Ghanaian Stakeholders meet to discuss open source software
This was during a one-day forum, co-organised by the Ghana Information, Network for knowledge Sharing (GINKS) and the Free and Open Source Software Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA). The event which was the first ever forum for stakeholders on Open Source attracted participants from the public, private, and civil society organisations. The forum provided an opportunity to critically analyse the options for the adoption of open source software in Ghana.
Kwaku Nsiah, IT advisor to the Ministry of Communication and Technology speaking on behalf of the sector minister said the ministry is very aware of the challenges involved in bridging the digital divide and that the issue of access is one that greatly hinders the growth of ICT in Ghana. He expressed the hope that the potential that open source software can be positively harnessed to contribute to the development of ICT in Ghana.
He remarked that the government takes great pride in the fact that, it official website was designed in an open source environment.
He also said that open source software holds great potential for the educational sector as it provides an opportunity for school across Ghana to adopt and use software without the usual high cost that comes with introducing ICT in schools.
Gregg Zachary a research fellow with the International Computer Science Institute (ICSI) in the United States of America began his presentation by tracing the history of software and said software began free and open source is in line with original idea of software development.
He said software accounts for 5% of the US economy, adding that Ghana has the potential of becoming a major software hub in Africa. He said if Ghana is to develop its software industry then it must specialize in a particular area and that Open Source is that one area of software development that Ghana has the opportunity to capture and create a market niche for it self.
Zachary who has done several research work on ICT in Ghana estimated that there are about 500 programmers in Ghana and that this was not a bad start. He was of the view however that the sector is not growing as much as it should because there is not much investment in ICT in Ghana by both the government and private sector.
He encouraged the many university students that attended the event that the best way to learn software programming is by learning on thier own. He sited the example of Ghana’s most known programmer Guido Sohne who thought himself everything he new in Open Source.
He said for Accra to become the leading software hub for West Africa then it is the programmers themselves that have to take the lead. He therefore encouraged software firms to collaborate with each other to make the industry grow.
He also challenged government to show more commitment to the Ghanaian market by not purchasing locally manufactured software and using open source software..
He cited the example of South Africa, which has developed a clear open source strategy for advancing the use of open source software by the government.
Guido Sohne of FOSSFA in his presentation took participants through some practical uses of open source and said open source software is the way to go for the future adding that many countries are now widely promoting open source in their various countries.
Citing several reasons for the adoption of open source software as a tool for accelerated ICT development, Sohne said Open Source software can be used for several purposes and that because the source code can be modified, one software can be used to suit different purposes and this saves money for the already poor countries of the third world who are being encourage to adopt ICT.
He also said that once Ghana and many other African countries begin to pursue the Open Source alternative, proprietary software owners will be forced to reduce their prices and this will go a long way to advance the growth of ICT in Ghana.
Sohne said free software is about freedom, "freedom for knowledge to be shared”
Adding that for knowledge to be effective it must be freely available to be shared. He added that restrictions to knowledge negatively affect society as a whole.
He sited countries such as Japan, Korea, and Taiwan where long term strategic planning has lead to the development of local knowledge in software production.
Participants at the forum remarked that because open source allows for innovation it is important that the programmers that Ghana produce should be well equipped to meet the challenges that open source brings. They were of the view that it is only when the right human skills are developed will open source become beneficial to Ghana.
Participants also stressed the need for government to adopt open source software in educational institutions, as most schools in Ghana do no have the financial resources required to buy licences for software.
Gudio Sohne captured it all when he remarked “successful economic development is linked to the national capacity to absorb, disseminate and apply technology."