunities for FOSS businesses.2. Encourage the use of FOSS by Government agencies and institutions. The

Government procurement of ICT services is usually the largest for most COMESA countries. All other sectors combined hardly beat it. Thus, the more Government takes up a product or service, the more business for the private sector companies and this leads to more people beginning to train in FOSS after realising that there are jobs readily available.

3. Allow FOSS to compete on equal terms with proprietary alternatives in Government procurement. The tendency of being product / vendor specific


when designing tenders for ICT needs to stop. This allows the Government to receive as many possible solutions for evaluation, thereby deciding on the most appropriate one.

4. Offer incentives to promote FOSS training in higher institutions of learning. This involves stimulation of the parties involved in training services and encouraging them to also offer FOSS training as part of the menu. While a number of the institutions do not feel the need to actively engage in this training, a number of programmes with incentives could come in handy and generate the desired response.

5. Work jointly with the private sector and FOSS communities to set up resource and support centres. These can act at satellites for the spread of FOSS skills countrywide and because they handle a lot more than just FOSS on a daily basis, they are best suited to extend the skills and also offer local support.

6. Preferential provision for locally based FOSS ICT service providers. This is because most of the money spent on such stays within the country as opposed to the massive capital flight being experienced currently with most companies having to pay costs for licenses and other services to providers outside the country.

e) FOSS Development

1. Support and Promote the localisation of FOSS. The goal for any Government is to ensure that all citizens have equitable and easy access to ICT as a way of making their lives better. The localisation of the software into languages and formats that are easily embraced by the nationals is a big step forward.

2. Setup national initiatives that link Government, Developers and end users of FOSS. Some kind of think tank or round table arrangement is very necessary to bridge the gap between the policy makers in Government, the developers who are heavily involved in the production process of FOSS and th end users whose lives are meant to be touched by these innovations.

3. Support and Promote local FOSS development projects. Numerous FOSS projects are being spearheaded by nationals of COMESA member countries. Unfortunately, these initiatives one day are likely to gather cobwebs if not supported since they are usually done on a voluntary basis. This is what happened to the translation team that embarked on translating FOSS into Luganda (a Ugandan Language) when it failed to make progress after successfully translating the Mozilla Web Browser. Research and development funds could be channeled effectively into such activities.

4. Promote the use of FOSS in publicly funded education, research and development initiatives. As a way of effectively managing research and development projects


resources as well as leveraging on the open nature of FOSS, it is ideally good that publicly funded projects do use FOSS and thereby act as a testbed for further deployment elsewhere on a grand scale.

f) FOSS Communities

1. Give active support to the creation of national FOSS associations and user groups while actively supporting existing groups. National user groups are generally volunteer Non-Governmental organizations. They serve as the an incubator for talents. They are also fundamental in peer learning and mobilising of capacities towards greater involvement in structured technology arena.

2. Above national groups and Associations, there are regional FOSS initiatives that serve as networks for either the training or capacity building in the COMESA region. Because of the fundamental role they play in leveraging national FOSS growth, COMESA will benefit from their sustainability.

3. So far, Academia has played major roles in curriculum and hands-on education and knowledge transfer. A number of universities and researchers in the region are into Research and Development of FOSS. If not enough support is given to these persons and institutions, graduating technology savvy minds may be lost. Being that FOSS is in need of on-going and sustained training, academia must occupy an important place in COMESA's action plan

4. On the continental level, the Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa – FOSSFA, has proved its importance in harnessing FOSS potentials, supporting government FOSS policy, promoting the industry and taking African efforts to the global FOSS arena. The objectives of FOSSFA and those of COMESA are in line and a greater collaboration will be a good way to sustain FOSS in the continent, the region and in the countries. COMESA, among other things may give structural support to the Foundation, collaborate with it in awareness projects and also support its training sessions.

5. A FOSS observatory is also needed as a monitor of initiatives, efforts, accomplishments, projects and plans. Great and disparate work is being done in the region and on the continent but a clearing house for FOSS information, either for governments or for Research and Development is missing. An observatory shall not only monitor and evaluate, it can also be a very useful instrument in advancing and harmonising standards and policies across the states.


