[okfn-za] okfn-za post from tlbevan at gmail.com requires approval

Mon Aug 5 14:08:32 UTC 2013

Hi Thomas

> Interesting project. If you haven't seen this already, check out the SITA FOSS roadmap: http://www.sita.co.za/FOSS/FOSS1.html

I have seen it and it is fantastic that policy exists. What active
steps have taken place to implement that policy?

> Limpopo Province, interestingly enough, has been moving towards using FOSS.

I'll take a look - any references?

> There is a lot of interest in government wrt open source, but the major proprietary vendors are well established and offer "out of the box solutions", whether true or not.
>
> Just something to note - local companies seem to have limited capacity wrt FOSS, especially for major, multi-year government projects. Also, government is restricted to using vendors registered with SITA, and these tend to be MS shops, or use other proprietary platforms.

My point exactly with regards to SITA - promotion of open source
should coincide with development of local open source providers.
>
> If you do gather some numbers for comparison, take into consideration the costs of customising open source for specific purposes. Scarce skills and resources = $$$.

All your points are true. With regards to cost of implementation of
open source as well as skills development, consider that the billions
of rands spent on imported proprietary software can be redirected to
the local software industry. The increased demand will encourage more
entrants into the market reducing costs significantly. Also, I'm not
arguing cost reduction (while this will be a long term result), I am
arguing economic development. R10 billion injected into the local
industry will create a bundle of new jobs.

Also - I expect
 - open source to reduce redundancy (bespoke development of costly
systems can now be shared across government departments)
 - reduction of vendor lock-in - don't like your service provider -
change to another one.
 - standardisation within government - open software will result in
open standards which should contribute to more improved efficiency in
communication across government departments
 - better quality systems in the long-term. Systems can be tuned to
specific requirements of government departments. Also bugs are easier
to fix. You are no longer at the mercy of large software providers who
insist adapting your workflow to their software.
 - and a bunch of other stuff which you can find on the Internet
arguing for why open source is a really good alternative to closed
source systems.

Adi
>
> Thomas
>
> On Monday, August 5, 2013 3:16:25 PM UTC+2, Adi Eyal wrote:
>>
>> Hi All
>>
>> I'm working on a personal project which these groups may find
>> interesting. I'd like to build a case for why moving government
>> departments to using open source software makes economic sense. I'm
>> doing this by laboriously contacting each government department and
>> asking them what software they use and how much they pay for it.
>>
>> Yes I know - I may be a little idealistic and a touch naive, but I'm
>> not trying to argue the philosophical merits of why open source
>> software may be better than proprietary software.
>>
>> My logic is simply:
>>
>> If government spends Rx billion annually importing proprietary
>> software and they rather redirect that money to the local software
>> community for installation, customisation, support and hosting then we
>> can create Y new jobs.
>>
>> It's a lot of work but hopefully I can convince a few more people to
>> help me. I have data from 5 departments so far with a total annual
>> spend of over R26m.
>>
>> I would really appreciate your help. Collecting this information is
>> time consuming. I plan to collect information across all spheres of
>> government which you can imagine is a mammoth task. Any contribution -
>> no matter how small would definitely ease the burden.
>>
>> If you want more information - have a look at this link:
>> https://github.com/adieyal/gov-software-audit
>>
>>
>> Just one caveat - this project is not about complaining about
>> Microsoft or snide comments about whether government is useless,
>> inefficient or incompetent. I am an idealist and I prefer a naively
>> optimistic approach. Even if the project fails (and the odds are
>> against it), I think it is a worthwhile cause and will add another
>> voice to why this is a good thing.
>>
>> Comments welcome.
>>
>> Adi
>>
>> --
>> Adi Eyal
>> Data Specialist
>> phone: +27 78 014 2469
>> skype: adieyalcas
>> linkedin: http://za.linkedin.com/pub/dir/Adi/Eyal
>
>
>
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-- 
Adi Eyal
Data Specialist
phone: +27 78 014 2469
skype: adieyalcas
linkedin: http://za.linkedin.com/pub/dir/Adi/Eyal