Open Data portal to ease citizens undertake data-driven initiatives

A National Open Data portal is currently being developed to house and provide links to the datasets of Government agencies in an open format. The objective is to empower citizens and businesses to carry out data-driven initiatives such as development of mobile apps, data analysis, creation of innovative products and research..

The Minister of Technology, Communication and Innovation, Mr Yogida Sawmynaden, made this announcement on Thursday at Le Méridien Hotel in Pointe aux Piments at the opening of a two-day workshop on Open Source for Enterprises – Licensing, Standards and Legal issues. The workshop, organised at the initiative of the National Computer Board (NCB), is conducted by Mr Malcom Bain, International Open Source legal expert and owner of the ID law partners, Barcelona, Spain.

In his address, the Minister stated that by opening up data through the Open Data portal, Government is advocating transparency, public service improvement, innovation and efficiency.  He recalled that Government has decided to set up a Free Open Source Society for Mauritius (FOSSM) to advise on the adoption of OSS guidelines, policies, standards and inter-operability frameworks.

The FOSSM will be a joint public and private sector initiative responsible to steer the implementation of the National Open Source Action Plan  NOSAP) which was elaborated in 2015.  A National Open Source Excellence and Competency Centre is already operational at the NCB which acts as the executing agency for the implementation of the NOSAP.

According to the Minister, NOSAP presents a long term plan to bring in depth changes in the ICT ecosystem and implement the Open Source Software (OSS) Programme so as to support the OSS transition of Mauritius.

Open Source

Open source is everywhere and a lot of businesses and professionals are adopting such a system. By stimulating innovation in the field of technology it becomes increasingly accessible with the collaborative nature of open source.

OSS is computer software with its source code made available with a licence in which the copyright holder provides the rights to study, change, and distribute the software to anyone and for any purpose.  OSS may be developed in a collaborative public manner.