OSS in Bangladesh An Overview

1
OSS in Bangladesh An Overview

• Presentation
• by
• Sayeed Rahman
• BANGLA IT
• Bangladesh Information Technology (IT) Group
• Rahat Ayub
• BIOS
• Bangla Innovation through Open Source
• at
• 4th Asia Open Source Software Symposium
• Taipei, Taiwan
• September 1-3, 2004
• http//www.banglait.org

2
Introduction

• Bangladesh is on the verge of use of ICTs for
  various social and economic development in
  projects related to
• E-Government
• E-Commerce
• Telemedicine
• ICT-based Education
• Open Source has begun to be taken seriously
  among the government, the private sector and the
  NGOs

3
Status of OSS in Bangladesh

• In Government
• Use of Linux for server is rising
• MySQL is being used more and more widely
• Many government websites are developed on open
  source technologies
• In Business Institutes
• Some large multinational corporations have begun
  to use Linux at server-end
• MySQL is replacing MS Access in many business
  institutions
• In Academia
• Some universities have Linux-based servers
• Few have Linux labs
• Some noted professors are champions of open
  source

4
Status of OSS in Bangladesh

• In ISPs
• All ISPs have their systems set up on Linux
• Most of the local ISP-operated e-mail services
  are based on open source technologies
• In Software Companies
• Many progressive software companies have specific
  focus on developing expertise on open source
  technologies, thus offering lower-cost and
  customizable solutions to clients
• Commercial support for open source technologies
  is not yet widespread in Bangladesh

5
Overview of Bangladesh Economy

• Population 146.7 million (UN, 2003)
• Area Total 144,000 sq km
• Purchasing Power Parity 1,800 (2002 est.)
• GDP US 50,929 million (Bangladesh Bank 2003)
• GDP per head US 381
• GDP Growth 5.7 (2004 est.)
• Population below poverty line 36
• Unemployment rate 35 (2001 est.)
• Literacy Rate Total 41 (2001)
• Exports 7.6 billion (fiscal 2004)
• Imports 9.8 billion (fiscal 2004)
• Internet domain .bd
• International dialling code 880

6
The need for OSS in Bangladesh

• Open source is especially appealing to developing
  countries such as Bangladesh, which see it as a
  way to help close the technological divide that
  separates rich and poor nations
• Microsoft Windows and Office cost at least 140
  in Bangladesh -- way out of reach for most
  people, where the per capita annual income is
  roughly 381
• The economic logic of using software that's free
  is hard to resist, and more and more countries
  seem willing to take a chance on it. China, Japan
  and South Korea recently announced that they will
  work together to develop an open-source
  alternative to Microsoft
• The OSS is Bangladeshs solution to software
  piracy, a rampant problem that threatens to
  derail the country's economic aspirations.

7
Open Source In ICT4D- A Case-Study

• A non-government initiative has been taken
  jointly by
• D.Net and BIOS
• to develop ICT systems on open source
  technologies
• Collaboration between D.Net and BIOS
• BIOS develops tools and platforms based on open
  source technologies and hands over to D.Net
• D.Net is the implementing agency that uses these
  systems for projects in rural areas

8
Introduction to D.Net BIOS

• D.Net
• NGO that promotes the use of ICTs for economic
  and social development, particularly in rural
  areas
• Running various projects such as
• Pallitathya www.pallitathya.org web-site
  containing various information related to
  agriculture, health, education, law, human rights
  etc.
• Mobile-phone based Help-Line for rural areas
• Rural Telecenters
• Online Business and Entrepreneurship Information
• BIOS
• Social trust that has the following major goals
• Customize various Open Source Software for use in
  Bangladesh
• Advocate the use of Open Source Technology in
  government, private sector and academia
• Use of ICTs for education

9
Why the Focus on Open Source Technologies?

• Realities
• Mass population is beyond the reach of ICT
• Cost of technology is a bottleneck
• Urban computing model is not necessarily suitable
  for rural areas
• Defining a effective and efficient model is of
  same importance
• Sustainable social/participatory technology
  infrastructure is crucial
• Content in Bangla is crucial

10
Why the Focus on Open Source Technologies?(Contd.)

• Need for
• Cheap, affordable technologies
• Input and output in Bangla
• Solutions that can make use of old hardware
• Solutions that are not dependent on operating
  system or hardware upgrades
• Solutions that are easily customizable according
  to needs
• Solutions that can be customized at home without
  dependence on a foreign vendor
• Considering the realities and needs, Open Source
  Technology turned out to be the ONLY viable
  alternative

11
Systems built on Open Source Technologies

• D.Net has several socially motivated ICT projects
  in which the databases developed are all in MySQL
• All content online and offline produced by
  D.Net are in Bangla and are platform-independent
• Web-based input and output in Bangla for
  different information systems
• UNICODE bangla conversion tools

12
Future Projects with Open Source Technologies

• D.Net has a project on rural ICT education in
  schools, which will utilize old hardware
• Some will be loaded with Linux
• They will also be loaded with Bangla versions of
  Open Office to ensure greater acceptability among
  rural users
• Telecenters will be built in various villages,
  which will have Linux servers and desktops

13
Constraints of Use of Open Source Technologies in
Bangladesh

• Lack of awareness about software licensing issues
• Lack of awareness about open source alternatives
• Lack of awareness about making use of old
  hardware
• Lack of customer support for open source
  technologies
• Inadequacy in academias emphasis on OS
  technologies
• Lack of skilled HR in OS technologies

14
Steps being Taken to Overcome these Bottlenecks

• Organizations such as BIOS, BANGLA IT, Ankur,
  LinuxBD are working hard to create awareness and
  advocacy for OSS in Government and Corporate
  level in Bangladesh
• A National Open Source Convention in December
  2004 is being planned
• An international OS convention is being planned
• The government is now more open to open source
  in its software procurement
• Universities have begun to develop Linux labs
• Training institutes are increasingly offering
  more courses on OS technologies