[glug-t] An article about FOSS in India (page 2)

http://www.cio.in/govern/viewArticles/ARTICLEID=3D3139/page=3D1
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From the government's perspective, FOSS plays several important roles.
First, it reduces cost of technology =97 a predominant motivation for
using FOSS. Second, it increases the agility of the government: in
times of disaster or war, the government can quickly download, install
and use software without having to navigate a circuitous and
complicated purchasing procedure.

Third, it increases the bargaining capacity of government. Even if the
government does not intend to use FOSS, it could drive down the costs
of proprietary software by talking about FOSS applications during
negotiations. C. Umashankar, MD of Electronics Corporation of
Thailand, was able to get Windows XP Starter edition for an equivalent
of Rs 400. His example should be emulated by other departments
purchasing proprietary software.

Does the extent of technical support limit usage of FOSS by government?
Yes, it does. This is why e-governance practitioners like Rajeev
Chawla, secretary of e-governance, government of Karnataka, avoid
using FOSS. He says that FOSS is like a Mercedes Benz that cannot be
repaired in a village in Raichur district. But proprietary software,
he says, is like the Ambassador and can be repaired by a village
mechanic. This is because most computer science and computer
engineering degrees in developing countries like India focus only on
proprietary software, unlike other engineering and scientific
disciplines where students are provided with generic skills.

This means our graduates are 'computer operators' and not 'computer
scientists'. They are 'point-and-click' engineers who operate
computers like factory workers manipulating lathes without any real
understanding. Rarely do these engineers come up with new products or
services that capture global imagination and markets.

Very few Indian IT companies own the copyright, patents and trademarks
associated with the software application they build. These jobs that
are now moving to India will move again to other countries that are
able to provide cheap English-speaking programmers.

The problem can only be addressed by introducing a vendor-neutral
curriculum. This will ensure that students are introduced to FOSS in
schools and colleges. It will take at least five years after the
curriculum is revised for us to see a change in the FOSS ecosystem. By
introducing a vendor-neutral curriculum, the government will ensure
that it can get support for e-governance applications built on open
standards. It will also ensure that the IT jobs stay in India as
companies will be able to build solutions on top of FOSS.

Which country, according to you, has used FOSS well?
I think the US is a good example for effective usage of FOSS. The
Department of Defense uses FOSS almost exclusively for obvious reasons
of national security that have eloquently been articulated by the
President of India during the visit of Microsoft's chairman Bill Gates
to Rashtrapathi Bhavan. The private industry is generating wealth and
increasing savings by adopting FOSS. This is one area, where I would
recommend adopting the 'American Way'.

 What is the role played by the FOSS master plans and policy documents
issued by of countries like Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Peru and
Australia?
There are three different policy positions that a government can take.
One, the government can mandate FOSS. At IOSN, we do not support this
position because in many areas, FOSS may not be the best candidate for
the job and this could result in heavy disruption, especially for
countries that have large existing investments in the field of ICT.
Unfortunately, the master plans and policy documents of Vietnam and
Peru take this position.

Two, the government could prefer FOSS. This means that if all else is
equal, then the government will choose FOSS. This policy is also
called the 'Value for Money' policy. This is a pragmatic policy
adopted by governments such as Malaysia. Three, the government could
remain silent on FOSS, but could mandate Open Standard instead. This
is becoming increasingly popular across the globe; the European Union
and Australia are good examples.
These policy documents are usually called GIFs or Government
Interoperability Frameworks. Regarding Cambodia, as far as I know, the
policy is still in draft form, just like in the Philippines.
Does India have a similar master document? If so, how does it stack up
against the other countries?

No, India does not have such a policy document. Officially, the
government of India does not have any policy on FOSS. However, I
believe that actions speak louder than words. The Centre, through
CDAC-Mumbai, has already set up an Open Source Resource Centre in
Mumbai in partnership with IBM and IIT-Mumbai. Through CDAC-Chennai
and KBC Research Centre at Anna University, it has setup a National
Resource Centre for Free and Open Source Software.

The Centre has introduced FOSS electives in 300 engineering colleges
in Tamil Nadu. NIC is also considering a National Centre for Open
Technologies. This Centre will support government departments with
FOSS, Open Standards, Open Content and Open Processes. So, even though
we lack an explicit policy, the Indian government is undertaking many
initiatives to promote the growth of open technologies in the country.

If there was one thing you could change about e-governance in India,
what would it be?
I would like to see greater adherence to open standards. We are losing
out on the network effect by locking our applications into proprietary
silos. Even though we are a country with a huge population, adoption
of e-governance is still slow. The Internet was such an extraordinary
success because it was founded on open standards. Different players =97
private and public, large and small =97 were able to innovate around
these open standards. We should try and emulate this success in the
area of Indian e-governance.

Special Correspondent Balaji Narasimhan can be reached at balaji_n@xxxxxx

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Aditya
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