[ox-en] New List on FOSS in Developing Countries
- From: geert <geert xs4all.nl>
- Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 02:34:04 +0000
From: Atanu Garai
Concerning: foss-pdi lists.apdip.net
Dear All,
We welcome you to the discussion forum 'FOSS: Policy and Development
Implications' (FOSS-PDI).
FOSS-PDI will debate and discuss issues including, but not limited to,
the themes below:
1. Opportunities and drawbacks of FOSS for developing countries – the
roles of government, civil society, business in the process.
2. FOSS & Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – stretching the
development dollar for scaling-up impact.
3. The global Intellectual Property Concern - Business monopoly of first
world nations software giants versus third world collaborative efforts.
4. Enabling legal/regulatory/policy framework for country specific
strategic evolution FOSS.
5. Open-source processes outside the software sector – Free Medicine,
Seed Bank, Open Access, Open Archiving etc.
6. Comparison of proprietary software vis-à-vis FOSS in terms of
technical merits –reliability, stability, and vulnerabilities,
especially in the context of national ecurity.
7. FOSS versus Public Domain Software and Freeware – the Total Cost of
Ownership (TCO) of FOSS.
8. Understanding why individuals contribute to FOSS projects and what
motivates FOSS developers to "donate" their time and are these
motivations different in developed and developing countries? Are there
constraints, especially in developing countries, that could be addressed
by government or private sector interventions?Before we start, you may
like to say few words about yourself as an introduction to all forum
members. And below we are giving briefs about the organisations and
moderators involved in the forum.
Collaborating Organisations
UNDP Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme
<http://www.apdip.net>
The Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme (APDIP) is an
initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that aims
to promote the development and application of new Information and
Communication Technologies (ICTs) for poverty alleviation and
sustainable human development in the
Asia-Pacific region.
International Open Source Network
<http://www.iosn.net>
The International Open Source Network (IOSN), which is an initiative of
UNDP’s Asia-Pacific Information Development Programme, is a Center of
Excellence for Free and Open Source Software in the Asia Pacific Region.
IOSN is supported by International Development Research Centre
(www.idrc.ca).
OneWorld South Asia
<http://southasia.oneworld.net>; <http://www.digitalopportunity.org>)
OneWorld South Asia aims to leverage ICTs for amplifying the ‘voice of
the voiceless’, and catalyse the efforts of multi-stakeholders partners
in development to promote MDG issues and human rights, primarily in
South Asia region.
Bridges.org
<http://www.bridges.org>)
Bridges.org is a Cape Town based international organization with a
mission to promote the effective use of information and communications
technology (ICT) in the developing world.
The Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA)
(<http://www.fossfa.net>)
The Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA)
promotes the use of Free and Open Source software in Africa by bringing
multi-stakeholder partners together for the development of African
societies using open source software.
Discussion Moderators
Sunil Abraham, Manager - International Open Source Network. Email:
sunil apdip.net
Sunil is Free Software advocate from Bangalore, India. He is the
founder-director of Mahiti (www.mahiti.org) , a company that provides
ICT services to the voluntary sector based on FOSS. Mahiti has served
over 200 voluntary organisations over the last six years. He is
currently on sabbatical as manager - IOSN, APDIP-UNDP. He is an
Ashoka.org Fellow. He is particularly fond of Python, Zope and Plone.
Philipp Schmidt, Programme Manager, Bridges.org. Email: philipp bridges.org
Philipp Schmidt is a computer scientist interested in the impact of
technology on socio-economic development. He leads the Technology
Research Programme at Cape Town based bridges.org and specifically the
issues around FOSS. He has written and spoken extensively on the
subject and is currently interested in the economics of innovation and
the socio-cultural differences of FOSS communities in different regions
of the world. Previously he has worked as a consultant for
international organisations and companies, including BMG
Entertainment, the Accenture Center for Strategic Technology and the
World Economic Forum.
Bildad Kagai, Co-ordinator, Free Software and Open Source Foundation for
Africa
(FOSSFA). Email: bill circuitspackets.com
Bildad is coordinator of the Free Software and Open Source Foundation
for Africa (FOSSFA) and also the Chief Executive Officer of Circuits and
Packets Communications Limited, one of the leading Open Source companies
in Kenya. He has worked with various international agencies on various
areas of information systems and database management. He endeavours to
create sustainable business models using open source solutions. Bildad
has been instrumental in forming the Open Source Task force for Africa
and FOSSFA with other stakeholders.
Naimur Rahman, Programme Manager, Training & Technical Services, OWSA.
Email: naimur.rahman oneworld.net
Naimur is Programme Manager of OneWorld South Asia in Delhi. Primarily
an ICT strategy & knowledge management professional, Naimur possesses
more than ten years of experience in managing multidisciplinary
programmes and software application projects in the development domain.
He also carries sizeable consulting and advisory experience on deploying
ICT & e-Learning for sustainable development.
Amandeep Singh Grewal, Manager – Technology Projects, OWSA.
Email: aman.grewal oneworld.net
Amandeep is primarily responsible for managing the Lifelines India
Project - a collaborative initiative of OneWorld South Asia and other
multi-stakeholder partners on digital inclusion, using audio as a
primary means of communication and knowledge exchange. Prior to this, he
worked as Technical Project Manager (South Asia) for Open Knowledge
Network Project (www.openknowledge.net). Aman carries five years of
experience in the IT & e-governance sector in India.
Atanu Garai, ICT Advocacy Officer, OWSA.
Email: atanu.garai oneworld.net
Atanu works in OneWorld South Asia as ICT Advocacy Officer, primarily
responsible for editing OneWorld Network's global ICT portal, Digital
Opportunity Channel (www.digitalopportunity.org). He possesses sizeable
experience of implementing knowledge management solutions including
CDS/ISIS, WINISIS, LIBSYS, Dspace, OpenBiblio etc. He has been involved,
for over three years, in internet-based advocacy, particularly on issues
relating to information society, knowledge for development and youth.
We hope to come up with an understanding of policy and development
implications of FOSS, as existing and emerging in different societies,
from your perspectives and viewpoints and feed the inputs to the FOSS
policy-making processes.
Thank you.
Moderators
_________________________________
Web-Site: http://www.oekonux.org/
Organization: projekt oekonux.de