Open Systems for e-Government in Developing and Transition Countries: Open Source, Open Standards and Open Document Format Wednesday, May 02, 2007

OSSI U.S.-based non-profit organization (est. 2001) Mission: Promote the development and implementation of open source software solutions within U.S. Federal, state and municipal government agencies and academic entities. Membership represents industry, education and govt IT target audience: US Federal govt www.oss-institute.org

Define “Open” IT is a tool to make life better Define “Open” Open Source = granted rights to access/modify code Promotes development communities Extends product lifecycle Increases efficiency through continual development Reduces cost through competition Open Standards = common interface Promotes interoperability Increases access to technology Economic benefits through increased use and business opportunities

Open IT for the Public Govt's role is public administration Resources are always limited Provide leadership through strategic innovation Open Systems provide opportunity through IT accessibility Open Systems become Public Assets Public funds to build public IT assets Technical Assets: Open Systems, Applications, Networks Economic Assets: Service/Support, Dev Centers, Education “Teach a Man to Fish” adage

Use IT Wisely Government/Public Administration Systems Network and admin systems Public safety and public works Business systems and IT infrastructure/web-based Education and End User Desktop and educational applications Accessibility and compatibility with wide range of hardware

Recommendations Identify & sponsor collective OSS app suites Public administration Public works systems Education (http://sakaiproject.org/) Health & welfare system Sponsor Public Admin OSS Repository Sponsor OSS development activities IT Global Peace Corps

Open Source Software Institute Contact Open Source Software Institute John M. Weathersby jmw (at) oss-institute.org tel: 601.427.0152