Open Tech Exchange Podcast

Is capacity building just more buzz words used by NGO's to further their agendas in developing countries?  Over the course of 2009, I have engaged with many FLOSS advocates who believe that with the use of Open Source solutions, that this indeed can be a reality.

A definition of 'capacity building' that I like is " the process of developing and strengthening the skills, instincts, abilities, processes and resources that organizations and communities need to survive, adapt, and thrive in the fast-changing world."

A common thread in our interviews has been the importance of building capacity.  Two ideas that I found compelling include moving to be exporters of technology instead of importers, and the appropriate use of open source in ICT development,

Governments in many countries have to realize that fostering open source adoption is not just a means to an end, to increase ICT use, but it is the conduit to allowing citizens the opportunity to 'adapt and thrive' in our digital world.  To be able to export technology or to develop solutions that address the unique demands of each country will lead to increased capacity. 

Also discussed, was the need for more recognition and cooperation within the open source community. This would make it attractive for young resourceful people to want to join in and make a difference. In particular, Africa and Latin America are regions that would see great benefit if participation in creating open source solutions was seen as career building instead of volunteer hacking. Reputation is everything in the FLOSS community.

Organizations such as IICD, InWent and UNDP have worked to establish Open Source Resource centers throughout Africa, the Middle East and Asia. These centers are now looking to move towards a sustainable model in which there is value in obtaining LPI certification or engaging training resources. Ongoing support of these centers would go a long way towards capacity building.

Having business incubators to encourage SME's to adopt Open Source solutions is an ideal method of capacity building. Again, though we come back to sustainabilty. There are severals models that can be adopted to maintain the resource center. In a partial model, incubated businesses receive only part of the services such as mentorship, funding, networking and training while they meet their own rental and telecommunication costs. These have typically been located in Universities and aimed at graduating students. I believe though, that it can be successful for SME's if approached in a timely and organized manner. This takes us back to my first point regarding government involvement in fostering Open Source adoption and the surrounding business models.

On a final note, it is indeed inspiring to work with people such as Jacob Odame in Ghana, who has been working closely with me to deploy Ubuntu systems for Camfed International. A recent tweet @peejake (Jacob) “Caught up the passion to see a changed world one Linux desktop at a time” reinforces my belief that we can indeed make a lasting impact with Open Source in the countries we work.

Here are some of the Open Source Resource Centers that have been discussed in our recent interviews.

http://www.eacoss.org/  - East Africa Center for Open Source Software - Uganda

http://www.ma3bar.org/ - The Arab Support Center for Free and Open Software - Lebanon

http://www.osrc.org.pk/ - The Open Source Resource Center - Pakistan

http://iosn.net/ - The International Open Source Network - Asia