[okfn-za] [HacksHackers Cape Town] Open Source in Government

Robert Elliott robert at graphflow.com
Fri Oct 11 08:42:34 UTC 2013 

I think 'crowdsourcing' the data is an excellent idea. Interactions can be
'draft' until officially confirmed as and when evidence becomes available.
Here is a D3 example of what we could end up with (albeit very
conspiracy-theorist): http://www.whodotheyserve.com/

>From a data perspective, what we need is:

   - Entity (person or organisation)
   - Interaction (shareholder-in, partner-with, contract-with, employee-of,
   colleague-with, friend-of etc.)
      - This should include some sort of basis: link or document.
      - Entity (person or organisation)

So we would end up with a interactions graph dataset. This could initially
be a google spread sheet or a simple db or wiki until it gets large enough
to warrant a NoSQL graph db.


On Fri, Oct 11, 2013 at 10:26 AM, Thoko Madonko <thoko.madonko at gmail.com>wrote:

> Dear All
>
> I am following the discussion with keen interest. Would there be a way to
> start small - I am thinking given the health reform taking place in SA - a
> 3d picture of who is connected to which medical scheme would be a great
> start!
>
> Let me know if you are keen. I am sure I can find some cash monies to help
> do it.
>
> Thoko
>
> *__________________________________________*
>
> *
> *
>
>
> On 10 October 2013 14:55, Greg Kempe <gregkempe at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Charles, I agree, this would be very interesting. I've also thought of
>> doing something with the tender database.
>>
>> But I think Adi is right: there's a lot of money to be made with that
>> data, and a lot of incentive for people to keep it hidden. The journos
>> would love it, the business owners less so, so there'd be some friction for
>> sure.
>>
>> Greg
>>
>> On 10 October 2013 at 1:50:37 PM, Charles (chuckra at gmail.com<//chuckra at gmail.com>)
>> wrote:
>>
>>  For me, the biggest hit we can make in open data in SA is the companies
>> office. If you look at what the NZ govt<http://cat.open.org.nz/tag/companies/>,
>> for instance, has done, we have a long way to go. But I dream of being able
>> to show a dynamic D3 <http://d3js.org/> graph connecting all our
>> politicians to their family members and the companies in which they are
>> involved.
>>
>>
>>
>> What are the chances of getting a nice REST service running at the CIPC<http://www.cipc.co.za/>,
>> where anyone can query. We’d give journalists a field day…
>>
>>
>>
>> Charles
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* okfn-za-bounces at lists.okfn.org [mailto:
>> okfn-za-bounces at lists.okfn.org] *On Behalf Of* Robert Elliott
>> *Sent:* 09 October 2013 23:08
>> *To:* Adi Eyal
>> *Cc:* okfn-za at lists.okfn.org; hackshackers-johannesburg at googlegroups.com;
>> hackshackers-capetown at googlegroups.com; odadi at googlegroups.com
>> *Subject:* Re: [okfn-za] [HacksHackers Cape Town] Open Source in
>> Government
>>
>>
>>
>> Saw this today: Department of Basic Education Bans Open Source
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> http://dkeats.com/index.php?action=viewsingle&module=blog&postid=gen21Srv8Nme0_40332_1381256759&userid=7050120123
>>
>>
>>
>> And Delphi?!????!!
>>
>>
>>
>> Shocker.
>>
>> —
>> Sent from Mailbox <https://www.dropbox.com/mailbox> for iPhone
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Aug 5, 2013 at 4:19 PM, 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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>> >> >> To post to this group, send an email to
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>> >> >> To view this discussion on the web, visit
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/hackshackers-capetown/CAEQY0Y7dUmS2yTVQQ4uUH_%3DU4STfWQBSOkNgDF4SUhbVoBtVUQ%40mail.gmail.com
>> .
>> >> >>
>> >> >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > --
>> >> > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>> >> > 7th Avenue Communications
>> >> > 031 - 205-8331
>> >> > 083 - 758-4483
>> >> >
>> >> > --
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>> >> > To view this discussion on the web, visit
>> >> >
>> >> >
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>> .
>> >> >
>> >> > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> Adi Eyal
>> >> Data Specialist
>> >> phone: +27 78 014 2469
>> >> skype: adieyalcas
>> >> linkedin: http://za.linkedin.com/pub/dir/Adi/Eyal
>> >>
>> >> --
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>> Groups
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>> >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
>> an
>> >> email to hackshackers-capetown+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
>> >> To post to this group, send an email to
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>> >> To view this discussion on the web, visit
>> >>
>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/hackshackers-capetown/CAEQY0Y4Mkfd-9bH%3DytVxQNZUMRrn1YP%2B0Vqa-pXxrjveTUwqhw%40mail.gmail.com
>> .
>> >>
>> >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>> > 7th Avenue Communications
>> > 031 - 205-8331
>> > 083 - 758-4483
>> >
>> > --
>> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>> Groups
>> > "HacksHackers CapeTown" group.
>> > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
>> an
>> > email to hackshackers-capetown+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
>> > To post to this group, send an email to
>> > hackshackers-capetown at googlegroups.com.
>> > To view this discussion on the web, visit
>> >
>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/hackshackers-capetown/CAE02g-PLGgsFZq4BurZxVUG_0n2yjBmwdNd5OtmL%3DThsui%3DSkQ%40mail.gmail.com
>> .
>> >
>> > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Adi Eyal
>> Data Specialist
>> phone: +27 78 014 2469
>> skype: adieyalcas
>> linkedin: http://za.linkedin.com/pub/dir/Adi/Eyal
>>
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-- 
<http://www.graphflow.com>
Robert Elliott | Co-founder
robert at graphflow.com | +27 71 882 4222 |
@greenafrican<http://twitter.com/greenafrican>

GraphFlow | Product, user and content recommendations
www.graphflow.com | @graphflow <http://twitter.com/graphflow>
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