National Free & Open Source Software Initiative (FOSSI)

National Free & Open Source Software Initiative (FOSSI)

Presented by: Khalil Almaawali 7th August, 2019

• FOSS Initiative Overview & Key Achievements• ITA FOSS Projects

Awareness & Capacity Building Oman FOSS Conference FOSS Labs FOSS Training FOSS in Schools

Oman Summer of Code House of Open Source Technology

• FOSS deployment Study

ContentContent

What is FOSS? Two types of software licensing:

Proprietary/Closed (PS) Free/open source (FOSS)

Free & Open Source software gives users freedom to :

Run, Share, Study, and Modify it.

3

FOSS Initiative Overview & Key Achievements

FOSS Initiative Overview & Key Achievements

Part of e.oman strategy, to support all applications and technology that used to develop the IT Sector in Oman

The initiative focuses in 5pillars:1- Raise Awareness2- Capacity building3- Encourage FOSS solutions development4- Provide Support5- Encourage deployment

FOSSI OverviewFOSSI Overview

1- Awareness Program1- Awareness Program

2- Capacity Building2- Capacity Building

4- Tech. Support through CoE4- Tech. Support through CoE

3- FOSS Development3- FOSS Development

TTT: LPI (LE, LPCI1 & LPCI2 ) certification program for instructors -92TTT: LPI (LE, LPCI1 & LPCI2 ) certification program for instructors -92ITI: LPI (LE,LPC1) certification program for individuals-500ITI: LPI (LE,LPC1) certification program for individuals-500End users (Ubuntu & Liber office): TTT & individuals-2000End users (Ubuntu & Liber office): TTT & individuals-2000

Conducted Awareness workshops (100), International Conferences (2), seminars to different target groups. Conducted Awareness workshops (100), International Conferences (2), seminars to different target groups.

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Encouraging R & D in FOSS TechnologiesEncouraging R & D in FOSS Technologies

Establishing a national support mechanism to support deployment in the public sector.

Establishing a national support mechanism to support deployment in the public sector.

3 FOSS applications adopted in MOE curriculum3 FOSS applications adopted in MOE curriculum

Promoting usage through FOSS Gateway server.Promoting usage through FOSS Gateway server.

Establish Training & Testing Lab in each of the HEI- 5 LabsEstablish Training & Testing Lab in each of the HEI- 5 Labs

Conducting Competitions and awards -150 candidates Conducting Competitions and awards -150 candidates

Industry cert. track : Redhat, Suse, MYSQL, etc.. Industry cert. track : Redhat, Suse, MYSQL, etc..

Creating Awareness formally and informally through articles, blogs, newspapers, websiteCreating Awareness formally and informally through articles, blogs, newspapers, website

20102010 20152015 2020+2020+Par

tner

ship

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du

cati

on

Sec

tor

5- Deployment - Level 15- Deployment - Level 1

Initiate deploymentInitiate deployment

Utilize the Training & Testing Lab to develop FOSS- 70% utilizationUtilize the Training & Testing Lab to develop FOSS- 70% utilization

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-Pri

vate

Par

tner

ship

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FOSSI Road-mapFOSSI Road-map

FOSS Initiative since 2010

Conducted 120+ awareness Workshops , 4 International Conferences (fossc.om) &  3 FOSS applications adopted in schools curriculum. Oman FOSS portal, foss.om

FOSS R&D infrastructure established through 5 computer labs in HEIs, & FOSS Gateway (mirror.squ.edu.om).

3,000+ Trained on different applications of FOSS (200+ certified).

Two flagship FOSS development programs. Oman Summer of code (61 projects) (5 SMEs) (58% employed) House of Open Source Technology (1 Open Library , 10

contributions to FOSS packages)

FOSS Initiative Key AchievementsFOSS Initiative Key Achievements

ITA FOSS Initiative Projects ITA FOSS Initiative Projects

Oman FOSS Conference www.fossc.om Oman FOSS Conference www.fossc.om

FOSS Labs in Universities & CollegesFOSS Labs in Universities & Colleges

3- End Users Track

LiberOffice

Ubuntu

GIMP(photo

manipulation)

Blender(3D)

Ink-Scapegraphics editor

OpenToonz

2- (SP)None Cert. Track

Joomla CMS

Programming with Python

Programming with Perl

WordPress CMSProgramming

with ruby

Linux Apache MySQL & PHP

(LAMP)

Developing websites by

python

Developing websites by

ruby on rails

Programming with Qt

Programming with GTK +

Drupal CMS

Short Workshops to be conducted regularly to encourage development on FOSS.

1- (SP) Certification Track

Advanced Level Linux Professional (LPIC-2)

(201+202

Senior Level Linux Professional (LPIC-3)

(301)

System support

System administrator

Enterprise System Administrator

Senior (specialist) Level Linux Professional

(LPIC-3+)

• Mixed Environment• Security• High Availability &

Virtual.• Web & Intranet• Mail and Messaging

Industry trackSpecialist Level

Redhat, JAVA, MYSQL,

Specialist certifications

Junior Level Linux Professional (LPIC-1)

(101+102) ),Linux Essentials

Systems track

Moodle, etc..

Specialist certifications

FOSS Training Roadmap FOSS Training Roadmap

FOSS in SchoolsFOSS in Schools- In 2014 Ministry of Education adds 2 FOSS software in curriculum (GIMP & Inkscape).

- Save more than 1 Million OMR in licenses cost.

- MoE decides to expand FOSS software adoption in public schools.

FOSS in SchoolsFOSS in Schools

Oman Summer of Code Oman Summer of Code

Oman Summer of CodeOman Summer of Code

• OSOC is Training, Competition & Business development program.

