presentation at cetit, tami nadu - public software for public institutions july 2010

8/9/2019 Presentation at CETIT, Tami Nadu - Public Software for Public Institutions July 2010

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Public Software for Public Institutions

Rethinking e-Governance

CeTIT 2010Chennai, July 27 2010

Gurumurthy K, IT for Changewww.ITforChange.net

www.Public-Software.in

www.Public-Software-Centre.org
http://www.itforchange.net/http://www.public-software.in/http://www.public-software-centre.org/http://www.public-software-centre.org/http://www.public-software.in/http://www.itforchange.net/


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http://www.itforchange.net/component/content/article/165-guru.html

5 years in Management Consulting at KPMG Consulting

12 years in IT Software products and services development and

deployment at Oracle Financial Services

6 years in Development Sector at IT for ChangeHow ICTs can support development

IT and governance, social policy, gender and equity
http://www.itforchange.net/component/content/article/165-guru.htmlhttp://www.itforchange.net/component/content/article/165-guru.html


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Origin of IT in the business world

1980's - software applications on larger commercial basis Began with Financial Accounting and Payroll

Driven by the CIOs Line departments passive

Easy to computerise, no real benefits

Focus on technology aspects (connectivity, application, hardware)

Line departments took charge over time MRP, ERP, Global Finance

Real value to business CIO as a enabler, not driver

Focus on business and not technology


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Similar story with e-Governance

E-Governance 1.0 last decade (2000 to 2010) a lost decade

Largely Technology driven

Applications and hardware 'gizmos'Focus on software processes and business models

Less focus on social and political processes

Less linkages to the concerns of governance

Primacy to Government + Vendors(little role for civil society/ community other than as 'users')

Time has come to mature

from e-Governance 1.0 to e-Governance 2.0

PublicTechnologies

CommunityInformatics+


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ICTs critical role in governance

E-Governance 2.0 ? Public Technologies = Public Software + Public Content

+ Public Connectivity

+

Community Informatics = Ownership and participation ofcommunity in ICT design and deployment

ICT as a critical and necessary service As much as education or health or livelihoods Needs to be looked at from social and political perspective


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Development perspective on e-Governance to

address critical governance issues

Look at e-Governance from the perspective of development, equityand social justice (concerns of governance)

Decentralisation from central through state, district, block levels

Empower the government extension worker

Community participation in local government (social

audit/NREGA)

Right to Information


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Benefits of 'Public Technologies'

Public ownership allows sharing across governments and public

institutions

Similar applications in a wide variety of areas can be commonly

developed and maintained

Costs of maintenance and support fractional, more importantly the

public control over the application development is retained

Public Standards (DIT Open Standards for e-Governance)

Standards, software, fonts, protocols, formats - all digital resources

used in government need to be publicly owned for universal access


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Implications of private control/ownership

NREGA in Andhra Pradesh a case of issues with privatisation ofsoftware used for public good

The real 'expertise' is the domain understandingYet ownership of this 'IP' with private party (technology vendor)

Negative consequences for sharing/dissemination of the applicationCosts and development cycles prohibitive

Many such cases of vendor lock-in costly, inefficient and affects

deployment on wider basis

Imagine Government school system entirely under private control


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Benefits of Public Software

Government and community benefits

Benefits at citizen/community level from existing public softwareRTI implemented at no additional cost to citizen

easy to install and use, single installation for hundreds of toolssecure/safe environmentfree to share, free to modify/enhance and share back

IIM A study computes Rs 20,000 crores savings annually for India

on license fees for proprietary software, if public software adopted

Tamil Nadu Government a leader in public software adoption


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Challenges

Reasons for software development largely in private sector

Pace of change of technology, innovation Availability of skills

Structural issues with governments

Issues of support and training/capacity building Limited awareness of potential of ICT in government and community

Need for hybrid models Collaborative production (NIC + Technology vendors)

Outright purchase / larger scale

Greater ownership and participation by the line department More scope as domains mature Private sector freed of public system accountability requirements


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Public Software Centre

Public Software Centre - support public software adoptionAwareness -> appreciation -> adoption -> promotion approachUser awareness and orientation, training, installation and supportVirtual repository for public software for sharing across institutions

Support and collaboration with government and non governmental

agencies, civil society, FOSS communities and enterprises and academic

institutions to create and sustain public software ecosystem

Centre in India with support from Government of Kerala and UNESCOBrazil Public Software CentreSouth American Public Software Centre
http://www.public-software-centre.org/http://www.softwarepublico.gov.br/http://www.softwarepublico.gov.br/http://www.public-software-centre.org/


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Public Software Policy

Guiding Principles for Public Software Bangalore and Kochi workshops

Public ownershipPublic repositoriesNew structures of government public ICT institutions,

collaborations with private sector, FOSS enterprises and FOSS

communities

Kerala public software policyBrazil public software policy

Tamil Nadu leadership to create a Public Software Policy TN GO on UNICODE adoption in e-Governance a good starting

point
http://www.public-software-centre.org/node/6http://www.public-software-centre.org/node/6

presentation at cetit, tami nadu - public software for public institutions july 2010

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