Nepal Open Source Software NOSS, An Overview

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Nepal Open Source Software (NOSS), An Overview

• 4th Asia Open Source Software Symposium
• Taipei, Sept 1 3 2004
• Prashant Lal Shrestha
• Coordinator OSS committee CAN

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Overview of Nepal (2004)

• Population in million 23.15
• Rural Population 85.5
• Key Economic Sectors
• Agriculture and Tourism
• Literacy in English 3
• Computer ownership per 100 inhabitants 0.86
• Telephone lines per 100 inhabitants 1.42
• Internet users per 100 inhabitants 0.43
• National bandwidth within the country lt2 Mbps
• National bandwidth (downlink) 18 Mbps
• National bandwidth (uplink) 8 Mbps

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IT in Nepal

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Telecommunications in Nepal

• Reasonably good, mostly digital urban
  Telecommunications infrastructure
• The government has adopted the policy of
  encouraging the private sector to invest in the
  telecommunications field
• 1761 out of about 4000 VDCs have access to
  telephone as of August 2002
• NTC is setting up 1000 VSATs for rural telephony
  aiming to provide at least 2 telelphones to each
  VDC by 2004
• East West Fibre Optics Cable structure for data
  transfer linked with Nepal to India

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Internet in Nepal

• ISPs are allowed to setup their own international
  gateways using VSAT with license from NTA
• Estimated 200,000 users in 12 municipatilities
  are served by ISPs
• Tourism sector has strongest web presence
• Many ministries and government departments have
  setup their own websites. Kathmandu Municipality
  www.kathmandu.gov.np hosts their current and past
  activities in Nepali, Newari and English
• Most of English newspaper are available on web.
  Radio Nepal and Nepal Television broadcast their
  news programs over the Internet
• Few local websites allow consumers to order
  products over the Internet

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Government in ICT

• Ministry of Information and Communications
  governs telecommunications, postal, mass media
  and broadcasting sectors
• Ministry of Science and Technology is the
  Coordinating agency for IT
• High Level Commission of IT is an authorative
  body in IT under the Chairmanship of the Prime
  Minister
• National IT Center under the Ministry of Science
  and Technology acts as a facilitator and
  regulator for the healthy development of IT.
• Nepal Telecommunications Authority is the
  Telecommunications and Internet Regulator
• Privatization of Nepal Telecommunications
  Corporation to Nepal Telecom in 2004

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Human Resource Development (ICT)
8
OSS is helping people around the globe escape the
crime of software "piracy".
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Advantages of OSS in Nepal

• Cost Advantage
• Less dependency on technology
• Robustness, Reliability and Security
• Bridging the Digital Divide within a Short Time
  Frame at a Low Cost
• Integration with Proprietary Software
• Potential for Development of Locally Relevant
  Software

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• Demands for Open Source

• Necessity of Standard Nepali Font
• Necessity of Nepali Web Solution.
• Necessity of Nepali Database.
• Necessity of Nepali Dictionary
• Necessity of Nepali Spell Checker.
• Necessity of Nepali Thesarus
• Operating System and Office Suite in Nepali
• Nepali Open Type Fonts for Windows and Linux /
  GNU Platforms

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OSS movement in Nepal

• Linux appeared in Nepal in the early 1994.
• Most of ISPs are using OSS like
• a. LINUX b. APACHE
• c. PHP d. MySQL
• d. Postgres SQL e. BIND
• f. SOVID f. SENDMAIL
• Scattered OSS developers needs to be unite to
  develop the IT society
• Ganesha's Project, a plan using donated machines
  and OSS like Linux, in a move to cut the costs of
  acquiring software licenses for an already
  impoverished school system' in Shree Bachhauli
  Secondary School.
• Linux User Group
• Unicode for Nepali Font (2003)
• Localization of OSS (NepaLinux, Nepali Dictionary
  and Nepa Open Office to be completed by July
  2005) under the PAN Localization Project.
• Microsoft Localize Nepali Windows

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OSS Policy in Nepal

• IT Policy 2004 states to encourage Open Source
  Software Development, Customization and
  Adaptation.
• No OSS policy till now.
• Formulate OSS Policy to
• Guarantee for the full interests of IT users.
• Motivating force for IT development.
• OSS and Standards - a door to penetrate and to
  integrate in IT World.
• Prepare Master Plan for Applying and Developing
  Open Source Software

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Nepal Open Source Programs

• Develop Human Resources in OSS
• Implement Open Source Curriculum in Schools,
  Colleges and Universities
• Encourage University Students on Open Source
  Researches.
• Open Source Project Competition
• Plan National Open Source Convention
• Awareness Program in OSS
• Encourage to use OSS in Government, Public and
  Private Organization
• Standardization of Computer Software Industries,
  Documentation and fonts
• Open Content promotion especially Local Content

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Promote OSS in Nepal

• Promote Open Source Software
• For achieving local language educational software
  
• To find appropriate and low cost solution for
  application
• Exchange and interactions among sources of
  information in the society and in the linkages
  with the world outside.
• Not for the sake of policy Against Proprietary
  Software (PS)

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Thank You