Free and Open Source Software and the United Nations

1. Free and Open Source Software and the United Nations UN-ESCWA Presented by: Matthew Perkins Information Technology Officer

2. Raising Awareness • The United Nations is encouraging governments to examine the potential of open source products through a variety of mechanisms: • WSIS Phase I and II • Incorporating open source products in recommendations and field projects • Open Source as a knowledge management modality

3. Raising Awareness • FOSS-PDI Initiative • The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) created the International Open Source Network (IOSN) with the goal of helping developing countries in the Asia-Pacific Region achieve rapid and sustained economic and social development by using free and open source software. • Free and Open Source Software portal (http://directory.fsf.org/) created by UNESCO hosts FOSS created and distributed by the United Nations. • One Laptop per Child

4. Raising Awareness • Sahna Network • “Sahana is a Free and Open Source Disaster Management system. It is a web based collaboration tool that addresses the common coordination problems during a disaster from finding missing people, managing aid, managing volunteers, tracking camps effectively between Government groups, the civil society (NGOs) and the victims themselves.“ http://www.sahana.lk

5. Internal Open Source Implementations The UN formed a special task force to explore open source recommendations. The report on pursuing open source at the enterprise level in the United Nations were made in (JIU/REP/2005/3).

6. Internal Open Source Implementations • The UN decided not to pursue open source based on: • High Risk • Low Effectiveness • Not in Organizational Interests

7. Internal Open Source Implementations Key Obstacles: "the private sector, and according to a July 2004 survey of 240 IT executives,157 63 per cent said their departments were inadequately staffed and 65 per cent were cross-training staff to fill in the gaps. Another survey issued in January 2005 covered 1,300 CIOs representing 30 countries and more than US$ 57 billion in IT spending. It found out inter alia that only 39 per cent of them believed they had the right people to meet current and future business needs while 51 per cent were concerned about an ageing workforce as a result of difficulty in attracting and maintaining new staff with the right skills to meet the new business requirements."

8. Internal Open Source Implementations • Other Key Obstacles: • Organizational resistance to change • Lack of centralized IT policy • Lack of CIOs throughout UN bodies • Resistance at user and managerial levels

9. Internal Open Source Implementations Significant achievements have been made at the local level.

10. Internal Open Source Implementations • FOSS Implementations as ESCWA: • Server-side software • Apache with PHP support (Web server) • MySQL (RDBS) • Named (DNS server) • Postfix (Mail gateway) • Squid (Proxy software) • Dansguardian (Web filter) • ClamAV (Antivirus) • Linux HA (High-availability software) • Sarg (Traffic reporting)

11. Internal Open Source Implementations • FOSS Implementations as ESCWA: • Support Software • PuTTy and OpenSSH (Secure shell) • Mozilla (Web browser) • Filezilla (FTP/SFTP client) • OpenOffice (MS-Office compatible suite) • VNC (Remote desktop control) • Ethereal (Network sniffer)

12. Internal Open Source Implementations Open Source for the Member States

13. Open Source for the Member States ESCWA Statistical Information System

14. Read Read ESIS db Write Public ESCWA staff What is ESIS? • System for storing and retrieving selected statistical indicators for a specified group of countries/regions and a specified time series • Incorporates a core database, which is accessed by both a desktop software product and an on-line web-based interface

15. Main features • Bilingual (English and Arabic) • Single repository of data for all disciplines • Web based with secure access control • Available to ESCWA staff and member states • Common interface leading to a consistent look and feel • Common tools for data entry, reporting and analysis • Flexible, definable, and modifiable data structure

16. Software development platform • MS SQL Server • VB programming language • MS Excel • ASP.net

17. Benefits of ESIS • Improved availability, accessibility and usage of national and regional data and information in socio-economic fields • Sharing of data • Improved data integrity • Control of redundant information • Possibility of concurrent access • Better data security • Publishing facilities, comparison and analysis

18. Open Source for the Member States ESCWA Information Society Portal

19. Open Source for the Member States First portal deployed by ESCWA with open source technology. First to deploy user-generated content technologies

20. Internal Open Source Implementations Product Demonstration

21. Conclusion While significant obstacles remain in pursuing open source at the enterprise level within the UN, significant progress is being made at the local level. In addition, open source technologies are being effectively deployed for the benefit of the member states.

22. Thank You