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

Fri Aug 16 20:41:55 UTC 2013

On 16 August 2013 16:42, Nimi Hoffmann <Nimi.Hoffmann at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hmm, agree.
>
> Well, I can say that a number of universities and schools are using Ubuntu,
> plus that hilariously named Freedom Toaster thang, which is a public kiosk
> that burns copies of freeware. Aside from the cost savings, there might be
> an opportunity cost since open-source software could encourage young people
> to programme well, whatever they wanted to programme. That speaks to
> attempts to encourage innovation in rural and marginalised communities.
> Tentative I know, but still ...

Not at all - that is my entire point. I would not at all suggest that
open source is an opportunity to cut costs but rather to create
employment. An extra 10-20 billion rand spent annually in South Africa
would create many new jobs (as a primary benefit) and create a boom in
the South African software industry that will likely lead to further
innovations. The difference here is the multiplier effect:

Option A - Spend R10 billion importing proprietary software - that
money leaks from the system and is effectively gone.
Option B - Spend the same money locally, the money will be re-spent 5
times (company pays employee, employee buys goods, supermarket employs
farmers, farmers buy machinery, etc). The ROI on that expenditure is
much higher than the original R10 billion.

I would rather not save the money but rather spend it creating jobs
(and in the process, a world class digital economy).

Adi

>
>
>
>
> On 11 August 2013 12:20, Adi Eyal <adi at burgercom.co.za> wrote:
>>
>> 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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>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >> --
>> >> >> 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
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>> Adi Eyal
>> 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