11.0 Proposed Logical Framework for COMESA FOSS engagement

Objective Action Deliverables Possible Obstacles Measurement Indicators

Improvement of FOSS Policy Environment

Support COMESA countries in ICT policies adoption

Approved ICT Policies in place in member states

- Slow parliamentary approval system- Delay in policy time lines

Number of COMESA countries with functional ICT Policies

Integrate FOSS in National ICT policies

Presence of sections referring to FOSS in the national ICT Policies of member states

- Resistance from organisations who have been benefiting from the proprietary software situation- Proprietary dispositions of already existing national policies

Number of national ICT Policy sections with specific reference to OSS or FOSS

Establish FOSS Policies in member states

FOSS Policy in place in each member state

- Shortage of experts to guide in the formulation of the policy- Budgetary challenges for policy development

Number of countries with FOSS Policy

Mainstream FOSS in public procurement

ICT tenders offer opportunities to FOSS Solutions

- Lack of awareness by the personnel concerned with the procurement processes- Possible corruption- Low reach of official government announcements

Number of IT procurement tenders bearing a FOSS inclusion statement

Establish Country co-operation Initiatives on promotion, use and development of FOSS

- Periodic inter-governmental meetings.- Institution of exchange programmes especially for the technical personnel

- Language challenges - Discrepancies in levels of good and transparent governance

Number of ongoing initiatives, exchange programmes, number of personnel involved


Mandate the use of permissive FOSS licenses on all software developed with public funds

Growth in Government funded FOSS software initiatives

- Protest from non FOSS solution providers- License proliferation

Number of software developed with public funds using OSS licenses

Give preference for Locally based FOSS ICT providers

Increased number of Government opportunities for local FOSS businesses

- Pressure from global IT giant and multinationals

Number of local FOSS IT service providers on government roll

Sustained and functional awareness creation

Increasing FOSS awareness among Government Officials

Increased FOSS knowledge for government officials

- Resistance to change.- Myths surrounding IT and software- Inconsistency in planning for awareness sessions

Number of Government officials trained in FOSS at both user and technical levels.

Creating awareness on FOSS Licensing

Improved awareness by the general ICT community about FOSS licenses

- Fears of license as 'legal'- Lack of experts to lead initial sessions

Number of feedback on license issues, number of individual interests in licenses

FOSS promotion to the General public

Increased public knowledge in FOSS in the region

- Myths surrounding IT and software- Inability of facilitators to translate technical knowledge to everyday words and situations

Number of events held to educate the general public on FOSS. Press reports.

FOSS promotion in small businesses

More SME FOSS take up in the region

- Competition from pirated proprietary software.- Challenges in linking up to global FOSS companies as relay

- Number of events held with Small business owners on FOSS.- Number of businesses that have taken up FOSS use in their operations


Increase FOSS Human Resources and Skills se

Modify school IT training curricula to focus on generic skills.

Integrated general IT curricula in schools

- Change in approach to instruction could meet resistance.- Negativity towards re-training by many teachers.

Number of students with abilities to use IT systems that are either FOSS or proprietary software based.

Introduction of professional training in FOSS

FOSS trainings offered at professional level

- Initial training of trainers is likely to be a challenge

Number of Institutions offering FOSS training at professional level.

Promotion of Certification

Available Certification in the COMESA region

- Cost of international certification.- Readiness of centers- Insufficiency of centers outside of cities and capitals

- Number of international certifications available in the country.- Formulation of local / regional certifications.

Creation of National Curriculum guidelines on FOSS training.

FOSS training guidelines document

- Challenges in harmonising national curricula orientations- Long negotiations before compromise

Number of training centres using guidelines

Increase the FOSS capacity of the Private Sector

Motivate regional SMES to FOSS businesses

Regional FOSS intake by regional SMEs

- Global economic challenges- Lack of SMEs in the IT business itself

Number of registered FOSS service businesses

Create opportunities for FOSS businesses

Level-playing field opportunities for open competition in government services for FOSS SMEs

- Lobby by multinationals- Possible corruption

Number of FOSS businesses providing solutions or services for Government.

Offer incentives for FOSS training in higher institutions of learning.

Institutions have a specific support from COMESA to train FOSS experts

- Low turn up could cause cancellation of programme by institution.

Number of institutions offering FOSS training.


