Free & Open Source Policy: South Africa Government CIO Summit Towards reducing costs of doing business in government and contributing towards achieving clean audit 1 Date: 2013 –

Background 1998 Presidential Review Commission 2001 Innovation (NACI) FOSS Report 2003 GITOC & FOSS strategy document 2005 Go Open Source Campaign 2006 IBSA Summit 2007 Cabinet Policy - FOSS use for the SA government - Information Society & Development Plan - Minimum Interoperability Operating Standards 2

GITOC Strategy st - INITIATION PHASE was about creating awareness run pilots & demonstrators; 2nd - ENHANCEMENT PHASE is about active FOSS implementation; 3rd – MATURE PHASE is about deepening levels of implementation & setting international benchmarks. 3

FOSS Policy, 2007 The primary motivation behind the adoption of the FOSS policy is the benefits that Government believes access to FOSS will yield for development in South Africa. It is hoped that the use of FOSS by Government as well as the broader South African population will result in, amongst other things: – reduced costs of accessing information and communication technology ("ICT"), which will in turn facilitate access to ICT for poor and low income communities; – cost reductions for Government, which will free up resources for redistribution to other essential Government programmes; – stimulation of economic growth through cost reductions for business; and – development and innovation of ICT that is uniquely suited to the South African environment. 4

FOSS Policy 2007 Government will implement FOSS unless proprietary software is demonstrated to be significantly superior proprietary software will be migrated to FOSS whenever comparable software exists all new software developed by or for Government will be based on open standards all Government content and content developed using Government resources will be made open content unless analysis shows that proprietary licensing or confidentiality is substantially beneficial; and Government will encourage the use of open standards and open source within South Africa. 5

FOSS Policy : 2007 The Policy has five Key Statements – Choose FOSS – Migrate to FOSS – Develop in FOSS – Use FOSS/Open Content licensing – Promote FOSS in South Africa 6

Policy Statement Choose FOSS The South African Government will implement FOSS unless proprietary software is demonstrated to be significantly superior. Whenever the advantages of FOSS and proprietary software are comparable FOSS will be implemented when choosing software solution for a new project. Whenever FOSS is not implemented, then reasons must be provided in order to justify the implementation of proprietary software. 7

Policy Statement Migrate to FOSS – The South African Government will migrate current proprietary software to FOSS whenever comparable software exists. – Where it doesn’t exist, development/ enhancement using the FOSS model will be considered. 8

Policy Statement Develop in FOSS – All new software developed for or by the South African Government will be based on open standards, adherent to FOSS principles, and licensed using a FOSS license where possible. – With the conviction that it will be useful for other (often under resourced) government institutions. 9

Policy Statement Use FOSS/Open Content licensing – The South African Government will ensure all Government content and content developed using Government resources is made Open Content, unless analysis on specific content shows that proprietary licensing or confidentiality is substantially beneficial. – Universal access to information is important for promoting wellbeing and wealth creation. It is seen as a basic human right. 10

Policy Statement Promote FOSS in South Africa – The South African Government will encourage the use of Open Content and Open Standards within South Africa. – Government to get its own house in order and influence other sectors to do the same. 11

FOSS Landscape The Policy is still in force. Currently, the DPSA is busy with the impact analysis so that challenges linked to lack of implementation can be addressed in an integrated manner. Individual departments are making strides to implement FOSS in their departments. However, there have not been coordinated efforts to make FOSS policy a reality for government. Implementation is still disintegrated. 12

FOSS Landscape Part of the impact analysis will look into the level of implementation, challenges, change management and also look into hybrid migration strategy catering for different maturity levels. This initiative should be concluded end of this financial year. 13

FOSS Challenges FOSS programme office Loss of Political Champions Lock-in and a lack of interoperability. Lack of appropriate skills and training Change management User buy-in (decision makers / senior management) 14