National Open Source Strategy December 2013

1. National Open Source Strategy December 2013 December2013

2. Outline Background Vision & Mission Preliminary Targets Strategic Objectives Enablers Challenges for FOSS in Egypt Countries Experiences

3. Background • The National Open Source Strategycomes as a response to the Prime Minister’s assignment to study the adoption of an open source strategy in Egypt for the national benefit in 2012. • The Strategy is a result of a deep conviction that Egypt needs to be open to different types of software especially those encouraging: • Easy uptake • Innovation • Creativity • Egypt developed a well thought strategy and pro-active steps in this direction similarly to other developed and developing countries .

4. Background • The FOSS strategy multi stakeholder committee includes: • Ministry of ICT & Affiliates • Ministry of Administrative Development • Academic Professors from Egyptian Universities • Private Sector • NGOs • The opinions and views expressed in the strategy resulted from different rounds of discussions of committee members and phases included: • Formation of the multi-stakeholder committee • Formation of the MCIT task force • Identification of the professional consultancy team • Consultations with civil society • Consultations with private sector

5. Vision “ Building a well developed knowledge society that benefits from a balanced ecosystem of IT-producing and IT-using sectors, towards prosperity, freedom, and social equity”

6. Mission “To promote the development and adoption of high-quality, open-source software-based products and services as one fundamental pillar of the knowledge society so as to raise productivity, improve competitiveness, and enhance the overall economic and social wellbeing of citizens in Egypt.”

7. Preliminary Targets • Identifying Egypt's governmental Single Point of Reference for FOSS • Establishing Egypt's web-based FOSS assets library • 5-Year doubling the FOSS ecosystem including numbers of SMEs, training providers, international partners, and collaborating NGOs • Implementing at least 3 yearly national projects fostering FOSS usage • Training a minimum of 1000 trainee per year

8. Strategic Objectives Ensure access to knowledge to all citizens Harness the development of the ICT Sector Ensure efficient budgeting and reduce ICT Expenses Increase Technology Independency Build a sustainable FOSS community for users and developers Encourage and support SMEs in ICT exploitation Raise public awareness about Open Source

9. Strategic Objectives • Ensure access to knowledge to all citizens • Availing knowledge management and low cost institutional repositories • Providing zero cost platform using different portable devices such as, mobiles, tablets, or laptops) • Facilitating the accessibility for varieties of local / global knowledge sharing & transfer • Harness the development of the ICT Sector • Increasing the competitiveness which will improve the quality • Strengthening the competitiveness of Egyptian ICT companies by combining inexpensive manpower with free software tools • Enabling development of different ICT products and services by allowing equal access to FOSS infrastructure • Boosting Egyptian software exports via growing expertise in open standards • Lowering entry barriers to local developers

10. Strategic Objectives • Ensure efficient budgeting and reduce ICT Expenses • FOSS adoption reduces : • Total cost of ownership (TCO) • Cost of maintenance and support • Cost of future expansion by adopting Open Standards. • Increase technology independency • Availing source code enables customization of software as desired and moving towards content localization • Moving from vendors lock-in. • Build a sustainable FOSS community for users and developers • Creating vibrant FOSS community covering different society sectors • Stimulating local employment through consolidating support capacity to FOSS-based micro enterprises.

11. Strategic Objectives • Encourage and support SMEs in ICT exploitation • Encouraging SMEs to apply open source ICT solutions in business • Enabling more FOSS-based SMEs generating more jobs • Aiding entrepreneurs and small business with limited capital • Raise public awareness about Open Source • Encouraging the dissemination of knowledge • Clarifying the various benefits of using FOSS in society • Promoting the open culture concept

12. Strategic Outcomes • Reducing the government expenses on software licenses • Pushing down TCO of government ICT infrastructure, software licenses, and maintenance cost • GDP growth • Decreasing illegal usage of software licenses • Enhancing the eco-system to foster business opportunities • Generating job opportunities • Increase the national security level • Inspecting systems source code and improving security and quality • Allowing organizations to comprehend software-related security aspects and participate in maintenance of security.

