Foreword: open source challenges in developing countries
Photo by Fabrizio Conti on Unsplash
I was reading an article on Opensource.com by Ahmed Sobeh sharing the main struggles that open source faces in developing countries. The post narrowed down the challenges to three areas
- society and culture
- resources and infrastructure, and
- governance.
I recommend reading the original post to understand the reasoning, and breaking down each of these challenges.
I wanted to share my thoughts, and a highlight a few initiatives combating this challenges. Before anything, I 100% agree with Sobeh's understanding. It's incredibly insightful!
Overcoming these challenges need a comprehensive approach. Initiatives promoting awareness about open source, international partnerships for infrastructure investment, and policies that foster open source development can contribute significantly towards a solution. As UNICEF, we should also look at mapping Open Source landscape to SDGs and identify areas where we need to increase our efforts.
I must mention that despite the hurdles, open source adoption has seen promising prospects in these regions. It offers cost-effective software solutions, empowers innovation, and promotes locally relevant digital solutions, directly contributing to a broader digital transformation.
There are a few ways we can approach navigating such problems, and hope to make a dent. We (UNICEF's Office of Innovation Ventures) have funding to exclusively focus on open source solutions. Since Ventures team's establishment, We has invested in open source solutions that have the potential to improve the lives of children, with a focus on technology start-ups from new and emerging markets.
Giga, launched by UNICEF and ITU to connect every school to the Internet and every young person to information, opportunity, and choice. Giga maps schools' Internet access in real time, creates models for innovative financing, and supports governments contracting for connectivity. The initiative has already had significant impact in countries like Kyrgyzstan, Niger, Sierra Leone, Colombia, Rwanda, and more by mapping schools, renegotiating contracts, developing algorithms, and implementing AI techniques.
I wish to share some top level strategies we should adopt, and organizations who actively work on addressing these challenges.
Foster Open Culture: Building a culture that values openness, transparency, and collaboration is paramount in the tech industry. Organizations such as Mozilla and Wikimedia Foundation have championed this cause, fostering open culture through vast networks of volunteers and commitment to an open, accessible internet.
Reform in Work Policies: Work policies and employment contracts often deter open source contributions. This is where advocacy organizations like the Free Software Foundation Europe and Public Knowledge come into play, promoting reform in employment agreements and championing software freedom.
Build Legal Expertise: The intricacies of open source licensing and intellectual property rights often pose challenges. Entities such as the Software Freedom Law Center, Software Freedom Conservancy and Creative Commons provide legal counsel and services to protect and advance free and open source software.
Address Resource Inequality: Resource disparity can restrict access to steady internet, modern tech tools, and educational resources. Initiatives like Giga are making strides to bridge this 'digital divide', providing children and communities in developing nations with affordable, connected devices.
Localization of Content: Language barriers can deter potential contributors or adopters. Initiatives like The Document Foundation's LibreOffice and Mozilla's Localization (L10n) program make a difference, utilizing the power of their communities to translate their open source offerings into numerous languages. There are many open source tools (like weblate) that help internationalization and localization.
Re-evaluation of Proprietary Software Deals: Governments and NGOs must reconsider their software procurement strategies. Advocacy groups like the Open Source Initiative and Free Software Foundation provide guidance and advocacy to encourage open source adoption.
As the team within UNICEF with goal of empowering Innovators, recognizing that openness extends beyond software is crucial. Open hardware, open research, open academia, and open data, all contribute to a thriving open ecosystem. By embracing Open, we are equipping societies to tackle unique challenges, particularly in developing countries. The commitment to 'all things open' fosters a global society that learns, shares, and grows together in an open world.
Open Source has come far. Or as some say "Open Source has won". What now? there is still a long way to go before we see the digital utopia FSF had imagined in it's early days. Quoting my favorite Robert Frost poem in a different context
Miles to Go Before I Sleep