House Bill 5679 or the Free Open Source Software (FOSS) Act of 2006, filed by Congressman Teodoro Casino, seeks to mandate government agencies and public schools to use FOSS instead of proprietary software.
The bill, scheduled for hearing in Congress this week, also requires the Commission on ICT (CICT) to enforce migration from proprietary to FOSS, and also suggests non-fiscal incentives to private businesses that adhere to it.
According to Casino and FOSS advocates, government and small businesses will benefit from using low-cost software. They also expect this to level the playing field for local software companies against bigger and foreign competitors.
But in a position paper e-mailed by PSIA president Fermin Taruc, PSIA said the proposed bill -- through 'promotion of one technology platform or business model over the other' -- hampers innovation and creativity within the local software industry.
It pointed out that local software companies employ and diverse range of technology platforms and develop products using both open-source and proprietary software.
'Informed choice'
In its statement, PSIA said: 'We believe that both users and developers of software should have the freedom of choice as to which technology can best address their unique business needs and requirements. In this sense, technology is only a tool and not an end in itself. As anyone running a business will attest, the point is never the tool itself but the business requirement it seeks to address.'
Advocating a single technology platform over another is ''short-sighted, myopic and a disservice to both users and developers of software as well as to the Filipino people, whose best interests are compromised by limiting the technology options from which to choose to serve their requirements', according to PSIA.
On government's goal of optimizing the use of technology, PSIA listed down the following points:
-- Government needs to spend more time defining its information system requirements and the evaluation criteria which will determine which solution and technology platform can best serve such requirements.
-- Government's procurement processes must be examined and modified to ensure a fair, transparent and rational technology selection process. This will lead to healthy competition among providers ensuring that government is able to choose the best and most appropriate solutions to meet its requirements.
-- Government has no business or expertise mandating the use of one technology platform over the other. Government's role is to partner with the private sector in providing the environment and business framework in which innovation, creativity and freedom of 'informed choice' can thrive, especially in the area of technology which is characterized by dynamism and disruptive change.
Compromising growth
PSIA also urged the government to consider the industry's role in generating revenues and employment. In 2005, PSIA member firms (which number about 50 companies) accounted for over US$200 million in earnings and employing more than 14,000 workers.
The group aims to increase these figures to $1 billion and 100,000, respectively by year 2010.
'However, our achievement of these targets will be a function of our ability to offer the global market diverse, flexible and scalable skill sets across various technology platforms,' PSIA said.
House Bill 5769, according to the group, compromises this ability in several ways by discouraging a level playing field in which various technology providers can compete and establish an experience and revenue base in the domestic market.
Moreover, by discouraging collaboration with private sector software companies, PSIA said this restricts schools from providing training opportunities and limits students from acquiring skills sets required by the market.
PSIA urged proponents of the bill to consider its implications, saying, 'We should focus on common interests and not positions. Mandating a technology platform over all others is a position. Ensuring that government agencies and the Filipino people are able to optimize their technology choices in is an interest we all share.'