Articles tagged ‘r&d’

There is increasing recognition that when governments sponsor basic research they spawn a virtuous cycle between government, industry and academia. This interaction between players can result in technology leadership that has interesting and beneficial consequences for social and economic growth. But great technology does not just spontaneously appear out of a vacuum.

To ensure growth of a nation's digital economy, government information technology policy must foster innovation and openness. But good technology is not enough. Government policy must also promote an economic framework that enables good business practices.

Governments are in the cross hairs of the forces of globalization. For everyone to benefit fairly, governments in the developing world must adopt an information technology policy that balances the interests of international trade and collaboration with increased self-reliance and knowledge creation.

Governments should utilize Information Technology (IT) procurement policy to help achieve transparency, competition, measurement and efficiency in the purchasing process. A policy which incorporates open source as a choice for solutions complements the role of standards. Open source and open standards together can help strengthen a framework for procuring and delivering solutions to meet the needs of government.

“Price-slashing” by monopolistic proprietary software companies masks the high costs customers still unwittingly pay. And when this rip-off is endorsed by governments and industry leaders, the digital divide can only widen.

IBM, C-DAC and IIT-Bombay team up to invest Rs 50 million in an Open Source Software Resource Center (OSSRC) in India.

Three IT powerhouses — IBM India, C-DAC and IIT-Bombay — entered into an alliance in October 2004 to set up the Open Source Software Resource Center (OSSRC), the first of its kind in India.

Governments are choosing Open Source Software (OSS) to encourage competition while keeping costs low and quality high - so let’s examine what OSS is all about.

India is not alone in its efforts to determine the role government should play in balancing the advantages and disadvantages of open source vs proprietary software. But, because of a traditional lack of infrastructure and the availability of “discounted” proprietary packages, India faces some unique challenges in building up the strength of its local software industry.