Open source for governments
More and more countries are embracing the collaborative model of open source on a national level to fend off caged IT models. The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore’s (IDA) Technology Group has positioned Linux as a medium term technology bet, which means one to three years to mass adoption.Kenneth Liew
More and more countries are embracing the collaborative model of open source on a national level to fend off caged IT models. The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore’s (IDA) Technology Group has positioned Linux as a medium term technology bet, which means one to three years to mass adoption. According to IDA, software procurement decisions in the public sector continue to be based on value-for-money and fit-for-purpose, and do not prefer nor exclude open source software in their tender specifications and evaluations. The public sector currently has a heterogeneous environment and Linux Server operating system is widely used in the government. Government agencies such as the Ministry of Defence are already using open source software.
An alliance dedicated to accelerating the growth and adoption of commercially supported open source systems in Singapore, the Singapore Open Source Alliance (SOSA), has also been formed. SOSA is a consortium of leading global and local IT vendors, with founding members like Apple, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Novell, Oracle, Red Hat, Resolvo Systems and Sun Microsystems.
The line-up indicates that the global IT industry – with one notable exception – acknowledges that commercially supported open source systems are ready for enterprise adoption and are able to coexist with many proprietary systems in the market today.
The preliminary work plans of SOSA include maintaining an updated list of locally supported open source software and a hardware compatibility matrix, inviting CIOs for regular discussions to provide industry feedback on macro policies, and to highlight applications of open source systems.
Leading the way for the statutory boards, the National Library Board (NLB) went with Linux and open source to develop a solution for Windows authentication, file and print services. For NLB, the end of Windows NT support last year meant that retaining its Windows NT-based architecture would result in escalating maintenance costs. With this and many other factors in mind, NLB implemented the Linux-based authentication architecture in the first quarter of 2004, designed jointly with Resolvo.
In other parts of Asia, India’s Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) is distributing a CD of free productivity applications in Tamil, as part of an effort to promote computing among the country’s inhabitants. Over 50,000 CDs have been distributed so far and C-DAC aims to distribute 3.5 million of them. Some of India’s largest public sector bodies: BSNL; Indian Railways; South Asian Petrochem; IDBI Bank; Central Bank of India; and the Department of Treasury, Government of West Bengal are running on Linux.
China is not far behind. The Consortium of Chinese software companies called the Beijing Software Industry Productivity Centre (BSIPC) is now promoting Beijing as not merely the capital of China but also “Asia’s Linux Capital”.
Japan, China and South Korea have created Asianux – an Asian Linux support consortium – to form an accessible version of Linux. Despite political differences, the consortium aims to offer support for it at a lower cost than if they had worked separately.
Looking back, the inflection point for global Linux adoption began in Europe about four years ago. In 2001, the German parliament adopted a resolution that declared the government should use open-source software “whenever doing so will reduce costs”. Two years later, a technology advisory group to the European Commission issued a report that called open-source software “a great opportunity” for the region that could “change the rules in the information technology industry”, reducing Europe’s reliance on imports. Since the German uprising, more than 125 national open-source policies have been proposed worldwide.
This triggered off a movement amongst countries with a socialistic background, notably Russia, China and Cuba. Even Latin America, comprising of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and -Venezuela are shaping to be one of the world’s fastest-growing regions for Linux adoption, so much so that Brazil has announced a three-year plan to switch 80 per cent of its government systems to Linux and funded the project properly to accomplish it. The Venezuelan government gave a decree that all government institutions in the country must present a migration plan to move to open source software by October this year.
The above countries represent a mix of socialistic, capitalistic and even mixed economies. Even in first world governments such as the United States, Europe and Japan, open source is making inroads.
For instance, Linux now helps run 38 out of 50 American statehouses. The penetration levels are comparable to Germany. This also implies that Linux is not just being used by poorer countries.
But why are governments placing such importance on open source? Few governments see software development as a community building exercise and a way to keep money in the country, in other words, a way to prevent their money from going to an American business. For others, pushing open source is of national pride and telling the world that they are not dependent on any other country or company.
“During the past few months, governments in India and the European Union have struck down software patents and the US Congress is currently considering patent reform,” said Tom Rabon (left), Red Hat vice president of corporate affairs. “In addition to reducing total IT purchase costs, governments in several countries have opted for Linux as an economic development decision. They hope that open source would encourage the growth of an indigenous software industry.”In the United States, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) is buying US$8 million worth of Red Hat’s Linux software and services. All of the DOC’s 15 agencies, including the US Patent and Trademark Office, the Census Bureau, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, can use Red Hat products through the agreement. Earlier this year, Red Hat established a new government business unit to target government business.
Some governments also see open source as “a way to move away from US-based software company products”, said Rabon.
Take the case of Vienna. The Austrian capital is migrating 7,500 of its 16,000 desktop PCs to OpenOffice.org, of which 4,800 will run on Linux. Austria is now reportedly considering migrating to Linux in other cities too. The city of Munich, in Germany, is also migrating 14,000 PCs to OpenOffice.org and Linux by 2008. The city of Bergen, in Norway, is migrating desktops in its 100 schools, which have 32,000 students and pupils.
Seeing the increased uptake by governments, Asian vendors such as Holool and Hancom have set up shop in the Gulf region. ThomasSanghyunPark, chief executive officer of South Korean vendor Hancom who recently launched an Arabised version of Linux OS and office suite targeting public sectors said, “[More than] two hundred million Arabic speakers finally have an affordable, high-quality alternative to Microsoft and can save 90 per cent in the process.”
The Linux-based office suite, which is localised for the Arabic market mimics Microsoft Office. Until today, only Microsoft’s products fully supported the Arabic language. “With our sale of 120,000 desktops to the Korean government, we recently closed the biggest single government purchase of Linux systems,” said Park. “Now we’re eager to share that experience in the Middle East to deliver the freedom, flexibility and cost-saving that only Linux can provide.” Hancom claims all its products are both double-byte and bidirectional, which means the Seoul-based company can easily localise its software for virtually any market.
While countries such as UAE, Saudi Arabia are turning to open source for the cost-performance benefits, other countries in the Middle East are being compelled to do so for political reasons. Countries such as Iran, Iraq and Syria which have strained relations with the US see Linux as a path to self-reliance.
Iran, for instance is slowly ditching Windows in favour of the open-source solution, for two reasons. In the Islamic republic where piracy is rampant and the country’s seven million plus PCs run illegal copies of Windows, Linux could legitimise their software usage, and help it gain entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which demands compliance to international intellectual property laws. While Linux may not provide all the answers to bridge the digital divide, governments are using open source to ensure compliance. Instead of paying billions of dollars in licensing fees to a foreign company, these governments have a choice of creating Linux customised for their country’s needs. Rather than importing software, countries can help themselves.
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