Allums will walk attendees thought the new document including:

• US Government policy guidance regarding use of Open Source Software (OSS)
• Issues unique to federal agencies distributing OSS
• OSS copyright licensing and contractual considerations for the US Government
• Advantages and Disadvantages to federal agencies using OSS as an alternative to proprietary technologies.

Hope you can join me at GOSCON this week and not miss these important milestones in the evolution of information technology within the US Government.

http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dfj65hxm_1404gk5kchg

Last week I posted the transcript of Marcos Vinicius Ferreira Mazoni comments addressing the International Open ICT Summit at GOSCON on the sustained government initiative in Brazil to use free open source software and open standards.  Mazoni’s encouragement to increase the dialog between countries resonated with participants in Portland and those joining by video conference, representing a half dozen continents.

The original video is now available in Portuguese, with English subtitles and runs five minutes.

The one of the early pioneers of community source model is Dr. Brad Wheeler at Indiana University.  In late 2006 the Open Source Lab management team interviewed him by video conference to extract some advice for others on creating governance for a community source project.  I came across the resulting  debrief and thought I’d put it somewhere it could be shared more broadly.  Here it is for download:

“Community Source” Project Governance:
The Sakai Project as a Potential Reference Model for Public Sector Community Source Development

I think it’s valuable to consider that the model of shared development suggest benefits beyond sharing the cost and resulting application, such as sharing business practices and processes, knowledge base and documentation.  But I digress.  We’ll share more from the experts from our Open Government Collaboratives 2008 panel as soon as we get the conference media through GOSCON post-production.

I promised to share information on the webcast when it became available.  Here it is:

Government Open Source Conference (GOSCON),  Oregon State University

and the World Bank’s e-Development Thematic Group

invite you to join via live webcast a
videoconferenced Global Dialogue between Portland, Washington DC, Moscow,
Colombo, Dakar, Accra, Kigali and Brasilia on:

The Impact of Open Source Software on Transforming Government

12:00 – 3:00 pm (Washington DC time), October 20, 2008

LIVE WEBCAST: http://www.worldbank.org/edevelopment/live

Preregistration is recommended at the webcast site.

See web site for participating speakers.

Event Abstract: Government transformation and information and communication technology
dignitaries from around the world will convene in person and via video
conference for a Global Dialogue on “The Impact of Open Source Software on
Transforming Government”. The discussion will include 6 countries on five
continents, presenting a range of initiatives, opportunities and experience on a
range topics which are of critical importance to governments everywhere.  This
executive panel represents an outstanding global, non-technical  view of the
impact of Open Source Software based on their direct experience. The workshop
will explore both the business case and real-world applications for open
technology to deliver the next generation of government services. The US has
valuable experience in open source software development, at the federal, local
and academic level. The speakers assembled in Oregon will provide a very rich
base for the policy dialogue with policy makers from our client countries. This
is also a great opportunity for South-South dialogue on this important topic for
governments worldwide.

All materials will be available on the GOSCON web site.

About e-Development Thematic Group

e-Development Thematic Group is a global forum and community of professionals
interested in the role of ICT in development,  open for participation by both
World Bank staff and external clients and partners. The e-TG is hosted by Global
ICT Dept in collaboration with ISG, WBI, PREM, and other partners. Visit us at
http://www.worldbank.org/edevelopment to download materials for this and all
previous e-development seminars (over 120 since 2001). Watch some of the recent
events sponsored by the e-Development Thematic Group if you missed them (with
links to videos, slides, speaker profiles, exclusive interviews, background
materials etc.)

