[GKD] Open Source ICT

[Navaid Abidi]

This forum is great.  I have been following it for
couple of months now.  The poverty needs of the global
community are being attacked with a common knowledge
base, with an emphasis on ICT.  However, I have not
been able to get access to any specific technology
solution, that other can share.

What licenses are the technologies being developed
under?  Would it not make sense to develop these under
well established Open Source licenses so the
development can benefit public at large, and evolve
based on needs of people using it.

SourceForge.net is the largest Open Source developer
community on the net.  It is a service provided for
free by VA Linux, and allows developers to collaborate
and create projects in the public domain.  Most of the
software is based on needs of the developers.

There are quite a few lessons people on this board can
learn from Open Source development efforts.  For
example, OS developers tend to establish protocols of
communication that enable them to work virtually and
solve very complex problems in an ecology of ideas
that emerge.  Think about how complex it was to create
the GNU/Linux Operating System (a.k.a Linux), that has
input from hundred of thousands of developers around
the world.  The developers have created have extremely
fast and FREE development, collaborative, and
community building tools and technologies.  Examples
of these are Chat Rooms, Message Boards, Wicky Webs
(Self evolving websites, that are a cross between
message board, and content publishing), Application
Servers, Databases, Web Servers, Contact Management
Systems, and many more tools.

Governments and NGO can also establish accounts and
projects on SourceForge and start creating solutions
for their problems.  This will enable them to tap into
a vast developer talent base that make up the open
source community, and team up to solve common
problems.

Most open source software is altruistic in nature, and
is created by people who want a channel to unleash
their intellectual creative talents.  Establishing ICT
projects on open source platforms and harnessing the
global IT talent base to use their talents can allow
them to create a real impact in the lives of people.
At the same time, it can propel the ICT needs of poor
governments and NGOs who can not afford a expensive
technical talent.

Regards

Navaid Abidi
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Founder & President
Free Knowledge Foundation
http://www.FreeKnowledgeLicense.org

P.S. I have no affiliation with SourceForge, except I
am an avid user, and supporter of Open Source
technologies.




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[GKD] Water management software (India)

[Frederick Noronha]

*
SOFTWARE... TO THE RESCUE OF PARCHED INDIAN VILLAGERS
*

Just think of the potential of a software that allows users to create an
interactive water-map of the village. This means, villagers would be better
equipped to cope with drought. Thanks to IT (information technology).

Called Jal-Chitra, this software has been developed by Jaipur's Ajit
Foundation, in close collaboration with the Barefoot College of Tilonia. Says
Ajit Foundation's Vikram Vyas: "The advent of Personal Computer together with
the development and expansion of Internet has provided us with a unique
opportunity to bring the tools of scientific modelling and computation to
rural development."

One "immediate area" where such tools can make a tangible contribution, he
argues, is in the process of draught-proofing the villages lying in the arid
and semi-arid regions of the developing world.

How is this done? An estimate of the monthly water demand and the monthly
water availability from various sources is the starting point. Then comes the
question of allocation of available water.

Likewise, a water-budget can be created. Solutions can range from water
conservation, to the development of new water sources or water storage
systems, where possible. Or even getting in water from external sources.
Villagers need to balance between underground water and rainwater harvesting
systems.

Once done, Jal-Chitra software aims at helping villagers to take advantage of
information and communication technologies to exercise their right to manage
their own water sources.

Jal-Chitra basically creates an interactive water-map of the village, enables
the community to keep records of the amount of water available from each
water source,can record water quality testing, lists maintenance work done
and required, estimates water demand, generates future monthly water budgets
(based on past records), and shows the amount of community need met through
rainwater harvesting systems.

FREDERICK NORONHA <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> recently interviewed Vikram Vyas of
The Ajit Foundation, who created the software. Excerpts from the interview:

*
QUESTION: What has been the response to the software so far?
*

The response form the organisation which are familiar with ICT (information
and communication technologies) has been very positive. Particular heartening
was the number of inquires and messages of encouragement that I have received
from the voluntary organisations working in Pakistan.

*
QUESTION: Has it been implemented in the field? If so, where?
*

Hopefully Jal-Chitra will be implemented in number of villages where the
Barefoot College of Tilonia in North India works. We are in the process of
translating the users manual into Hindi. That is the bottleneck right now.

*
QUESTION: What about regionalising the software, in other Indian (or other)
languages?
*

I think that is a very important and urgent need. I am trying to at least have
a Hindi version based on Susha fonts (one of the popular fonts used for the
Hindi language).

*
QUESTION: What potential do you see for it? Could it be applicable to other
regions of the globe?
*

I think Jal-Chitra can be used in any village which is in the arid or semi
arid region of developing world. The greatest potential is that it will
enable local democratic institutions, like panchyats (local village councils
in India), to make more informed decisions regarding their own water sources.

I think of it as a small tool helping realise Mahatma Gandhi's dream of Swaraj
(independence or self-rule at the rural level).

*
QUESTION: What are the further areas of development you plan?
*

Jal-Chitra  has potentialities of many further developments including use of
satellite photographs and more sophisticated in-build models, perhaps based
on neural-nets.

I am looking for other people, software developers, to help me with this. I
have been away from physics for too long and would like to return to it and
spend most of my professional time teaching and doing research in physics. So
further development of Jal-Chitra has to become a collaborative effort. 

[GKD] A note for GKD sponsors

[Jim Cory]

Hello all,

This is my first post to the list, though I have been a fascinated reader
since 10/99.  I am a GIS Consultant and I work for a company mainly
engaged in GIS/IT integration for government and private organizations in
the US and the Caribbean.

I have read many emails over the months that are extremely critical of the
World Bank.  While I have no first hand business interaction with the
Bank, I have greatly enjoyed participating in this discussion sponsored in
part by the Bank.  I have just realized how important this exchange of
ideas is to me, since I would be very disappointed if it were to end.
Some lists just do that.

I would like to thank whoever at the Bank is responsible for its
contribution to making possible the opportunity of talking about IT and
development.  I am unaware of any censoring of the ideas presented and
commend the sponsors for allowing the critical as well as complimentary
messages to be distributed amongst this community.

Jim Cory
IT/GIS Analyst
GeoAnalytics, Inc.
1716 Fordem Ave
Madison, Wi 53704-4604
608-241-7100
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.geoanalytics.com




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