A Free and Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) Initiative for a Sustainable Deployment in Oman

Abstract

Many countries worldwide are strongly encouraging and supporting the adoption of FLOSS in public and private sectors. This has fueled the rapid deployment of FLOSS solutions in numerous industrial sectors due to the benefits offered by FLOSS. These benefits include a high potential for job creation through local software customization, the growth of local SME’s and IT skills, vendor lock-in prevention, improved security, and reduced licensing, installation and running costs. The trend was extending to other areas such as consumer associations, chamber of commerce, stock exchange, management associations, and nongovernmental organizations that are showing an increasing interest in many countries for FLOSS adoption. The Information Technology Authority (ITA) in Oman is the main enabler of FLOSS deployment in the public and private sectors. ITA has done considerable efforts in conjunction with a number of public and academic institutions, such as Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) and other higher educational institutions over the past few years in the FLOSS awareness, infrastructure, and capacity building fronts. However, to ensure the continuity and sustainability of the ongoing efforts, a roadmap for a sustainable FLOSS deployment for the public and private sectors is essential. The establishment of this roadmap for a sustainable deployment in the next 5 years was done based on an extensive study of the international FLOSS plans, the analysis of local FLOSS status in the public and private sectors through surveys and interviews, in addition to the views exchanged with a number of well-known international experts in the FLOSS community. Five deployment domains were identified in the roadmap with a number of initiatives for each domain that will be driven by a Center of Excellence (CoE) to assure the sustainability of the deployment. The CoE has a number of objectives to achieve; namely, transfer of technology, raising awareness on FLOSS in public and private sectors, promoting and implementing FLOSS solutions, formulating policies and guidelines, developing educational and training materials, conducting and supporting R&D in FLOSS, and working to optimize the overall cost of software licensing in Oman. Different models of this center were discussed and a realistic model was suggested for the implementation in Oman. It is proposed that the center should be funded by a Consortium of ministries.