Government Technology

South Africa Adopts Open Source Software Policy


You May Also Like

October 31, 2007 By

While the South African open source software (OSS) market is still in its development stage, the recent decision by the South African Government to adopt a Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) policy is a significant boost for the industry, according to a release from Frost and Sullivan.

A new analysis from Frost & Sullivan South African Open Source Software Market, finds that both the public and private sectors will benefit from the expansion of OSS, as the cost reductions realised will not only encourage the start up of new businesses, but will also allow the government to channel resources to much needed areas such as healthcare and education.

"OSS provides South Africa with an alternative to the costly applications of proprietary software vendors," notes Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Lindsey McDonald. "The government's adoption of the FOSS policy is a major driver for this market, as OSS will be used at all levels of the government where it is comparable to or more suitable than proprietary software."

There is a high level of collaboration among OSS developers and the government policy should serve to further increase collaboration in this market, continued the release. This in turn will result in the development of applications uniquely suited to the South African environment.

However, a general lack of awareness is threatening the extensive use of OSS.
"Many potential users are not aware of the benefits or capabilities of OSS," says McDonald. "These include the potential to customize it for any purpose and the availability of the source code to all users. Additionally, there is a perceived lack of support for OSS software."


View Full Story

You may use or reference this story with attribution and a link to
http://www.govtech.com/policy-management/South-Africa-Adopts-Open-Source-Software.html


| More

Comments


Add Your Comment

You are solely responsible for the content of your comments. We reserve the right to remove comments that are considered profane, vulgar, obscene, factually inaccurate, off-topic, or considered a personal attack.

GovTech Papers and Case Studies View Library


Sponsored Links



Phone RSS

Government Best Practices

» A New Model for Human Resources
» Abandoning the High Cost of Enterprise Content Management



Government Technology
Public CIO
Emergency Management
Digital Communities