eGovOS Running Again

Tony Stanco, host of the most recent eGovOS meeting is putting together anyone. I've included the salient information below - but one thing of note is that it's going to be an opportunity for open source vendors to hook up with the government. In other conference news, I've got my plane ticket for CALU - woohoo!

The Center for Open Source in Government [www.eGovOS.org], along with The Cyber Security Policy and Research Institute (CSPRI) of The George Washington University and others, is proud to present their second Open Source in Government conference called "Open Source for National and Local eGovernment Programs in the U.S. and EU" to be held in Washington, DC, USA, March 17 - 19, 2003.

This conference is designed to discuss best practices, raise awareness and share experiences among policy makers and senior IT officials from the U.S. and Europe. The conference will draw participants from local, national and international organizations from the public, private and academic sectors.

We strongly encourage Open Source companies to submit proposals, since government officials at the last conference were particularly interested in the Open Source companies, Zope and DevIS, because they provided examples of Open Source solutions that the government could buy.

To facilitate the organization of topics and events at the conference, you are invited to submit speaking and demonstration proposals.

Suggested topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

Citizen-Centric eGovernment
Open Source XML Solutions
Open Source and Open Standards
Open Source and Enterprise Architecture
State / Local Government using Open Source
The Role of Open Source in Government
Demonstrations of Open Source Projects
Open Source and Security
Open Source and the Critical Information Infrastructure
NIAP/Common Criteria Evaluations and Open Source
Open Source in the Military
Open Source, PKI and Standards-based Authentication
Open Source in Higher Education
Open Source in Health Care and Bioinformatics
Open Source in Training IT Computer Science Students
Business Cases: Open Source Software and Total
Cost of Ownership
Open Source Empowering People with Disabilities
Open Source and Section 508
Open Source Licenses and other Legal Issues

Dates to Remember:

Deadline for speaking proposals: January 10, 2003
Notification of acceptance: January 20, 2003
Final submissions due: January 31, 2003
Conference: March 17-19, 2003

The conference website can be found at http://www.egovos.org.

Comments

WOW

[Annoyed Coward]

That's great news. I guess a more organized approach is always welcome.

Openchallenge

[jki]

We strongly encourage Open Source companies to submit proposals, since government officials at the last conference were particularly interested in the Open Source companies, Zope and DevIS, because they provided examples of Open Source solutions that the government could buy

I have been in direct contact with eGovOS too, but mentioning Openchallenge here as well cannot harm. We are trying to make this work for public authorities as well - the more the merrier :). We have already got some positive feedback:

I congratulate you with the practical and inspiring approach taken by Openchallenge. It is interesting that this scheme both stimulates the release of open source software and is also operated by people within the open source community itself. Perhaps such a "challenge posting" scheme is also of interest for public authorities to promote open source development." -- Erkki Liikanen European Commissioner for Enterprise and Information Society

...just contact us to discuss more and get things going :)

Great initiative

[John_Renne]

Well this sounds pretty good. I've allways supported the Open Source philisophy. By giving more attention to the positive sides of the concept I think we'll gain more supporters. Too often we lower ourselves to bashing big companies instead of promoting our own ideas.

Maybe by showing what Open Source can accomplish and providing decent, objective and usefull information the scare for this form of software will disapear.

Open Source?

[Blacklaw]

Perhaps the Americans should worry more about getting a more open *Government* before worrying about getting more open *software*. Even the Penguin can't do much against a Total Information Awareness-empowered nanny state.

-Blacklaw

Re:Open Source?

[kedi]

>> "A Perhaps the Americans should worry more about getting a more open *Government* before worrying about getting more open *software*. Even the Penguin can't do much against a Total Information Awareness-empowered nanny state."

Though I agree with you in pointing this out to Americans, I think it is not very wise to put different initiatives and ideas in opposition to each other. To worry about *open software* need not be contraposed to worry about *open Government*.

In this particular case I tend to believe that a concern for *free and open source software* is actually a step towards a more open Government anywhere not just in the US, especially so if one thinks in terms of ethical motivations behind free and open source movements.

kedi

Looking good

[katalyst]

Open Source in the government will save the government a lot of money, though they may need a helping hand (they don't have to spend on training sessions; the community is always there to help). I'm surprised though, that the US govt is contemplating this. They have always been a paranoid and suspicious lot, and to embrace technology, the innards of which many "outsiders" have designed, is a brave step for them. The recent "hack" in one of the recently released open source software, doesn't seem to have perturbed them either.
This is a step, in the right direction. No software is perfect. BUT Linux definitly is more sound than windows......(maybe they're opting for linux coz they know NSA has its access into the Windows OS;) )

Collision of Opposites

[USC-MBA]

Any eGovernment initiative will mean big challenges. In many ways, the coming together of Open Source companies and government agencies is a collision of opposites.

