Cape Town`s enthusiasm for open source is part of a service delivery plan and is one leg of its overall ICT strategy, says Nirvesh Sooful, City of Cape Town CIO.
Sooful says the whole debate around open source should move away from the desktop and focus on areas where it makes business sense.
"Using open source is not just a matter of being against any proprietary system, but rather one of overall development. We also need to move into developing practical projects that will help develop skills, core competencies and allow for cost-effective solutions to some of local government`s needs," he says.
The City of Cape Town has five major projects it is investigating where open source could play a major role:
* The first is the SmartCape Access service that has about 530 open source desktops spread across 100 locations.
* The second is a library management system that it wants to develop together with the State IT Agency (SITA) and that could be used by other municipalities.
* The third is the investigation of a content management system that could help develop local content and help foster community spirit.
* The fourth project is the use of open source and Intel-based hardware to replace some ex-IBM and Sun Solaris systems.
* The last project, which is in its testing phase, is a system for the community clinics the municipality is responsible for.
Sooful believes that, for instance, the library management system could, at a fraction of the cost, replace the outdated and expensive proprietary PALS.
"If we can get SITA on board then the cost of such a system could be shared between us and a number of municipalities that need it," he says.
"It is not a question of open source or nothing. Rather it is also part of a larger plan to make Cape Town the hub of SA`s ICT development," Sooful says.
As part of the overall ICT development plan, the City of Cape Town is in the process of starting an open source competency centre that should be functional towards the end of the year. This will be complemented by a Microsoft .Net competency centre.
Sooful will deliver one of the keynote addresses at the Brainstorm Cape 2005 ICT conference on 14 and 15 September at the Cullinan Hotel.
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