Work closely with private sector and the FOSS communities to set up resource centers

Functional resource centers in the region

- Availability of skilled personnel in areas outside the urban centres is a big challenge.

Number of FOSS resource/support centres in the countries/region

Increase FOSS Development

Support and promote FOSS localisation

Vibrant localisation projects in the region

- Lack of skilled personnel to undertake the task at hand.- Budgetary constraints

Number of localisation projects in the countries/region

Set up National initiatives that link Government, Developers and end users of FOSS

FOSS multi-stakeholder roundtables

- Inability of 'techies' to communicate with users.

Number of Roundtables, number of participants

Promote the use of FOSS in publicly funded research, education and development initiatives.

Widespread knowledge and adoption of FOSS by research centers using public funds

- Possible Corruption- Vendor lock-in of existing centers

Number of public research and education institutions using FOSS.

Grow and reinforce the capacities of FOSS communities

Support to the birth and growth of national FOSS associations and user groups

Functional and vibrant FOSS associations and user groups in COMESA countries

- Existence of many associations in one country- Virtual nature of groups and associations

Difference in associations and group numbers and actions

Motivate regional FOSS network initiatives

EACOSS and other regional initiatives structurally vibrant

- Budgetary constraints

Institutional reports acknowledging COMESA support

Contribute to initiatives from Academia

Contributions targeted at universities and researchers


Number of universities receiving COMESA funding for FOSS initiatives, R and D, or events


Contribute to FOSSA

Contribution towards FOSSFA functional and structural instance, initiatives and events


FOSSFA Reports acknowledging COMESA contribution or support in its operation, initiatives, and events.

Establish a FOSS and Open Standards Observatory

Observatory established with at least a project Coordinator

Budgetary constraints

Name, contact and Terms of Reference for the Project Coordinator. Project reports

11.0.1 Proposals on Selected ActivitiesSome of the selected activities that COMESA could carry out among member countries to achieve the goals of this frame work do include;

a) Improvement of FOSS Policy Environment– ICT Policy Reviews: COMESA can facilitate the periodic review of member states' ICT policies

and monitor their conformance to an initially agreed upon Pro FOSS agenda. This should target the relevant Government departments in charge of ICT and can be done on an annual basis. Case studies of other member states like Madagascar that have a FOSS friendly policies could be used here.

– FOSS Policy Development: After embracing the FOSS friendly ICT policies, the next most logical step would be to come up with national FOSS policies in the form of that done by the South African Government. This helps focus the agenda of FOSS at national levels. Again here, the Government departments in charge have to be targeted but also encouraged to work with FOSS communities and local ICT experts. Regional workshops on FOSS policy development would be a very good idea.

b) Sustained and functional awareness creation– FOSS Awareness and Promotion: COMESA can support an activity or a series of activities aimed

at FOSS awareness and promotion among the member states and their populace. This can be in form of an annual regional 'FOSS in E-Government' conference and support of locally identified initiatives aimed at increasing public appreciation of FOSS. This could be through encouraging member states to partner in events like 'Software Freedom Day' (http://softwarefreedomday.org/), Document Freedom Day - DFD (http://www.documentfreedom.org/) among others which are usually celebrated by the Local FOSS Communities.

– Foss promotion in SMEs. By partnering with already existing initiatives, COMESA can have an impact here too. Currently INWENT (www.inwent.org), FOSSFA (www.fossfa.net) and OSISA (www.osisa.org) are jointly working on a programme


http://www.osisa.org/

http://www.fossfa.net/

http://www.inwent.org/

http://www.documentfreedom.org/

http://softwarefreedomday.org/

dubbed as the ICT@INNOVATION (http://www.ict-innovation.fossfa.net/) which aims at building capacities in African small and medium ICT enterprises to make a business with Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). This programme covers the East and Southern Africa Region which has many COMESA member states. It is an ideal opportunity.

c) Increase FOSS Human Resource and Skill Sets– FOSS Certification Promotion. Currently, there are numerous vendor specific

FOSS certifications in place. However, COMESA can play a key role in advancing for a certification that is non vendor specific and would easily be able to spread uniform skills all over the region. This can be worked upon with partners again that are already making efforts in this area. FOSSFA is already trying to address this issue at an African level and would be an ideal partner. Other partners here would be the currently existing ICT training institutions in the region.

