http://www.tacticaltech.org Tactical Technology Collective
Powerful tools for the daily work of NGOs NGO-in-a-box offers a set of reviewed and selected Free and Open Source software (F/OSS), tailored to the needs of NGO's. It provides them not only with software, but also with implementation scenarios and relevant materials to support this. Its aim is to increase the accessibility of F/OSS to non-profits in developing and transition countries. The box is targeted at implementers working with small and medium scale NGOs, IT intermediaries (eRiders, consultants, trainers, technical supporters), system administrators of non-profits, and self-taught specialists helping civil society organizations on a voluntary basis. With this box they should be ready to promote and implement different F/OSS solutions for NGOs in their respective situations. Historically and until a few years ago, NGO's had to rely almost entirely on 'closed', proprietary software for their organizations. With the upcoming and increasing popularity of Free and Open Source Software and especially with the fast development of that software in terms of usability and quality, this has begun to change in the recent past. Many nonprofits for a number of good reasons are now considering the "Open Source" alternative: Although the true cost of Free Software is a bit more than its initial purchase price, compared to proprietary software it is still very low. The free (re-)distribution and upgrades of this software, together with a often much higher security and stability are two other important factors. Plus, the open source code (from here the term "Open Source") permits modifications by everyone who is capable of programming including the publishing of the changes. Both commercial and academic sectors have recognized these advantages time ago and are using FS mostly for their network and web servers. Meanwhile Free Software is also widely used on individual desktop computers. With this, Free and Open Source software has become reachable also for most NGO's which are well-known for their often limited resources in terms of manpower, time (for trainings) and money (e.g. for technical support). Meanwhile there is a big variety of Free/Open Source software available. The landscape is so diverse that overview and orientation have become central needs - especially for those who have little time for searching and testing new software. Whilst existing F/OSS solutions have the potential to offer non-profits a viable alternative to the proprietary model, there are still a number of challenges when it comes to practical adaptation. These challenges can be broken down into those that effect non-profits and those that specifically effect developing and transition countries. In the case of developing and transition countries, downloading software from the web can be at best difficult and at worst impossible due to a lack of consistent and high speed internet access. When available locally, off-line distributions and software are often out of date or limited to specific types. Besides this, the transfer of new technologies is often slowed down by lack of local language information and small user communities. Plus, both documentation and implementation guides are often not available off-line or in local languages and where available,they're written in a highly technical language. Generally speaking, there is a lack of elementary knowledge about methods and procedures for implementing FOSS. 'Free' (because pirated) versions of proprietary software often are easily accessible, limiting interest in FOSS as a solution for NGOs. In the case of non-profits, implementation and maintenance of Free and Open Source solutions can often need intermediaries, as the software has not yet reached everywhere the level offered by proprietary solutions (i.e. ease of installation and inter compatibility). Non-profits often don't have the budgetary allocations for technical support and find it difficult to fundraise and justify such investments - including technical consultancies about which software would best meet the NGO's needs. Plus, many FOSS solutions address very technical needs and are often developed by geeks for geeks. There are real disadvantages here as many NGO's could often benefit a lot from these solutions, if they only new about their existence. NGO-in-a-box attempts to provide a solution to some of these issues, such as physical distribution (e.g. at events like Summer Source) and access to software and materials, whilst mitigating others, such as facilitating the software selection process faced by grassroots intermediaries. The hope is that NGO-in-a-box can become a vehicle and a channel for accessing F/OSS much more easily, removing some of the opacity associated with this and overcoming practical difficulties. Its aim is to do so through building the tools and skills of grassroots technology support and connecting them to complimentary initiatives with common goals. >From concept to product: Summer Source in Croatia The first version of NGO-in-a-box was realised in Croatia during the Summer Source workshop, held in September 2003 <http://www.tacticaltech.org/summersource>. That workshop brought together F/OSS developers, NGO activists and implementers whose role is to help NGOs use and benefit from information technologies. On the small island of Vis, about 3h off the Croatian coast, over 90 people from 35 countries came together for a week of learning and knowledge sharing. At this event, the first version of 'NGO-in-a-box