Microsoft South Africa is aiming to boost its relationship with the government as part of a global move to improve its service delivery to the public sector. This is according to Moss Gondwe, Microsoft SA`s new public sector sales director.
Gondwe, previously of T-Systems, was appointed this month as part of the company`s executive management team. He will develop and execute local strategies for Microsoft`s education and government initiatives, as well as build relationships with government and partners.
Government has adopted open source as the way forward for its computing needs, a free operating system as opposed to Microsoft`s proprietary software.
[VIDEO]Gondwe says his appointment is part of Microsoft`s drive to address the unique needs of the public service. He says it is anticipated that government will spend about R10.2 billion on IT this year - 70% of this on hardware and software. Microsoft aims to work together with its partners to develop solutions that meet government`s specific needs.
In the education space, Gondwe says, Microsoft has already demonstrated its commitment to bridging the digital divide with its offer of free software to schools. Microsoft has also partnered with the Department of Education in its new "Dinaledi" Maths and Science project. He feels the company`s licensing models will further assist education and the public sector as a whole.
As part of its efforts to meet governments` needs, Microsoft recently announced a global initiative to provide governments with controlled access to its Windows operating system`s source code and other technical information to help them address their security needs. The Government Security Program (GSP) was announced in the US in January. At the time, the company said Russia and NATO had already signed GSP agreements with Microsoft, while talks were under way with at least 20 other countries.
The GSP was described as a crucial element of Microsoft`s efforts to address the unique requirements of governments around the world. In 2001, Microsoft launched the shared source initiative, expanding its long-standing efforts to make Windows source code more transparent to trusted partners and customers. In 2002, the company announced its trustworthy computing initiative, placing security at the core of all Windows development efforts.
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