1. Open Source: Chairperson Richard Boateng, PhD. Director of Research, ICITD, Southern University, USA Lecturer, University of Ghana Business School, GhanaWebsite: www.pearlrichards.org; www.icitd.com Email:richard@pearlrichards.org - Solutions for Business

2. www.icitd.com www.pearlrichards.org U NDERSTANDING FOSS 2 “Free/open source software (F/OSS) is software for which the human-readable source code is made available to the user of the software, who can then modify the code in order to fit the software to the users needs. This is not ‘free’ as in ‘free beer’ but free in the form of expression and usage… But support & services may not be free…

3. www.icitd.com www.pearlrichards.org T HE FOSS C HALLENGE 3 FOSS Community Proprietary Commercial Software Resource-poor Resource- rich Resource- exploiters Software Development User Community Restricted Access

4. www.icitd.com www.pearlrichards.org ICT S, A FRICA & B USINESS – W HY F O SS 4 ICTs diffuse in path of least cost of adoption – Internal IT resource poverty – Substituting global resources for local resources – Use of social networks and capital Managerial Capabilities – IT-Business knowledge & Social-Business links – Intimacy maximizes value from resources – Applications which require Low Tech skills and knowledge Post-adoption – ICT becomes a lesser concern...gradually fades away – More business and social concerns/ unintended consequences

5. www.icitd.com www.pearlrichards.org 5 Lesser cost at start-up and long-term Relatively low cost of ownership Low Tech skill requirement Scalability – resource poor contexts; language; culture Security – responsiveness; reduce piracy & increase intellectual property Democratization & Development – more business/job opportunities ICT S, A FRICA & B USINESS – W HY F O SS

6. www.icitd.com www.pearlrichards.org 6  Lankah A car firm that enables Ghanaians to purchase used cars from Germany. The firm has no physical showroom or warehouse for the cars. Customers view the cars through the firm’s website and express their interest. Cars are shipped to Ghana after the customers make payment. The company sold 9 cars in 2004; 16 (2005) and 18 (2006). In 2009 (100 cars every two months). – Joomla Content Management System CompanyFOSS Application Ewuraba, Gender Development Project for Africa (www.ewuraba.com) Linux and Apache Servers, Joomla Content Management System, WAMP Server B’ExotiQ Designs Convention People’s Party (CPP) Joomla Content Management System and EXPOSE Vivauniversity.wordpress.comWordpress.com International Conference on ICT for Africa (www.ictforafrica.org) Joomla Content Management System and My Review Platform African Journal of Information Systems (www.ajisonline.com) Apache Servers, Open Journal Systems and Joomla Content Management System F OSS IN G HANA – S UCCESS S TORIES

7. www.icitd.com www.pearlrichards.org 7 Latest catalogue entries Search functionality Featured entries Articles to support buying decisions Links to other automobile websites Advanced search Online catalogue

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9. 9 F OSS IN G HANA – S UCCESS S TORIES

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11. www.icitd.com www.pearlrichards.org Requires more effort... But has more possibilities Ghana is opportune for business and research How to Navigate FOSS Domain Open Content Open Applications Open Functionality Selecting the Right Application Doing Business with FOSS 11 F OSS IN G HANA – S OLUTIONS FOR B USINESSES

12. www.icitd.com www.pearlrichards.org 12 F OSS IN G HANA – S OLUTIONS FOR B USINESSES Open

13. www.icitd.com www.pearlrichards.org 13 F OSS IN G HANA – S OLUTIONS FOR B USINESSES Open

14. www.icitd.com www.pearlrichards.org 14 F OSS IN G HANA – S ELECT THE R IGHT A PPLICATION Select applications which have either a potential for growth or have reached maturity

15. www.icitd.com www.pearlrichards.org 15 F OSS IN G HANA – S ELECT THE R IGHT A PPLICATION Have a thorough understanding of what you or your users need