ICT Applications for the Public Sector http://go.worldbank.org/YLBJQROJZ0
Government Enterprise Architecture as Enabler of Public Sector Reform
http://go.worldbank.org/NNEZOTX020
Next-Generation Organizational Models for e-Government
http://go.worldbank.org/2LA3GGGEA0
India’s Emergence as a Global IT Player: The Role of NASSCOM
http://go.worldbank.org/B6DF3R8L60
The Potential of Global Sourcing of Services for Growth
http://go.worldbank.org/QFF0GUTSF0

Although a press release certainly isn’t a peer-reviewed paper, it does reflect and validate what us government folks have known for some time; government agencies have been earlier-than-usual adopter of open source and are using it extensively.  This according to the Open Source Census project.  Their initial data points suggest that government agencies are amongst the largest users of open source software, if not the biggest. From the release:

Initial Data Points From The Open Source Census
…this initial set of data, which is expected to grow over time as more computers are scanned, shows:

I like this project and encourage signing up to increase participation.

Here’s the press release in full:

Open Source Census Tracks Enterprise Use of Open Source Globally

Initial Census Data Shows Highest Use of Open Source Software in Europe, Within Financial Services and Government Agencies

BROOMFIELD, Colo. September 30, 2008 – The Open Source Census, a global, collaborative project to collect and share quantitative data on the use of open source software, today announced in just six months more than 300,000 open source package/project installations have been discovered.

“We’re excited about the growing pool of data The Open Source Census is collecting,” said Kim Weins, senior vice president of products and marketing at OpenLogic. “By participating, these enterprises, for the first time and at no cost, are able to identify what open source software is already installed on their computers and benchmark themselves against others in their industry. The Open Source Census publishes aggregated information to show emerging trends in open source usage. In fact, early results show interesting patterns that parallel trends in our paid customer base, such as high open source usage within financial services companies. The open source adoption data from the Census helps enterprises to evaluate open source options that can reduce IT costs.”

Initial Data Points From The Open Source Census
The Open Source Census continues to uncover interesting trends on the global use of open source software. Launched just six months ago, this initial set of data, which is expected to grow over time as more computers are scanned, shows:

For more information about The Open Source Census, please visit osscensus.org.

About The Open Source Census
The Open Source Census is a global, collaborative project to collect and share quantitative data on the use of open source software in enterprise. Founded by OpenLogic, the Open Source Census has a number of sponsors including OpenLogic and IDC. The Open Source Census initiative has open source tools designed to scan individual enterprise computers for all installed open source software. The results of these scans can then be contributed anonymously to the Open Source Census, where the aggregate data is published.

Founding members include: IDC; CollabNet; Holme, Roberts & Owen LLP; Navica; Olliance Group; Open Solutions Alliance; Open Source Business Foundation; and Unisys. Microsoft and Oregon State University Open Source Lab are additional sponsors. “Friends of The Open Source Census” include ActiveState, EnterpriseDB and OSAlt.com. Finally, the Open Source Census also solicits advice from community leaders, including Jim Jagielski, Chairman of the Apache Foundation and Tony Wasserman, Director, Software Management Program at Carnegie Mellon West.

About OpenLogic
OpenLogic is a leading provider of open source solutions that enable enterprises to safely acquire, support, and control open source software. OpenLogic provides enterprises with a certified library of open source software that encompasses hundreds of the most popular open source packages via OpenLogic Exchange (OLEX), a free web site where companies can find, research, and download certified, enterprise-ready open source packages on demand. With the broadest open source coverage in the industry, OpenLogic offers indemnification; updates; and enterprise-grade technical support backed by the OpenLogic Expert Community. OpenLogic also provides solutions for open source governance and to automate the integration and deployment of open source components — reducing the risk and maximizing the cost savings associated with using open source software. For more on OpenLogic, go to www.openlogic.com.

I’ve had numerous calls recently asking me about the (to simplify) open source version of PBX software, Asterisk.  Several years ago the State of Oregon extensively tested and deployed an Asterisk server, then later developed several cost-effective applications on the platform which their agency customer could not have otherwise afforded. They wrote up a brief case study on their experience, so I thought I’d post it here for sharing. Kudos to the Department of Administrative Services, Data and Video Services for being ahead of their time on this one. Today, numerous governmental agencies have deployed Asterisk. Here in Oregon, that includes the Portland Metropolitan Service District.

