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

Sun Aug 11 10:20:18 UTC 2013

Gobsmacked! I knew that open textbooks were money savers but that is
some serious belt-tightening right there.

I'm not so sure about the exact argument to follow with the open source idea.

1. The standard argument is cost-savings (followed by
counter-arguments that open software sucks).
2. My idea was to argue for long-term economic strengthening by
creating an industry around servicing government with a related result
of sharing open source systems between departments (leading to
reduction in duplication, standardisation of protocols and generally a
much stronger eco-system).
3. Your suggestion takes it one step further and argues for a general
culture of openness.

For 1. I would like to avoid discussions around better vs worse
software. Firstly it is a never-ending argument and change-makers
quickly lose interest (leaving stuff IT bureaucrats arguing with open
source fanatics). This issue is not a technical one.
For 3, I completely buy into this ideology, pushing open data, open
knowledge and open source will hopefully result in a more open
government (I see open government as a way of thinking rather than a
set of services that government provides). I think that this is too
much to sell too quickly. Overloading the argument with too many
ideals will possibly result in the message getting lost in the
details.
I prefer 2 - though, I might not be evaluating all the issues correctly.

Happy to hear your thoughts.

Adi

On 11 August 2013 11:04, Nimi Hoffmann <Nimi.Hoffmann at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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]. 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] 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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>> >> Data Specialist
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>> --
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>> Data Specialist
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-- 
Adi Eyal
Data Specialist
phone: +27 78 014 2469
skype: adieyalcas
linkedin: http://za.linkedin.com/pub/dir/Adi/Eyal