Ordina, IICD and EACOSS boost open source in Africa

• The East Africa Open Source Software project aims to encourage the use of Open Source Software (OSS) in East Africa. It is the first joint initiative emanating from the public-private partnership between Ordina, IICD and EACOSS (East African Centre for Open Source Software).
• Thousands of East African network operators and technicians will learn how to use, develop and adapt OSS to meet local needs through this three-year project.
• Many new jobs will be created in East Africa’s Information Technology sector as the demand for Open Source (OS) computer engineers soars and growing numbers of organisations switch to OSS.
• OS Word processing programmes can be run on ‘obsolete’ hardware which will make computers more accessible and appealing to the general public and boost computer use in the region.

Encouraging Open Source in East Africa

One of the most compelling arguments for stimulating the widespread use of Open Source Software (OSS) such as Linux in Africa is that it is cheap, flexible, runs much faster on old, outdated computers, and can be easily adapted to the very different needs of African  communities. An added bonus is that Open Office – the Open Source equivalent of MicroSoft Office – can be made available in local African languages, such as Kiswahili and Luganda which both offer access to    word-processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software  facilities.

Successful OS products however are still few and far between in Africa and only a handful of organisations have migrated fully to OSS so far. Given Africa’s low bandwidth internet connection and insufficient local knowledge about OSS this situation is not about to change in the short term; at least, not without a concerted and structured effort.

Ordina, IICD and EACOSS join forces

Ordina, IICD and the EACOSS centre have therefore risen to the challenge and have joined forces to launch the East Africa OSS project. In May 2005 these three very different organisations entered into a public-private partnership. Their goal: to further encourage the widespread use of Open Source Software in East Africa by pooling their respective skills, knowledge and        resources.  Together, they will provide training to the region’s next generation of computer engineers. The partnership is a potent mix as each organisation brings a unique set of skills to the East Africa OSS project. With over 3600 employees, Ordina is a large and well-known private sector company in the Netherlands specialising in ICT and management consultancy services. IICD on the other hand, is a not-for-profit organisation with a wealth of experience in setting up locally owned, demand-driven ICT training programmes in developing countries. EACOSS centre’s area of expertise is in providing OSS training in Africa.

Training Africa’s next generation of computer engineers

The East Africa OSS project is first and foremost an  ambitious capacity development programme run from the EACOSS training centre in Kampala, Uganda to address the acute shortage of East African computer engineers trained in OSS. The training programme provides local computer engineers with basic and advanced courses in OSS leading to a formal OSS qualification and also   provides local computer engineers with quick, easy and  affordable access to up-to-date OSS and supporting  materials.

Advantages for public-private partners

The public-private partnership between Ordina, IICD and EACOSS is based on collaboration, knowledge sharing, and hands-on experience at the grass roots level in an effort to find sustainable software solutions for Africa.

Read more about:
EACOSS
Weblog Ordina