Here’s the text sans the helpful graphics included in the original document:

State of Oregon
Open Source Application Use in the Enterprise

Case Study: Asterisk used to create powerful audio conferencing service
For large Agency user.

Background:

Data and Video Services (DVS), a business section within the Information Resources Management Division (IRMD) offers a wide variety of audio and video services to state agencies and other public service, educational, or other non-profit groups. DVS has just recently begun to offer an audio conferencing service with recording. The service offers users a cost effective solution for audio conferencing, Audio/video conferencing and audio session recording.

DVS has worked closely with many of the groups who are using the conferencing service to make sure that special user needs be met to satisfy their business requirements.

One of the largest subscribers to the conferencing services is the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH). The OAH hears the contested cases of almost 80 agencies, including unemployment insurance, motor vehicle licensing, social services, licensing boards and commissions, forestry, environmental quality, agriculture, child support, and many others.

The OAH conducts an average of 500 hearings a week via audio conference. Hearings are scheduled for either 1½ or 2 hour time blocks and vary in size from 3 to 6 participants.

Data and Video Services worked with the Hearings group to develop a service that met the following criteria:
• 150 ports available on the audio bridge. The service would allow up to 150 concurrent ports to be used in any combination of conference events.
• Set up different blocks of numbers (both toll and toll-free) to allow OAH to correctly bill back to appropriate program groups.
• Match audio conference access codes to OAH case numbers.
• Bilingual IVR greeting and conference access messages.
• An automated centralized digital recording system to replace existing manual tape recordings that administrative law judges were making on site.
• Web-based recording management. The system would allow judges to start and stop recording sessions and verify that their conference was being recorded.
• An automated uploading process to transfer recordings to a designated OAH file repository. The transfer process needed to include a checksum process to verify that the file transfer was successfully accomplished and to ensure that the original hearing recording file had not been altered.
• The option of adding video endpoint to conferences in the future.

Before the advent of the automated recording and transfer process the OAH Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) conducted hearings using their PBX built-in conference features and recording using a desktop phone recording system. While functional, the system was not able to grow to match the OAH’s needs. By utilizing a combination of existing conference bridge infrastructure and open source software, DVS was able to provide a feature-rich centralized solution for minimal expense.

OAH Conference Service without automated Recording

Initially, DVS provided only audio conferencing services. The service was created by utilizing a Radvision Gateway to perform IVR and TDM-to-H.323 conversion. The conferences were—and still are—being created on Radvision ViaIP bridges.

The OAH Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) continued to manually record every conference and send the tapes in for archiving and transcription, but the judges and hearing participants called in to a scheduled DVS conference bridge to conduct the hearing

As conference use continued to grow the OAH asked DVS if it was possible to add additional features, most notable central recording, to the service. DVS investigated commercial solutions that could have offered the additional features, but was not able to find a product on the market that could integrate into the existing infrastructure cost-effectively. Consequently, DVS developed an internal solution based on the open source Asterisk voice over IP system and coupled it with existing Cisco Call Manager resources.

Building a Custom Solution

DVS engineering staff conducted an initial search to determine if there was an available commercial product that would meet the criteria for centralized recording and monitoring services and that could be easily scaled up to meet future recording demand. We were not able to find a commercial offering that was able to satisfy these criteria.

Staff then researched the open source market, and were quite pleased to find, after conducting a series of tests, that the Asterisk VOIP PBX software provided a very cost effective, flexible, and scalable solution for centralized recording and monitoring services.

Changes were also made to the media termination (TDM-to-H.323) and IVR system along with development of recording and monitoring functions via the Asterisk PBX. These changes needed to be made to accommodate growth of the audio conferencing and recording service and to provide a method to more easily address IVR message tree complexity and conference security features.
The Asterisk server is being used to create digital recordings of the hearings, to FTP completed hearing files to a designated OAH file server, and to provide Judges with the ability to start and stop recordings as well as monitor conference recording status during a conference via a web interface.

A Cisco Call Manager has replaced the Radvision gateway and is being used to provide PSTN media termination, expanded IVR functionality, and conference security.

