(for those of you who are Open Source experts and good writers, I'm posting the following. Feel free to forward this to others, but PLEASE remove my contact info if you do so. Thanks) Please see the Terms of Reference below. If you would like to apply please send your updated Curriculum Vitae and 2-3 samples of your writings on FOSS and Open Standards to Sunil Abraham [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------- International Open Source Network: Terms of Reference for Author for Primer: Free/Open Source Software - Open Standards Duration: 6 months --------------------------------------------------------- Background --------------------------------------------------------- The International Open Source Network (IOSN - http://www.iosn.net) is a Centre of Excellence for Free / Open Source Software in the Asia-Pacific Region. IOSN is an initiative of the UNDP's Asia-Pacific Information Development Programme (APDIP - http://www.apdip.net) and is supported by International Development Research Centre (IDRC - http://www.idrc.ca]. Via a small secretariat, the IOSN is tasked specifically to facilitate and network Free / Open Source Software advocates and human resources in the region. Open standards are publicly available specifications for achieving a specific task. By allowing anyone to use the standard, they increase compatibility between various hardware and software components since anyone with the technical know-how and the necessary equipment to implement solutions can build something that works together with those of other vendors[1]. Vendors of proprietary software use proprietary standards or formats to lock-in their customer. Once the customer has legal applications that adhere to proprietary standards and legal data in proprietary formats there is great inertia to shift to a new vendor. It does not matter whether the new vendor promotes proprietary or Free/ Open Source Software [FOSS]. Therefore it could be said that proprietary standards breed unfair and monopolistic business practices and are incongruous with the Free Market. FOSS advocates believe that popular Open Standards are an important stepping stone towards the accelerated adoption of Free/Open Source Software in developing countries. Vendors of proprietary software have realised this and have adopted the strategy of ⤽embrace, extend and extinguish[2]⤝ in an attempt to halt the march of FOSS. -------------------------------------------- Title: Free and Open Source Software - Open Standards ------------------------------------------ Bruce Perens has identified the following 5 principles for Open Standards. Open Standards are available for all to read and implement. Open Standards maximize end-user choice and they do not lock the customer in to a particular vendor or group. Open Standards are free for all to implement, with no royalty or fee. Open Standards and the organizations that administer them do not favor one implementor over another for any reason other than the technical standards compliance of a vendor's implementation. Implementations of Open Standards may be extended, or offered in subset form[3]. Many public institutions like government agencies and civil society organisations are obliged by new legislation to place information in the public domain. Unfortunately, many of them are using proprietary standards and formats that require members of the public to purchase or pirate expensive proprietary software. --------------------------------------- Objectives ------------------------------------- To produce a primer on Open Standards that will: 1. Introduce Free/Open Source Software and Open Standards and explain the connection between the two. 2. Provide a rationale for the use of Open Standards in Government/Development funded ICT interventions 3. Profile open standards and formats such as HTML, XML, CSS, PNG, SVG RDF, SOAP, UNICODE, SQL, RSS etc. 4. Compare open standards to proprietary equivalents and explain benefits and disadvantages. 5. Give an overview of standards setting bodies such as W3C and Unicode Consortium; enumerate membership requirements for these bodies; describe the process of negotiating, setting and adopting standards. 6. Profile FOSS software and tools that can be used to create new content or migrate existing content. 7. Provide case studies where the use of standards have increased interoperability, scaling up of projects and process efficiency. 8. Provide sample tenders for ICT projects; review existing policies endorsing open standards from this region. ----------------------------------------- Duties and Responsibilities of the Author --------------------------------------- The Author will be required to carry out the following: 1. Conduct background research on Open Standards and Formats and particularly in the Asia-Pacific context. 2. Review and analyse all existing Open Standards and Formats. 3. Produce a first draft of the primer according to objectives as described above. 4. Provide drafts of the primer taking into account the feedback provided by APDIP-IOSN according to the time-line below. 5. Consolidate and compile feedback based on a select list of peer reviewers approved by APDIP, and make the necessary revisions. 6. Ensure that the publication material conforms to the UNDP Style Manual, December 2002 version as provided. ------------------------------------ Time Frame --------------------------------------- The project will be undertaken based on the following timetable: Time Output/ Deliverable Responsibility 0th Week Contract signed �" project kick off IOSN 2rd Week Annotated outline of the primer Author 3th Week Feedback on primer outline IOSN 8th Week First draft of primer Author 9th Week Internal feedback on the first draft IOSN 12th Week Second draft of primer + response to Author the internal feedback 15th Week Peer and public feedback on the primer IOSN 18th Week Third draft Author 19th Week Feedback on the third draft IOSN 22th Week Final draft Author ----------------------------------- Rights ------------------------------------ All the copyright of research papers, materials, documents, publications, and on-line resources collected and worked upon by the Author belong UNDP-IOSN. UNDP-IOSN will license this body of work to the general public under the Creative Commons Attribution license. Therefore, the Author has full rights to use the content and findings for any work of similar nature that s/he wishes to perform in the future. --------------------------------------- Qualifications and Experience ------------------------------------- 1. Substantial knowledge of Free and Open Source Software movement particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. 2. Prior experience in research and publishing of papers on FOSS and Open Standards and Open Formats 3. Good command of English-language communication and writing skills. 4. Good communication and interpersonal skills and experience in working effectively in a multicultural environment. 5. A team-player and self-starter, able to work with minimum supervision, with sound judgement. ------------------------------ Terms of Payments -------------------------- A lump sum amount of US$3,000 will be paid upon submission and acceptance by APDIP, of the final pre-publication version of the Primer. No further claims will be considered. UNDP-APDIP, Kuala Lumpur, 10th Dec 2004 [1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_standard [2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend_and_extinguish [3]http://perens.com/OpenStandards/Definition.html Thanks, -- Sunil Abraham, [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.mahiti.org 314/1, 7th Cross, Domlur Bangalore - 560 071 Karnataka, INDIA Ph/Fax: +91 80 51150580. Mob: (60) 1-2205-3895 Currently on sabbatical with APDIP/UNDP Manager - International Open Source Network Wisma UN, Block C Komplex Pejabat Damansara. Jalan Dungun, Damansara Heights. 50490 Kuala Lumpur. P. O. Box 12544, 50782, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel: (60) 3-2091-5167, Fax: (60) 3-2095-2087 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.iosn.net http://www.apdip.net
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