• Annual program started in 2013.

• Target: Students, Job seekers & Employees, IT enthusiasts.

• Utilize and develop Open Source solutions.

Oman Summer of Code AchievementsOman Summer of Code Achievements

Oman Summer of CodeOman Summer of Code

House of Open Source Technology House of Open Source Technology

Contribution of local FOSS talents, recognized internationally to fulfill a demand in the Arab region.

Knowledge transfer and international exposure for local talents in FOSS arena.

Encouragement of local developers to be in a continuous touch with international FOSS Community, and have the innovative passion to benefit the local ICT industry of Oman.

House of Open Source Technology (HOST)House of Open Source Technology (HOST)

20 bugs resolved in Scribus software (Publication).

Release version 1 of LibRaqm (Arabic support Programming library)

Integrate LibRaqm with ImageMagick software & Krita (Graphics).

Arabic support to Darktable software (Graphics).

Blender software Arabic support (3D design).

Fixing Arabic user interface direction for VLC video player.

LibGD graphics library, Pygame is a library for writing games and other multimedia software, Pillow is a Python imaging library, Kivy is a toolkit for graphical applications.

Fixing searching Arabic text in Poppler PDF rendering library, Adding a method to reorder text runs to FriBiDi library.

House of Open Source Technology AchievementsHouse of Open Source Technology Achievements

HOST Project AchievementsScribus publishing software supporting Arabic

House of Open Source Technology AchievementsHouse of Open Source Technology Achievements

FOSS deployment Study1. Methodology2. FOSS Study Findings & recommendations

FOSS deployment Study1. Methodology2. FOSS Study Findings & recommendations

USA, China, France, Germany, Malaysia, Iran, South Africa, Brazil

(Market Scan & Surveys) FOSS in public and private sectors (118 participants, 64 organizations

responded) FOSS within ICT SMEs (sample of 68 SMEs )

(Germany, Malaysia, Turkey, Spain)

(Malaysia)

MethodologyMethodology

08/05/2019 Confidential

Analysis of International ExperiencesAnalysis of International Experiences

Lessons learned AnalysisLessons learned Analysis

Status of FOSS in OmanStatus of FOSS in Oman

Review of study by International experts

Review of study by International experts

Site VisitSite Visit

Formulate Deployment roadmap & Recommendations

Formulate Deployment roadmap & Recommendations

Findings on key challenges in Pub. & Pvt. sectorFindings on key challenges in Pub. & Pvt. sector70% 68% 65%

52%45%

2%

Ability to modify & customize SW More reliable software

Better protection of data privacy More affordable SW

Ability to synchronize data to cloud Others

Additional services desired by participants

Disruptions that affect productivity

76%

56%

43%39%

9%2%

Lack of skills and resources Lack of experts in FOSS training

Integration into existing infrastructure Lack of organization's interest

No real financial benefit Others

Challenges associated with FOSS adoption

FOSS can address current challenges and provide flexible customization.

FOSS Local skilled resources are limited.

Survey Analysis - SMEsSurvey Analysis - SMEs

70%

42%

42%

25%

Business opportunities

Technical Assistance

Human Resources

Financial Assistance

Challenges associated with FOSS product development

60%

51%

37%

26%

Software development

Services, training, and support

Consultation

Others

Main specialization of the SME

SMEs need support to adopt FOSS business models.

Findings on current usage of closed software in Oman

2006-... 2009-... 2012-... 2015-... 2018-...

8.77.7

12.7 12.113.1

MS Licensing Agreement Cost Millions OMR

74%

26%

Percentage of MS licensing utilization% Client licenses

% Infrastructure licenses

Facilitate adoption of FOSS in public and private sectors

Propose and assist in the formulation of policies and regulations to encourage FOSS industry

Capitalizing on human resource development in FOSS technologies

Development of FOSS industry and business through entrepreneurship programs and Fostering innovation

Reinforcement of FOSS awareness in educational and public establishment

These could be implemented through a CoE, like in:

Europe more than 28 countries , USA, Canada, Australia, Latino American, Africa, Malaysia…

With a clear Operation , Funding models and having clear national policy.

Key Study Recommendations FOSS CoEKey Study Recommendations FOSS CoE

ITA & SQU had signed letter of cooperation on September 2017 to collaborate in FOSS Capacity Building Program.

FOSS Capacity Building ProgramFOSS Capacity Building Program

FOSS CBP Services:

1. Awareness2. Training3. Consultancy4. Development & Support

08/05/2019 29

FOSS CBP Work flow

Training Consultancy Development & Support

Information Technology Authority

Sultan Qaboos University SMEs

No. Entity Project Requirements FOSS solution suggested Comments

1 SQU SIS & ERP Odoo Technical Consultancy

2 MoE 2D Animation Synfig Studio Training & Development

3 MOLA OS & Office Ubuntu Training , Deployment

4 SQU Digital Library Dspace Technical Consultancy

5 ITA Office Suite & OS LiberOffice & Ubuntu Planning,Training & pilot

6 Military Technical College Portal Apache & PHP Technical Support

7 MOSD Portal Joomla Technical Support

8 MOI Portal Joomla & Liferay Technical review & Consultancy

9 Civil services pension fund Elearining Moodle Demo session

10 MoHE Software Alternatives N/A Technical Consultancy & training

11 Minister of State & Governor of Dhofar

Redhat Linux License RHEL/ OL / CentOS License Consultancy

12 ROP Linux CentOS Training N/A Training delivered

13 AlThabat Company ERP Odoo Technical Consultancy & Job Attachment

FOSS CBP Services

Thank you, شـــكرا

foss_omanwww.foss.om