Process Description: What’s Going On

• The Cisco Call manager provides the PSTN termination and the IVR functions (using Cisco IPCC) and the Call Manager is routing participants to the MCU via an H.323 stream.
• The Asterisk system provides the recording and file transfer features. To initiate a recording, the ALJ dials into a specified phone number that rings through the Call Manager infrastructure to the Asterisk server. The ALJ enters their conference code into the Asterisk IVR and the Asterisk server attaches a recording process to the call and connects the call back through the Call Manager to the MCU via H.323.
• When the conference ends, the Asterisk server creates a checksum and transfers the recording and the checksum files to a repository on a server on the OAH network.

DVS staff developed a web-based interface using Apache and PHP. The web interface is installed on the Asterisk server and allows the ALJ to stop, start, and verify the status of the recording. The Asterisk Manager API serves as the interface between PHP and the Asterisk server.

The communication path into and out of the Asterisk server uses a PRI interface. This particular method was chosen after testing showed that SIP traffic put too great a load on the Call Manager servers and there were unacceptable dropouts occurring with calls using the H.323 stack.

The Final Analysis

The Asterisk VOIP PBX provided the perfect solution that allowed DVS to craft a custom service that we could not find in a commercial product. Parts of the service existed but were prohibitively expensive, and other automated recording and storage features did not exist. The PBX is very robust, has performed extremely well in a production environment, and has provided the kind of flexibility and extensibility to allow DVS staff to easily develop the necessary processes and interfaces to offer a reliable, easy to use, inexpensive, centralized recording function as part of the DVS audio conferencing service.

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One of the local government stories (success and challenge) we’d hoped to see at GOSCON this year was from the City of Northglenn, Colorado.  Christine Martinez,  formerly a systems analyst there, can’t join us this year but she was kind enough to share her slide set on that city’s extensive use of open source software which she presented last year at the 2007 National Association of Government Webmasters Conference held in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

The project list covered in the presentation includes:

• Joomla! CMS (and custom supporting applications)
• PHPSurveyor
• WebDocs
• PHPLists
• NGDIS (Northglenn Document Imaging System)
• Police Bulletin Board

It’s no secret I’m a big fan of E-Government.  Northglenn’s out-the-box thinking netted web services to city employees that they could use without the IT department’s intervention.  And how many small towns have a document imaging system?  If you’re living in a small town, government transparency by way of the Internet depends on the webmaster’s work load and vacation schedule.  Good Content Management Systems (CMS) make it easy for non-technical public service employees to share  what’s up at your seat of government.  Impressive and resourceful.

You can view the presentation on GoogleDocs.

My first Flick Pick of the Week is the Executive Panel on Open Document Formats. It may be a bit backwards to start with the closing panel, but this topic will change soon enough so we didn’t want to sit on it too long. In fact since the panel was taped, the OpenDocument Foundation, which made news by taking a position for a different format altogether, has retired as an entity.

Participants included Adobe’s James King; IBM’s Arnaud LeHors; Microsoft’s Jason Matusow; OpenDocument Foundation’s Paul “Buck” Martin; and Sun Microsystems’ Douglas Johnson. Thanks again to the panelists. (I’m sorry Jason has been swamped but the other four panelists were able take time to weigh in on questions that had been collected from the audience but not always fully answered during the limited time at the conference.)

The GOSCON site provides the slide set, video and an open discussion thread (the latter a first for the conference web site – we shall see.) Mo info mo betta; you be the judge.

The top rationale for not adopting open-source software was organizational reluctance to change, according to the survey. This reflects my experience in early forays into the desktop arena in Oregon, as an example, where a pilot in a large agency netted positive technical and cost results, but management was dread to manage the inevitable reaction to change by personnel, trumping other benefits.

If you are interested in the base-line survey conducted by the FOSA, which is an industry partnership of HP, Intel and Red Hat, you may…

• read more about it in a recent Computer World article
• visit the FOSA web site to see the survey results (registration is required) or
• read about the results in FOSA Press Release.