Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Free and Open Source Software and the United Nations. UN-ESCWA. Presented by: Matthew Perkins Information Technology Officer. Raising Awareness. The United Nations is encouraging governments to examine the potential of open source products through a variety of mechanisms: - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Citation preview
Free and Open Source Software and the United
Nations
Presented by:
Matthew Perkins
Information Technology Officer
UN-ESCWA
UN-ESCWA
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
UN-ESCWA
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
UN-ESCWA
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
UN-ESCWA
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).
UN-ESCWA
Internal Open Source Implementations
The UN decided not to pursue open source based on:• High Risk• Low Effectiveness• Not in Organizational Interests
UN-ESCWA
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."
UN-ESCWA
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
UN-ESCWA
Internal Open Source Implementations
Significant achievements have been made at the local level.
UN-ESCWA
Internal Open Source Implementations
FOSS Implementations as ESCWA:Server-side software
1. Apache with PHP support (Web server)2. MySQL (RDBS)3. Named (DNS server)4. Postfix (Mail gateway)5. Squid (Proxy software)6. Dansguardian (Web filter)7. ClamAV (Antivirus)8. Linux HA (High-availability software)9. Sarg (Traffic reporting)
UN-ESCWA
Internal Open Source Implementations
FOSS Implementations as ESCWA:Support Software
1. PuTTy and OpenSSH (Secure shell)2. Mozilla (Web browser)3. Filezilla (FTP/SFTP client)4. OpenOffice (MS-Office compatible suite)5. VNC (Remote desktop control)6. Ethereal (Network sniffer)
UN-ESCWA
Internal Open Source Implementations
Open Source for the Member States
UN-ESCWA
Open Source for the Member States
ESCWA Statistical Information System
UN-ESCWA
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
ESIS db
ESCWA staffPublic
Read Read
Write
UN-ESCWA
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
UN-ESCWA
Software development platform
MS SQL Server
VB programming language
MS Excel
ASP.net
UN-ESCWA
Benefits of ESIS
Improved availability, accessibility and usage of national and regional data and information in socio-economic fields
•Sharing of data
•Control of redundant information
•Better data security
•Improved data integrity
•Possibility of concurrent access
•Publishing facilities, comparison and analysis
UN-ESCWA
Open Source for the Member States
ESCWA Information Society Portal
UN-ESCWA
Open Source for the Member States
First portal deployed by ESCWA with open source technology.
First to deploy user-generated content technologies
UN-ESCWA
Internal Open Source Implementations
Product Demonstration
UN-ESCWA
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.
UN-ESCWA
Thank You
