[okfn-za] [HacksHackers Jo'burg] Re: [HacksHackers Cape Town] Open Source in Government

Sun Aug 11 09:04:51 UTC 2013

Hi Adi

Apologies for my long silence this last month.  I've been working crazy
hours.

I think you could add to this the economic benefits of using open
knowledge. For example, think of Siyavula's open textbook project for maths
and science. In addition to saving a lot of money for the department of
basic education, it's also been a lifeline for kids who don't receive
textbooks as they can read them on MXit and online.

It now costs government about R30 to print and distribute one of these
textbooks, whereas previously the Department of Basic Education had to pay
R150 per book[1] <#_ftn1>. In 2012, the Department of Education ordered 2.4
million mathematics and science textbooks from Siyavula. They spent R73
million on these open access books, in comparison to an estimated R360
million for the same number of books the previous year. This is a saving of
R287 million.

------------------------------

[1] <#_ftnref1> Toby Shapshak. 2012. Free textbooks project helps SA. *Times
Live.* Accessed at:
http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2012/03/18/free-textbooks-project-helps-sa

On 5 August 2013 16:18, Adi Eyal <adi at burgercom.co.za> wrote:

> Hi Niki
>
> On 5 August 2013 16:05, Niki Moore <nikimoore007 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > With reference to my previous reply.... I switched over to Linux a few
> > months ago, and I am battling with it, it's not as easy as Microsoft and
> > requires me to phone my support desk almost weekly to find out how to
> > install programmes... and there are some of my appliances, like my
> scanner,
> > that do not support Linux.  There is a scarcity of technical support for
> > people who are not computer programmers who have gone onto Linux.  I have
> > just been having a chat with such a chap, who was telling me that as the
> use
> > of OSS increases, so companies are forced to offer support, but unless
> you
> > have some basic programming knowledge, Linux is extremely frustrating.
>  Can
> > you imagine your average civil servant handling the programming required
> to
> > open source?
>
> I feel your pain. Funnily enough, I just bought a laptop which came
> with Windows 8. I battled for about an hour trying to figure it out
> and gave up in disgust. However, you're right, Linux is somewhat
> difficult for non-techies. Having said that, my sexagenarian motherin
> in law has been using Ubuntu for about a year now. She doesn't even
> know that she's using it. I'm not trying to sell Linux on the desktop.
> For most people used to Windows, it is a difficult switch. I find
> MacOS difficult too, but it's mostly because it is a new interface.
> Linux though is not the only open source system around. There is lot's
> of software that is opensource which runs on Windows.
>
> More importantly, bespoke software should be written as open source -
> there is no reason why software which is built specifically for a
> government department should be kept closed. Once built, it should be
> shareable with other departments with no fee (except for installation
> and support).
>
> One last thing - I didn't mention why I thought that the open data
> groups were a good avenue for this initiative. Open data by itself is
> a technical area which doesn't interest most people. If we pair open
> data with open government or active citizenry, we have a much more
> powerful tool to change society. This project is an example of how
> that can happen. Collecting data from government departments is the
> first piece of the puzzle.
>
> Adi
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Aug 5, 2013 at 3:55 PM, Adi Eyal <adi at burgercom.co.za> wrote:
> >>
> >> They refuse to response to my PAIA requests. They have an open data
> >> policy - they also administer Microsoft licences valuing over a
> >> R100,000,000. I would like policy documents translated to real action.
> >>
> >> Adi
> >>
> >> On 5 August 2013 15:44, Niki Moore <nikimoore007 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> > Why don't you ask the SITA?  They announced in their congress last
> year
> >> > that
> >> > they are moving to open-source, so they should have an idea of the
> spend
> >> > of
> >> > each department.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > On Mon, Aug 5, 2013 at 3:16 PM, Adi Eyal <adi at burgercom.co.za> 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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> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Adi Eyal
> >> Data Specialist
> >> phone: +27 78 014 2469
> >> skype: adieyalcas
> >> linkedin: http://za.linkedin.com/pub/dir/Adi/Eyal
> >>
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> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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> > 031 - 205-8331
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> .
> >
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> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Adi Eyal
> Data Specialist
> phone: +27 78 014 2469
> skype: adieyalcas
> linkedin: http://za.linkedin.com/pub/dir/Adi/Eyal
>
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