– Standardised National Curriculum: It is important to guard against the potential proliferation of non regulated FOSS training institutions. This will help ensure that the skill sets are fairly standard at the national level and across the region for easier mobility of labor. COMESA can work with the relevant ICT Departments and Education Departments in the member states to facilitate this. Some countries have National Curriculum Development Centres and these should be a target. Workshops in line with this are a good approach.

d) Increase FOSS Development– Promote the use of FOSS in publicly funded research, education and

development initiatives. COMESA could start by implementing an approach that ensures that in all its funded activities, FOSS is preferentially used. Right from software development to research initiatives. This can then act as a good case study for the member states which can then learn from the secretariat and try implementing the same at national levels.

e) Grow and reinforce the capacities of FOSS communities- Motivate Regional FOSS Network Initiatives. As indicated earlier, the FOSS communities are already involved in numerous activities at both national and international levels. However, many are the hardships they face especially when it comes to Government recognition. The intervention of COMESA in a number of regional initiatives could lend the much needed credence to these FOSS communities and lead to their growth. There have been informal talks between FOSS communities in Uganda and Kenya about setting up a regional East African initiative to promote FOSS. Maybe, COMESA's intervention could take this to a higher level.


http://www.ict-innovation.fossfa.net/

mailto:ICT@INNOVATION

12.0 Conclusion

The phenomenon of Free and Open Source Software started off as a seemingly passing fad but time has proved otherwise. Not only has the open model of software development gained so much appeal but it was won many converts and this is evident in the way many multinational companies and Governments are embracing it.

Brazil, India, Malaysia, South Africa among others have led the way in promoting FOSS and its model.

These same countries coincide with the globally acclaimed 'emerging economies'. Their GNP is on the steady rise. It may therefore be safely ascertained that developing countries can transit their economies from 'developing' to 'emerging' through the use of FOSS. This notion is capital to COMESA countries, as they are currently in the same socio-economic conditions as were Brazil, Malaysia and South Africa a few years ago.

Nokia, Sun MicroSystems, Novell, IBM, Google among others all offer support to various opensource software projects. These companies are the new giants of the technology market and are fast proving to be the same on the global market economy. The peer production system that underlies FOSS ideology has given rise to the fastest growing market leaders. This principle needs to be understudied for the technology industry in the COMESA region if they are to stand a chance in the globalized market economy.

The global economic meltdown is nowhere near its end. For the past quarters in which there has been a serious challenge to traditional proprietary-styled economics, most companies using, developing and offering FOSS solutions and methods have seen their financial horizons widen. The use of FOSS, therefore, becomes not just an issue of cost savings, but a guarantee of future survival.

It is therefore no wonder that people are beginning to take note of FOSS. With 13 of the 19 COMESA member states having active FOSS communities, this speaks volumes and is a sign that the region is not new to FOSS. In any case, this is the right time to bring together the various scattered efforts that have been going on in this respect and forge a common regional way forward. The opensource projects that have originated from within the region are also a sign of the competencies available in terms of skill sets.

FOSS use in Government institutions is remarkably low and is hindered by numerous factors as listed in the study findings. The government officials though do acknowledge the cost savings of deploying FOSS as a way of offering improved services in the midst


of decreasing government budgets.

Currently, there is a lot of activity taking place among the various FOSS communities in the region and this is a very big opportunity for COMESA and the governments of the member states to take advantage of. These communities are further linked to the continental FOSS body which is the Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA).

COMESA's missions and vision are challenged by the current economic situation, and also more by the future global perspectives. As population increases in the region and citizen expections for government services increase, governments will need to invest more in citizen services, administration costs and information technology. This is the time for COMESA countries to lay solid foundations needed to face these challenges. The promotion, policy, use and reinforcement of capacities in Free Software and Open Source will prove to be a necessary step.

The framework proposal should be able to facilitate COMESA and its member states to entrench FOSS down to the grassroots. The stage is set and the region is certainly more ready than ever to embrace FOSS wholly.


