Applying Open Source Software in a development context: expectations and experiences

Over the past three years the issue of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) for development in Less Developed Countries (LDCs) is receiving more and more attention. Where in the beginning the benefits of OSS for lower developed countries was only stressed by small groups of idealists like Richard Stallman, now it is moving into the hands of the large international organizations like the World Bank and the United Nations. In the eCommerce and Development Report that was released at the end of 2003, it was stated that FOSS is expected to dramatically affect the evolving Information and Communication Technology landscape for developing countries. UNCTAD believes that FOSS is here to stay and developing countries should benefit from this trend and start to recognize the importance of FOSS for their ICT policies (UNCTAD, 2003).

Victor van Reijswoud and Emmanuel Mulo of the Uganda Martyrs University evaluate in this article the experiences of an organization in Uganda, East Africa that has decided to migrate its ICT infrastructure to (FOSS). The purpose of the evaluation is to make an on the ground assessment of the claims about the development potential of FOSS. The article therefore starts with an overview of the FOSS and the role it can play in the development of (LDCs). Against this background the case study is decribed, including the progress the organization has made and the problems that were encountered. The study also addresses IICD’s investigation of using FOSS in organizations in three countries in Africa: Uganda, Tanzania and Burkina Faso. Finally, they draw some conclusions on the experiences in the case study and set out an agenda for successful rollout of FOSS in developing countries, especially in Africa.

Victor van Reijswoud, Emmanuel Mulo
Department of Computer Science and Information Systems
Uganda Martyrs University – Nkozi – P.O. Box 5498 Kampala – Uganda
victor@umu.ac.ug / e.mulo@umu.ac.ug