by Seminar on GNU/Linux initiatives in e-Governance applications
June 20,2003 at Hyatt Regency, Kolkata
By Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay
On a rain-swept day, WEBEL and WBEIDC in association IBM,RedHat,Express
Computers held a seminar at the Hyatt Regency to explore the various
e-governance initiatives. On the occassion, a commemorative CD containing
the various whitepapers was released by the MIC-IT, Govt of West Bengal Sri
Manabendra Mukherjee. The welcome address was presented by Chairman WBEIDC
and it set the tone for the evening to 'explore the various facets of FLOSS
especially GNU/Linux in the government sector'.
On the same day IBM had signed a MOU with the state government on
implementing e-governance solutions, and Frank Luksic's (Country Manager,
IBM Software India)keynote address reflected IBM's committment to the FLOSS
movement by emphasizing the various core competencies of the business giant.
Sri Manabendra Mukherjee presented the viewpoint of the Government with
regard to the FLOSS implementations and ramifications for the e-governance
initiatives. While admitting the visible reduction in cost centres, he
stressed on the need of the government to implement 'stable solutions' and
thus urged to developer community to provide such environment.
The seminar was divided into 3 technical sessions each aimed at presenting
the various aspects of the GNU/Linux movement with special reference to the
ground-level issues.
Technical Session I - chaired by Mr Sumit Mutsuddi (Exec. Director, WBEIDC)
Prof A B Samaddar (B E College,Shibpur) presented a paper on Linux for
e-governance in West Bengal. Touching on the by now familiar issues of
reduction of cost centres as well as stable software applications, he
concluded by stating that PDSIT, Shibpur was uniquely positioned to further
the implementation by virtue of its wide area of expertise. Dr Lalit Yagnik
(Director, IBM) presented the IBM Software Group's Linux Perspective by
including the various business cases in which the software group was
involved globally as well as pointing out the possible areas where such
competencies could be leveraged. Shubham Mishra (Starcom) talked on the core
issues of OpenSource implementation with special reference to the Company's
business cases and core solution sets.
Technical Session II - chaired by Dr Subir Roy (Director, NIC)
Javed Tapia (Director, RedHat India)provided a breezy presentation (time was
at a premium and speakers were asked to compress their talks to 12 minutes)
on the significance of Linux for Enterprise Computing. Pointing out the
obvious successful presence of RedHat in the enterprise domain, he dispelled
fears and misconceptions about the suitability and scalability of RedHat
offerings. He also touched on the concept of Localisation of the OS, by
pointing out that the Hindi version would be released soon. Sachin Dabir
(Head - Enterprise Sales, RedHat India) extrapolated on the earlier
presentation by discussing the challenges faced by organisations during
OS/application migration and the solutions offered by RedHat India. Prof
Sushanta Sen (University of Calcutta) provided an insight into the
e-governance status in WestBengal in his talk titled "e-Gov in WB: the
penguin Professor Advantage".
Technical Session III - chaired by S Ramakrishnan (Sr. Director, MCIT Govt
of India)
The session showcased the efforts by the various departments of the
WestBengal government to implement GNU/Linux based solutions. The
presentations included :
1. Linux Initiative at Pollution Control Board (Online Realtime information)
presented by Mr U Mukherjee, Sr Scientist, Pollution Control Board
2. Web Based Online Reservation System of the Tourism Department and a case
study presented by Mr U N Nandy, Dy Secy, Tourism Dept and Ms S Mukherjee,
WBEIDC
3. Case Study and Fund Monitoring System presented by Dr M N Roy (IAS),
Principal Secy P & RD Dept, Mr Anup Dutta, WBEIDC
The session roundup was done with the Managing Director of WBEIDC stating
that BFSI - the last bastion of proprietary OS has also been recently
breached. The future for FLOSS is thus indeed promising.
Mr D P Patra (IAS), Secy IT Dept Govt of West Bengal stressed on the need to
dispell myths and fears surrounding GNU/Linux by emphasizing on the
ease-of-use features as well as the maturity level attained by the OS.
Coupled with the plethora of applications and software available for the OS,
he talked about the need to build up a strong and vibrant support base.
The seminar was well attended with delegates having prior exposure to
GNU/Linux or FLOSS based systems. As the movement has attained critical mass
in the state, the effort on the part of WBEIDC and WEBEL are appreciated.
Perhaps a further summit involving technical experts and members of local
user communities along with software developers and goverment participants
will help to put a stronger case for the Free/Libre Open Source Software
model for the future.
--
Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay is a <http://www.fsf.org.in> Free Software
enthusiast and a member of <http://www.ilug-cal.org>Indian Linux Users
Group-Kolkata. His personal weblog is <http://sankarshan.blogspot.com>
Random Thoughts and he can be reached at <sankarshanmukhopadhyay at
vsnl.net>.
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