13.0 References, useful links

1. Linux TCO CyberSource Study http://www.cyber.com.au/about/linux_vs_windows_tco_comparison.pdf

2. Amazon Online retailer's savings in Linux Migration http://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-275155.html

3. Malawi Open Source Society initiative information sources www.infodev.org/en/Document.414.pdf http://mailman.aims.ac.za/pipermail/aims-chat/2005-August/000029.html

4. The Solusi University Open Source Story https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-zw/2008-July/000137.html

5. Uganda Martyrs University FOSS Story http://www.opensourceafrica.org/view_article.php?type=case_study&id=23

6. EACOSS www.eacoss.org

7. Strathmore University www.strathmore.edu

8. The Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa www.fossfa.net

9. Jommo Kenyata University of Agricultute and Technology www.jkuat.ac.ke

10. Kenyan Cybercafe FOSS rush http://allafrica.com/stories/200711262040.html http://allafrica.com/stories/200805150945.html http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=1725

11. Zimbabwe Parliament and Linux Adoption https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-news-team/2008-December/000303.html

12. Uganda's ICT Sector – UIA http://www.ugandainvest.com/uia2.php?uhpl=ict&&uhpl1=ICT

13. Egyptian ICT Indicators http://www.egyptictindicators.gov.eg/default.htm

14. South African Government Open Source Software Site http://www.oss.gov.za

15. South African FOSS Policy Resource http://www.oss.gov.za/FOSS_OC_POLICY_2006.pdf


http://www.oss.gov.za/FOSS_OC_POLICY_2006.pdf

http://www.oss.gov.za/

http://www.egyptictindicators.gov.eg/default.htm

http://www.ugandainvest.com/uia2.php?uhpl=ict&&uhpl1=ICT

http://www.ugandainvest.com/uia2.php?uhpl=ict&&uhpl1=ICT

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-news-team/2008-December/000303.html

http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=1725

http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=1725

http://allafrica.com/stories/200805150945.html

http://allafrica.com/stories/200711262040.html

http://www.jkuat.ac.ke/

http://www.fossfa.net/

http://www.strathmore.edu/

http://www.eacoss.org/

http://www.opensourceafrica.org/view_article.php?type=case_study&id=23

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-zw/2008-July/000137.html

http://mailman.aims.ac.za/pipermail/aims-chat/2005-August/000029.html

http://mailman.aims.ac.za/pipermail/aims-chat/2005-August/000029.html

http://www.infodev.org/en/Document.414.pdf

http://www.infodev.org/en/Document.414.pdf

http://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-275155.html

http://www.cyber.com.au/about/linux_vs_windows_tco_comparison.pdf

16. Malaysian Public Sector OSS Portal http://www.oscc.org.my/

17. MyGOSSCON – Malaysian Government Open Source Software Conference http://mygosscon.oscc.org.my/

18. Free/Open Source Software – Government Policy, Kenneth Wong, Asia Pacific Development Information Programme

19. Development Information Programme. Http://www.apdip.net

20. Windows NSA key Incident www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9909/03/windows.nsa.02/

21. Netgear WG602 Accesspoint Vulnerability www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/365069

22. Cisco Systems Default Login - http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sa-20040407-username.shtml

23. Business Software Alliance http://www.bsa.org

24. Amazon.com savings by Going Linux http://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-275155.html

25. Madagascar ICT Policy http://www.goticom.org.mg/PNTIC-D-2004.pdf

26. UNDP/UNESCO Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) Consultation http://portal. unesco .org/ci/en/files/13863/10713183401Recommendations.pdf/Re commendations.pdf

27. The Africa Information Society Initiative (AISI) www.uneca.org/aisi

28. Free/open source software (FOSS) policy in Africa: A toolkit for policy-makers and practitioners – Bridges.org / CIPESA

29.Study into the use of Open Source Software in the Public Sector The Open Source Market Structure by Patrice-Emmanuel Schmitz, Unisys Belgium. An IDA Study, European Commission and DG Enterprises.


http://www.uneca.org/aisi

http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/files/13863/10713183401Recommendations.pdf/Recommendations.pdf




http://www.goticom.org.mg/PNTIC-D-2004.pdf

http://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-275155.html

http://www.bsa.org/

http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sa-20040407-username.shtml

http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sa-20040407-username.shtml

http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/365069

http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9909/03/windows.nsa.02/

http://www.apdip.net/

http://mygosscon.oscc.org.my/

http://www.oscc.org.my/

regional information and communication...

Documents