The South African government plans to increase the use of free and open source software so the country is not held hostage to powerful ICT interests, says public service and administration minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi.
Delivering her department's budget vote speech yesterday before Parliament, Fraser-Moleketi said: "We refuse to become the captive of powerful interests in terms of ICT that may become contrary to our developmental agenda."
She went on to say her department has developed a free and open source software strategy "through which we intend to bring cost savings in licence fees in the medium- to long-term, as well as to facilitate interoperability through the increased use of open standards".
The Department of Public Service and Administration is responsible for implementing the free and open source software and open content strategy that Cabinet approved earlier this year.
However, the minister did not detail how this strategy would be implemented or what timeframe was being considered.
Software industry observers have bemoaned the fact that, while government tends to utter the right words, little actual implementation is seen, especially from the State IT Agency (SITA), which is supposed to implement the strategy.
Effective services
In her speech, Fraser-Moleketi said ICT would have to be used effectively since the state is constitutionally bound to ensure services are delivered to the population.
She said the public service and administration ministry, which has the mandate to implement e-government, has embarked on various transformation initiatives with a view to modernising its service delivery model for the benefit of its people.
These include: conducting citizen/business research; developing a next-generation e-government vision, strategy and roadmap; producing a next-generation SITA business, operating and technology model; conducting rapid prototyping of catalytic projects; developing a national digital inclusion plan for SA; and working toward the development of an enterprise architecture.
Related stories:
Govt opens up
Govt embraces open source
Share