2006 Open Source driver
Let’s push for Open Document Format the way Massachusetts does.
February 1, 2006
What will the Malaysian ICT industry be looking at in pushing the envelope for Open Source this year? We can’t be keeping the evangelical talks after the government has started to incorporate Open Source solutions into its procurement procedure since 2004.
Despite the fact that budget allocation and expenditure for Open Source solutions are relatively miniscule at the moment, it was a good start since the Open Source endorsement policy came into being. Our next job is to show the government the next step. Yes, we need to take that bigger step to realise the benefits of adopting Open Source in terms of innovation and justifiable alternatives in resources planning in the ICT sector, both in the government agencies and the commercial world.
In 2005, I noticed there had been some missteps on the part of the industry’s flag-bearer, the Association of Computer and Multimedia industry Malaysia (PIKOM), with regards to its position on adopting Open Source. For the record, PIKOM during the time when Mr Looi Kian Leong was the chairman was instrumental in the creation of an Open Source Special Interest Group (OSSIG). Some monumental results were produced, one of which was a white paper on adopting Open Source software and solution in the public sector, which was presented to the then Ministry of Communications and Multimedia. The gist of the white paper was also presented at inaugural Public Sector CIO Conference organised by MAMPU in 2002.
However, during the General Public Policy Conference (GPPC) 2005 hosted in Kuala Lumpur by PIKOM, the present PIKOM leadership was reported by the mainstream media that it was reviewing its position on Open Source vis-à-vis the 2002 white paper on Open Source it endorsed via the PIKOM-OSSIG. As a founding member of the OSSIG, I was made aware of the protracted debates that ensued behind the scene within the OSSIG.
It is felt that if the PIKOM public announcement to review its position on Open Source was misendeavour on the part of the current leadership. It is unusual for an organisation to resort to drastic measures like reviewing a white paper it took pain and resource to conceive and subsequently endorse. Many feel that while a white paper may be left untouched in its entirety, appendices that incorporate new updates could be attached to the original document, if the necessity was to perfect whatever prior shortcomings.
It is with this imperative in mind that all is not lost for PIKOM to re-crystallise its strategy to help propel Malaysia to be on par with other First World countries in ICT deployment. Admittedly, we are not here to be copycats and emulate others’ practices for the sake of getting upgraded against the Joneses. However, in technology and sciences, there is this overpowering insistence that we should adopt global best practices in all areas of knowledge domains. It’s precise on this note that PIKOM could play a bigger role as the trade body that represents over 80% of the significant players.
One such trendline is the progress achieved in the promoting of OpenDocument Format (ODF), which has been radically endorsed by the state government of Massachusetts, USA. Recently, the state of Massachusetts had made it official that it will use only non-proprietary document formats in state-affiliated offices effective Jan. 1, 2007. The OPF is one such format.
The OpenDocument Format (ODF) is an acronym for the OASIS Open Document Format for Office Applications. This standard was developed by the OASIS industry consortium, based upon the XML-based file format originally created by OpenOffice.org. In layman’s term, it is an open document file format for saving and exchanging editable office documents such as text documents (including memos, reports, and books), spreadsheets, charts, and presentations.
The obvious political barrier to adopting ODF is that the ODF is intended to provide an open alternative to proprietary document formats, including the popular but undocumented DOC, XLS, and PPT formats used by Microsoft Office, as well as Microsoft Office Open XML format.
Proponents of ODF advocate that organisations and individuals that store their data in an open format such as ODF could avoid being locked in to a single software vendor, leaving them free to switch software if their current vendor goes out of business, raises their prices, changes their software, or changes their licensing terms to something less favourable.
We should keep our eyes open in 2006 to leverage on this significant development.