ENTERTAINMENT

Open source software capability key to 'technological self-determination' -- The growth of free, open-source software presents developing countries with an opportunity to escape from technological dependence on developed countries, but also a challenge to build up local expertise, United Nations University experts say. Open source software, which includes the freely-shared Linux operating system, represent a phenomenon changing the information technologies world in fundamental ways. And developing countries can't afford to be left behind in these fast-moving global tides and currents, says Mike Reed, Director of the UNU International Institute for Software Technology (UNU-IIST), based in Macao, China. Today, 50 to 75% of Internet activity uses open source software; eight of the world's 10 fastest supercomputers are powered by Linux; open source software is embedded in everything from mobile phones to video recorders; and Linux is managing functions critical to industries from banking to telecommunications. UNU experts and others widely believe that Linux and open source solutions will find their biggest markets in developing countries, particularly China, East Asia, India and South America. While the use of open source software continues to grow in developing countries, there remains a problem of very few open source programmers in these same developing countries. "Should this situation persist, developing nations will simply remain consumers of open source products rather than participants in the larger open source market," says Dr. Reed. "Being a 'passive consumer' rather than an 'active participant' is not in the best interests of a developing nation's government or business sectors. Technological self-determination in developing countries is key to their future prosperity and is contingent on harnessing the power of this high-tech phenomenon," says Dr. Reed. Of immediate interest are the new businesses growing out of the open source high-tech movement, he adds. Because the underlying technology is freely available, entrepreneurs can build value added products on top of open source software, giving startups quicker time to market while lowering development costs. Forecasters expect packaged software to be the fastest growing segment within the Linux market in terms of revenue, with 44% annual growth foreseen for the next four years. With overall worldwide software market expected to continue at a historically sluggish single digit growth rate, open source based technologies have become one of the brightest stars of the industry. The freely-available Linux operating system, the fastest-growing in the world since year 2000, is gaining global IT industry popularity for its reliability, efficiency, customizability and interoperability. A recent IDC study forecasts that revenues for computer hardware and proprietary software on Linux are expected to reach $35.7 billion USD by 2008. Europe, Japan and the United States have taken the lead in the creation of open source software. In addition to the private sector, open source software is of great interest to governments in implementing their Electronic Governance initiatives. Apart from reducing costs, the benefits include: localization of solutions and content, government-wide standardization and sharing of development results, and transparency in the government's use of technology. Open source adoption is also driving innovation. Interestingly, the most innovative applications of government's use of technology are coming from developing countries. Some examples are: Online Delivery of Land Titles in India, Citizen Service Centers in Brazil, Philippine Customs Reform or ICT-based Electoral Reform in South Africa. Innovative solutions based on open-source technologies enable faster diffusion of ICT. However, the adoption of open-source software by governments comes with a number of challenges. For instance: shortage of the requisite human capacity and lack of policy frameworks for effective technology adoption. In general, the inherent complexity of the government domain requires that diverse technological options, involving both open-source and proprietary software, be accommodated within a framework of open standards. Global Desktop Project The United Nations University International Institute for Software Technology, a nonprofit research and education organization based in Macao, helps developing countries strengthen their education and research in computer science and their ability to produce computer software. UNU-IIST fulfils its mission in part through the Global Desktop Project, an effort to grow the number of open source software programmers in East Asia. While the goal is to increase the numbers of open source software programmers, the technical focus of the Global Desktop Project is on improving the open source desktop. By focusing on the computer desktop, an interface that every computer user interacts with and understands, the Global Desktop Project is generating a huge amount of interest from parties involved in everything from application development to localization. This in turn will help further a developing nation's human infrastructure and accessibility to information technology. Many key players in the worldwide open source software community, including major open source projects and Linux distribution vendors, are supporting the Global Desktop Project, its goals, and its commitment to greater collaboration. As an international effort, the Project seeks to grow the open source programmer base beyond the traditional arena of western institutes of higher learning, IT vendors and other western organizations. The Project includes three components: 1) Research and Engineering Program, focused on creation of fundamental infrastructure and internationalization components of the open source desktop. It will work closely with the open source community to ensure that the standards and features it creates will be adopted by every major IT and Linux distribution vendor in the world. The goal is a more unified, user-oriented organizational structure for the open source desktop. 2) Institute of Higher Learning Partner Program, working to incorporate Linux, open source software programming, and distributed methodologies into IT, computer science and engineering curricula. This will help to both "normalize" the use and teaching of open source while growing the number of open source software programmers, thereby increasing the scope of a country's ability to be technologically self-sufficient. 3) Community Outreach Program, a point of collaboration and peer review for IT vendors, IT organizations in government and the private sector, NGOs, western institutes of higher learning and the open source community. Among other things, the program will give western higher learning institutes and IT vendors a venue to review and support a developing nation counterpart involved in the Global Desktop Project.