Civil Society Petition on Open Source
ICT procurement by the South African government accounts for more than 50% of the local ICT market and significantly influences the types of ICT systems being supplied and supported in the country. With government spending approximately R3 billion per annum on a single proprietary software vendor, the dominant position of proprietary software in the South African ICT market remains entrenched.
This situation raises serious questions about the South African government’s approach to ICT procurement and its response to the socio-economic challenges facing the country.
Various government, private sector and civil society stakeholders unanimously adopted a declaration in support of a National Open Source Strategy at the end of the Go Open Source Conference held from 22-23 August 2005 in Johannesburg. The Declaration recommended that the National Cabinet formally adopt a policy on free and open source software and open content (FOSS/OC).
A year has passed since the Declaration was adopted and very little progress has been made in meeting the commitments emanating from the conference. A change in Government behaviour, policy and practice is a prerequisite for the benefits of FOSS/OC to be realised across society. Government intervention is needed to enable FOSS/OC to become more readily available and to compete equally with proprietary software.
At the recent Gardner Conference in Cape Town it was also highlighted that the South African government is behind the curve in a global trend towards open source software.
In response to this situation, Alan Levin of the Internet Society and I have drafted a petition aimed at mobilising civil society support to pressurise the Minister for Public Service and Administration to adopt an open source policy and honour the government's commitments to the Declaration adopted at the Go Open Source Conference.
We support a change in Government policy that will give meaning to the National Open Source Strategy and result in increased support and application of FOSS/OC in government. We also hope that this process will contribute to increased awareness about open source among South African civil society organisations.
The petition is available on the SANGONeT NGO Portal.
We appeal to South African civil society organisations to review the petition and submit endorsements to - info@sangonet.org.za - by Friday, 22 September 2006.
This situation raises serious questions about the South African government’s approach to ICT procurement and its response to the socio-economic challenges facing the country.
Various government, private sector and civil society stakeholders unanimously adopted a declaration in support of a National Open Source Strategy at the end of the Go Open Source Conference held from 22-23 August 2005 in Johannesburg. The Declaration recommended that the National Cabinet formally adopt a policy on free and open source software and open content (FOSS/OC).
A year has passed since the Declaration was adopted and very little progress has been made in meeting the commitments emanating from the conference. A change in Government behaviour, policy and practice is a prerequisite for the benefits of FOSS/OC to be realised across society. Government intervention is needed to enable FOSS/OC to become more readily available and to compete equally with proprietary software.
At the recent Gardner Conference in Cape Town it was also highlighted that the South African government is behind the curve in a global trend towards open source software.
In response to this situation, Alan Levin of the Internet Society and I have drafted a petition aimed at mobilising civil society support to pressurise the Minister for Public Service and Administration to adopt an open source policy and honour the government's commitments to the Declaration adopted at the Go Open Source Conference.
We support a change in Government policy that will give meaning to the National Open Source Strategy and result in increased support and application of FOSS/OC in government. We also hope that this process will contribute to increased awareness about open source among South African civil society organisations.
The petition is available on the SANGONeT NGO Portal.
We appeal to South African civil society organisations to review the petition and submit endorsements to - info@sangonet.org.za - by Friday, 22 September 2006.
posted by David Barnard at
11:18 PM
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