Accelerated Adoption for Malaysian Public Sector Open Source Software (OSS) Program

Accelerated Adoption for Malaysian Public Sector Open Source Software (OSS) Program

Originated from cabinet decision of the Government of Malaysia, the Malaysian Public Sector OSS Master Plan was launched on 16 July 2004 to create and enhance value using OSS within the Public Sector ICT framework in providing efficient, secure and quality services. MAMPU was tasked to establish and operate the Open Source Competency Centre (OSCC), which is the single point of reference to guide, facilitate, coordinate and monitor implementation of OSS in the Public Sector.

OSS awareness has been a success in Phase I and the OSS Master Plan officially entered into Phase II - Accelerated Adoption on 12 June 2007 with full endeavor to accelerate OSS usage throughout the whole Public Sector nation wide.

A full eco-system to allow natural growth of demand and supply in OSS is targetted to be achieved in order to move forward to Phase III - Self Reliance in the near future.

Source : http://www.oscc.org.my/

Malaysia's schools get OpenOffice.org

Malaysia's schools get OpenOffice.org

By Victoria Ho, ZDNet Asia
27/08/2008

http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,62045435,00.htm

The Malaysian government has unveiled plans to roll out OpenOffice.org in schools across the nation--a move that will affect some 300,000 PCs.

Announced Wednesday by the chief minister of the state of Terengganu, the initiative will see all 467 schools in the Malaysian state using the open source office suite from January next year.

Some 100 schools in the state are already using OpenOffice.org, after the first phase of deployment began in January this year, according to a statement from the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU). MAMPU is a government agency that was set up to study the feasibility of implementing open source software in the public sector.

The decision was made based on case studies of other government agencies in the country, which have had successful implementations, Khairil Yusof, a MAMPU spokesperson, told ZDNet Asia in an e-mail interview.

Noting that increased security and knowledge-sharing were some of the positive findings of these case studies, Yusof said: "[The] open source deployments were not affected by viruses. The case studies also highlighted that staff were able to build their skills and knowledge due to the wealth of free information and tutorials associated with open source technologies available on the Internet."

The savings on licensing costs were an added draw for the government's decision to embark on open source deployments. MAMPU said: "Combined, [government agencies] have saved millions of ringgit for licensing fees [with the] expenditure now spent [elsewhere] to provide better public services."

Already an open source supporter
Yusof noted that open source software is not new to Malaysia's government agencies. Melaka, Kedah, Pahang and Sabah have adopted OpenOffice.org--with Melaka and Kedah at the forefront having done so since 2003, he said.

Overall, 281 agencies nationwide have adopted open source software, according to MAMPU.

"The migration at the agencies in which MAMPU has assisted, have had positive results," Yusof added, citing successful implementations at the Ministry of Human Resources and Meteorology Department as examples.

"The Ministry of Human Resources has migrated over 2,000 users with very few problem reports To date, over 10,000 seats in over 15 agencies have fully migrated [to open source software]," he said.

He noted that news of the move to OpenOffice.org has caught some by surprise, because of the lack of fanfare accompanying each deployment.

"Some have been [involved] since 2003 with little information shared [publicly]... [so, it seems as if] suddenly [people] are finding out that entire states are moving [to open source]," Yusof said.

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Malaysian Government launches new initiatives for increased Open Source and OpenOffice.org deployment in public sector and schools

http://blog.harisfazillah.info/2008/08/malaysian-government-launches-new.html

OSCC MAMPU Unofficial Archive Web Site

OSCC MAMPU unofficial Archive Web Site

OSCC MAMPU
http://www.oscc.org.my/

Knowledge Bank OSCC MAMPU
http://knowledge.oscc.org.my/