was set up as a very simple proof of concept box, providing 'homemade' burns of various F/OSS distributions, tools and resources in a cardboard box, accompanied with an explanation. A small factory of CD burners was set up on the Island. Participants requests were collected and bespoke boxes were created for each of them to take home. Details of this collection can be found at http://www.tacticaltech.org/ngoinabox/original. The content of the first NGO in a box was driven by the demand of participants at Summer Source, each reflecting their different countries and working contexts. The resulting set of CD's included major Linux distributions, software brought by participants themselves (e.g. Martus, Dynebolic), software downloaded on request, like CMS applications and security packages, plus various forms of documentation and materials created during the workshop. In the follow up to the workshop, participants consistently stated that this 'take-home' was one of the most useful and practical things they took away with them from the event. On the Summer Source discussion list and in the summaries of activities post-camp, colleagues from Brazil to Belarus reported how useful this resource was when they returned home, They reinforced the need for a continuation of such an initiative, in particular the reasons were: * they could carry it with them to NGOs and copy when necessary; * all of the tools were used before by peers from the known community of the workshop; * for the participants it was an updated collection of tools in one place that could be applied to different circumstances as a product and thus allowed to promote FOSS within the groups they work with. The feedback on this first version of NGO-in-a-box and subsequent discussions in the field showed the need for a simple/low-tech procedure that will help implementers, developers and activists from countries without efficient IT infrastructure to implement and adapt F/OSS solutions locally. It also re-emphasised the need for easy access to tools, materials and methodologies for people to find and use in their day to day work. A versatile tool, growing with the feedback of its users: NGO-in-a-Box at Africa Source The second release of NGO-in-a-box was compiled during Africa Source; the African F/OSS developers meeting, in Namibia, mid-March 2004 <http://www.tacticaltech.org/africasource>. As in the Summer Source version, a variety of distributions and software solutions were selected. The range was intended to provide grassroots intermediaries in Africa with a selection of tools which meet the needs of non-profits they work with; from working with refurbished computers to newly donated equipment and from handling streaming media use to using F/OSS over Windows. The developers present at the first Africa Source event in Namibia acted as a review and development community for a second, African version of NGO-in-a-box. Refining the selection and adapting it will meet African needs and priorities. What does NGO-in-a-box contain? A general description of the contents is here A detailed description of the applications is here Future plan and developments In its current phase, NGO-in-a-box is an event-driven product, oriented to a focused community. Its value is in its role as a vehicle for access and peer recommendation, its content adapting to user needs in each version. In order for this to work as a concept outside of 'Source events' the issue of how to disseminate boxes and how to maintain its adaptive quality is a central one. In order to continue answering the needs of NGO based IT implementers and NGO activists, one solution would be to take advantage of the do-it-yourself (DIY) nature in which it has evolved and to continue its development in the grassroots environment. Through establishing a community of regional point people who would drive the growth of the resource, it may be possible to not only maintain its flexibility and continious reinvention, but also to overcome physical distribution challenges. These local 'distribution points' may be internet training/access centers, eRider projects or other established non-profit technology support providers. The idea would be to use the regional nature of these 'nodes' to localise the box and provide language and context specific materials and resources. At the same time, if these regional nodes of the NGO-in-a-box community could be connected they could act as a review and recommendation group, sharing experiences and knowledge on using and developing the boxes and providing each other with relevant NGO case studies. The key to achieving this would be in developing and maintaining a well established network of locally based partners. Some questions which remain are, would the draw for this community be enough for sustained involvement? And how could the box develop in the future to become more NGO specific, providing solutions for activities such as security monitoring, advocacy, organising and campaigning. For more information or in order to obtain a copy of NGO-in-a-box, please contact us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tactical Technology Collective © 2004 | Site by Floatleft ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frederick Noronha (FN) Nr Convent Saligao 403511 GoaIndia Freelance Journalist P: 832-2409490 M: 9822122436 http://fn.swiki.net http://fn-floss.notlong.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://goabooks.swiki.net * Reviews of books on Goa... and more ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
