Open Source for E-Government

OPEN SOURCE FOR E-GOVERNMENT

1. INTRODUCTION : E-GOVERNMENT

1.1 E-government, is commonly understood as electronic form of government. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are used by the govt. to provide its functions to the citizens. Some of the delivery models are Govt. to citizen, Govt. to Customer, Government to Govt. (G2G), Govt. to Employees (G2E), Govt. to Govt. (G2G) etc.

1.2 E-government is not only computerization of the various departments of the government and it is also not only use of internet by govt. It is much more than that. ICT are just tools, i.e. means, and not ends in themselves. In fact, use of any electronic mode by the govt. like wireless networks, Bluetooth, SMS, email, biometric identification, smart cards etc. falls under the purview of e-government.

2. INTRODUCTION : OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE (OSS)

OSS is a term used when the source code as well as the software (executable code) are provided to the user for free (Ken Coar, 2006). It also includes, free redistribution of the software, free distribution of source code, no restriction on modification of the source code and derived works, distribution of license etc. The commercially available software is termed as proprietary software (PS).

3. IMPORTANCE AND APPROPRIATENESS OF OPEN SOURCE FOR E-GOVERNMENT

3.1 Before advocating OSS for e-government, three issues are required to be examined.

a. Whether OSS is cost effective?

b. Whether quality of OS is comparable with proprietary software?

c. Whether OSS is the appropriate technology