Adopt open-source software to save US$20m annually - AITI-KACE tells gov’t

In pursuance to cut down the cost of operating software in educational institutions, the Director General of the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT (AITI-KACE), Kwasi Adu-Gyan, has underscored the need for government to adopt free and open-source software instead of the conventional proprietary software.

He said the AITI-KACE, the country’s premier advanced technology institute has developed an indigenous cost-savings free and open-source software ‘Nyansapo Operating System’ (NOS). The NOS he explained, runs on desktop, to the cloud, and to all networked connected things, stressing, “Our own indigenous solution will save government an estimated US$20 million annually if adopted. These are substantial savings that is certain to drive Ghana’s development beyond aid and inject pace on our journey towards digital transformation.”

“The use of open-source software is growing at an exponential rate, especially by governments and companies who are keen to reduce cost. During the global financial meltdown in 2008-2009, many organisations or businesses turned to open-source software like the Linux operating system, OpenOffice, Mozilla Thunderbird instead of conventional proprietary software,” he emphasized.

Mr. Adu-Gyan said this in a speech read for him at the celebration of the 2019 Software Freedom Day (SFD) at AITI-KACE’s centre in Sunyani. SFD is global celebration of Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) and a public education effort, aimed at increasing public awareness of free software and its virtues as well as encourage its usage. The theme for the celebration was “Innovation, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Open-Source Technology.”

The AITI-KACE Boss noted that the centre over the years has played “diverse roles” in promoting FOSS in Ghana and Africa at large, buttressing that as part of its contribution to promoting FOSS for socioeconomic development in the country, it has established a Free and Open Source Software research and resource centre christened “Ghana Centre for Free and Open Source Software” (GCFOSS) with NOS as its first research project.

Besides, AITI-KACE has developed open source solutions for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and several organisations. Notable projects include the Enterprise Document Management System, Enterprise Resource Planning Systems, E-leave Management System, and E-learning Systems among others, he added.

Meanwhile, patrons of the 2019 Software Freedom Day celebration at the AITI-KACE Sunyani Centre were taking through presentations on Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), various Linux Distributions introduction history, Internet of Things (IoT), Wikipedia, Weather Station, Node Js and Open Cities Africa.