13. Strategic Outcomes • Human capital development • Increasing potential for self learning • Enhancing human capital by developing their professional skills • Empowering SMEs operating in ICT industry • Availing opportunities to export FOSS technologies • Opening markets for FOSS outsourcing services

14. Enablers Ensure high level of leadership coordination (Body) Construct policies that support FOSS usage & development Promote FOSS usage in public sector agencies Expand educational activities to build competitive OS supply capacity Develop a capable infrastructure for the FOSS adoption Secure sufficient and continual funding to support FOSS strategy Empower SME operating in ICT industry Collaborate with civil society

15. Enablers • Ensure High Level of Leadership Coordination (Body) • Adoption of strategy should have a key leadership role for: • Monitoring and implementing the FOSS strategy • Acting as a centre point advocate for the high level action plan • Orchestrating strategy among stakeholders to smooth implementation. • Malaysia, India, Japan, and Malta among others, established a FOSS leadership body.

16. Enablers • Construct policies that support FOSS usage and development • Setting the role of government as regulator to allow for a fair competition between technology providers • Reviewing current regulations and policies affecting the adoption of FOSS • Developing systems with no procedural barriers to facilitate FOSS adoption

17. Enablers • Promote FOSS Use in Public Sector Agencies • Embedding FOSS culture of sharing, reuse, and collaborative development • Motivating governmental entities to adopt, implement, and promote FOSS • Training of government employees on FOSS to ensure the ability to migrate. • Building a Knowledge Asset Library for agencies implementing FOSS to: • Register their initiatives & challenges • Record predefined reuse policies • Provide technical and administrative guidance • Spread good practices throughout public administrations

18. Enablers • Conduct Educational and Training Activities • Providing Training of Trainers (ToT) workshops and courses for educators • Recommending FOSS tools for teaching, learning, and research • Encouraging the exchange of Open Source experience among schools and universities. • Developing Open Source courses for each different categories of stakeholders.

19. Enablers • Develop a Capable Infrastructure for the FOSS Adoption • The alignment of broadband strategy, cloud strategy & FOSS strategy will increase the opportunities for the widespread use and adoption of FOSS. • Assessing and identifying Egypt’s infrastructure capabilities for FOSS implementation in government and private sectors (especially SMEs)

20. Enablers • Secure Continual Funding to Support FOSS Strategy • The FOSS enablers and high-level action plan will need a suitable funding that will help in the implementation of the FOSS strategy. • For the primary phase of implementation , there should be plans for at least the first two years to cover the main activities which includes: training, coordination, raising awareness, monitoring, and evaluation activities.

21. Enablers • Empower SME Operating in ICT Industry • Providing a motivating environment to offer FOSS based services. • Support FOSS entrepreneurs through the affiliates programs such as TIEC, ITIDA

22. Enablers • Collaborate with Civil Society • Civil society groups can serve as a source of demand for FOSS. They represent an important market for businesses built around FOSS industry • Collaborating with civil society (among others): • Open Egypt (FOSS NGO) • The Arab digital Expression Foundation (ADEF) • Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AETF) • The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)

23. Challenges For Foss in Egypt • Lack of Supportive Policies • Lack of FOSS Awareness • Lack of FOSS Human Capital • Migration Resistance

24. Countries Experiences • Brazil • Government established the world’s first open source ATM system. • Government converted 60% of state departments computers to use FOSS (over 1 year) • United Kingdom • Over 25% of secondary schools use Linux operating system on at least one computer • 35% of NHS organizations (300,000 users) are supported on Linux infrastructure • Malaysia • Government reduced costs as follows: • Licensing fees by 80% • Development and consultancy by 58% • Software support services by 7% • Overall cost reduction: 30.5% in 2006

25. Thanks November 2013