Towards an Expert Network in Open Standards and Open Source Software: Research, Expertise and Synergy for Open and Libres Standards and Software (RESOLL) - Version 2.0
CIRANO and its partners are proposing the creation of an Expert Network in Open Standards and Open Source Software (Research, Expertise and Synergy for Open and Libres Standards and Software-RESOLL), which would be a partnership between information technology research centres, government and private user organizations, and businesses working in the field. The network will conduct studies and pilot projects that integrate computer solutions based on open standards and open source software, mainly in e-government fields such as health, education, and scientific research, as well as municipal and quasi-public services and business processes for SMEs. The knowledge, expertise and tools thus developed will be disseminated in a number of ways in order to Quebec and Canadian expertise in the field. RESOLL will also have economic and strategic benefits in that it will put the new economic model to the test in terms of open standards and open source software as well as the reuse of software components by organizations. Background The development of on-line government services and e-business is a priority for governments and businesses of all sizes. It requires considerable spending and significant strategic and organizational changes. Of the many information technology solutions available, the use of open standards and open source software is often brought up by those in the know. Although the Internet and many world-renowned software programs were developed largely from open standards and open source software, there is still a need to study, and above all prove the advantages of this approach for public and quasi-public organizations as well as small to medium-sized businesses. It is essential to identify the needs of these organizations, document best practices, experiment with open source software solutions, evaluate the performance of the software and share the knowledge and know-how of Quebec and Canadian research centres and businesses. RESOLL Goals he main goal of the Expert Network on Open Standards and Open Source Software (RESOLL) is to give people an understanding of the benefits of open standards and open source software and suggest an intelligent and advantageous use of them for public and quasi-public organizations and SMEs. More specifically, the goals are as follows:
Document and share government and industry policies, strategies, and practices with respect to the use and development of adaptive software and open source software, defining open standards, open source software, adaptive software, and proprietary software;
Adapt these practices and share the different methods with partners and the IT management and development communities in government and business;
Establish innovative prototypes and pilot projects in order to test and demonstrate the advantages and features of this approach;
Develop the expertise of Quebec and Canadian organizations in the field and create synergy between them and their users; P
ublish and share the findings of the work, contribute to the enrichment of a collective software asset base available to public and quasi-public organizations and SMEs while explaining the legal issues involved in the various types of licences and electronic services.
Process ESOLL is a multilateral partnership founded on the excellence of partners in their respective field. The RESOLL process will be based on the needs of its partners and users. Once these needs have been identified, research will be conducted to identify available solutions, adapt them through an integration process and alpha test them. This would be followed by a pilot project as required by the organizations and businesses. The pilot project will be implemented and evaluated in order to learn from it and ensure that necessary adjustments are made. Solutions thus obtained will be implemented as electronic services either by the client organization’s IT department or by a business partner. It is up to each organization to select their service provider. RESOLL will encourage the transfer of developed tools and services to partners for complete autonomy. Each project will have its own budget, funded by client partners. RESOLL will use part of its operating budget to start projects and develop a start-up asset base for its activities. Expectations and Deliverables The expectations of RESOLL partners and the team can be expressed by the achievement of their goals. RESOLL’s actions will quickly lead to concrete results. The deliverables will be:
Policy and position papers to help partners make clear and informed decisions;
Needs analyses and suggested solutions;
Software solutions based on open standards and open source software integrated into experimental electronic services;
Pilot project experiments that combine strategies, plans, software solutions, project support, evaluation and recommendations;
Studies and interpretation documents for different types of licences and software;
Collaborative Web site for sharing documents and open source software developed in the context of RESOLL projects or available on the Internet, with comments and explanations;
Information and knowledge sharing activities for RESOLL and its partners (conferences, workshops, training, etc.).
Partners RESOLL is a multilateral partnership. The partners that have been asked to become involved are: CIRANO, CRIM, RISQ, the governments of Quebec and Canada, Industry Canada, university researchers, Canadian and Quebec software and information technology companies, and not-for-profit user organizations from the software and information technology fields. Budget ESOLL’s master infrastructure budget will make it possible to establish a small coordination team involving part-time resources seconded from their parent organizations. We plan to obtain general financing from government and the businesses involved. The individual projects will provide their own financing. Other Benefits RESOLL will contribute to Quebec’s and Canada’s world leadership by sharing the results of its work. It will contribute to the eventual creation of resources that will enable partner companies to commercialize services based on open source software.
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