To cite just one example by way of illustration, one of the biggest obstacles to implementing any kind of change is the mindset of the typical government employee. You thus have the freedom-loving, ever-adaptable, information-exchanging Open Source companies on one side, and the time-serving, by-the-book, unionized government workers on the other, most (not all of course) of whom resist any change to their routinized existences with every means at their disposal, from complaints, to threats of striking, and even downright insubordination.

These Open Source companies have their work very much cut out for them, and I wish them luck, but I would like to also emphasize the importance of supporting libertarian political candidates during elections (not necessarily from the Libertarain party, I can think of many worthy Republicans and a few good Dems as well). Once elected, these candidates would be in a position to effectively change the system from within by enacting real reforms and passing legislation. It is high time that the Open Source community implemented the PACs, lobbying efforts, fundraisers, and advertising campaigns that are the traditional, and I might add effective, methods of effecting change in government.

Re:Collision of Opposites

[Degrees]

I would argue that describing government workers as: "most ... of whom resist any change to their routinized existences with every means at their disposal" is not completely fair. I'm currently working for a local government outsourcer, and previously was an actual government employee. Yes, you will get resistance to change, if the change isn't perceived as beneficial. But I see a lot of my users who are happy and eager to change and learn a new system, when they see that the change actually benefits them.

Speaking of which, is there an open source Assessor / Property Tax program available? Our mainframe one is expensive to maintain, and the Assessor's office is actively looking for a replacement. But all we've been quoted by vendors (all MS SQL based) comes at just a ridiculous price and hardware cost. From California, I don't think we will be getting anyone to Washington DC for this conference; but the conference itself is a good idea.

I concurr with your comments about supporting libertarian candidates.

What does that mean?

[olethrosdc]

Do goverments now use something else apart from paper, carbon and photocopiers to propagate information?

I must be in the 21st century!

linux conf au

[sg_oneill]

Lucky Hemos :) So ya comin' to visit our humble state of West Aust. Quick travel tip. Make sure you get some time off to visit Margret river to Albany region. Best wine in the world. Pretty close to biggest tree and fine fine fine looking ladies (and blokes I suppose?) each and every one of em. :) You'll enjoy it.

In the last conference - Security issues

[kedi]

I attended the last conference, it was fantastic.

In the sesssion "Security of Open Source Software" Mary Ann (Oracle) raised the point, supported by others, that "more eyes" does not mean "more experienced eyes".

She argued that the fact that Open Source has more eyes looking into the source code does not make it more secure since these eyes are not necessarilly experienced in security issues.

This point may seem logical but is not correct. I think if we take the example of Linux, the "experienced eyes" focused on its security are still more than what could be possible in the confines of one single company. Windows may have all the "experienced eyes" employed by Microsoft, but Linux has many more "experienced eyes" who may or may not be working for IBM, HP, RedHat, etc etc, in addition to Hackers at Large.

kedi

Re:UKgov

[Blacklaw]

I have to agree with this. I've done quite a bit of work for the UK Government, and the Microsoft-centric homogeneous networks have to be seen to be believed.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel - I'm currently working as a Network Technician for a private school, and in order to save some cash I've been rolling out a number of FOSS solutions to common issues. We have a number of multi-boot sytems running XOSL, even more systems running StarOffice under the 'Site License for £23' deal Sun are doing at the moment, a webserver running Apache, and almost every workstation has the Win32 port of The GIMP installed for image editing work - a lot cheaper than installing Adobe Photoshop!

It's been met with great success, and if things continue to improve I might even see to switching a room into a BSD/Linux cluster.

FOSS is certainly a good thing, but never forget the cost in re-training individuals. The main reason we're still using Windows as our primary desktop OS is because when the kids leave and get jobs, nine times out of ten they'll be running Windows at work. If that changes, then perhaps educational establishments will look more kindly on BSD or GNU/Linux or what have you as a *real* desktop OS, rather than just a geeky toy.

-Blacklaw

Re:Licenses

[gimpboy]

i seem to remember that the fsf encourages people to sign over their copyright to the fsf. so that in the event of a gpl violation, they will be able to take care of the legal matters.

Re:Licenses

[gimpboy]

i dont think you actually relinquish your rights to the software. i think you _share_ your rights with the fsf. this basically gives them the right to defend license violations. i have no idea how many problems they will respond to, but it is in their interests to defend the gpl.

My first thought...

[Dannon]

...after reading the headline:

"eGovOS? I've used a lot of platforms, but I haven't heard of that one before. Name sounds like it was formulated by some Fedral commission. If that's so, it's gotta be a resource hog."