The State of Kedah moves to OpenOffice.org

A case study submitted to the Open Source Competency Center by the Center of Information Technology, Office of the Chief Minister and State Secretary of Kedah, has indicated that OpenOffice.org has been installed in 70% of the computers in the Kedah state government agencies. There are currently 2,202 installed seats and by the looks of it, the numbers will just keep rising!

For the convenience of international readers, here is a translation in English of the case study (original was in the Malay language):

Project Objective

OpenOffice.org as office productivity software (1 PC - 1 copy of OpenOffice.org)

OSS Technology Used

OpenOffice.org

Desktop software is the main software for all computers of the officers and office staff. It is not specific to groups of officers or specific staff. The need and requests for desktop software has increased in line with the additional computers provided.

From cost analysis performed, 25% of the purchase cost of a computer is allocated for the purchase of desktop software which is Microsoft Office, where it should should be licensed according to the number of units purchased.

Taking into account the state government's financial allocation restrictions, cost saving measures have been implemented through the use of desktop software applications which is OpenOffice.org. It was first introduced in the year 2003 in several stages through the annual supply of computers for several departments. Purchase control was performed at the State Secretary Office (Kedah Information Technology Center).

Training courses under the State Public Sector ICT Cultivation Program was conducted along with the purchase controls noted above. Other  then email and Internet courses, OpenOffice.org was among the main modules for which training courses were given.

Project Specification

Each new computer provided by the State Government is only supplied with desktop software which is OpenOffice.org for the purposes of administration work by officers and departmental staff.

OpenOffice.org courses are open to all interested public sector personnel. At the early stages, attendance was mandatory. It was conducted by the State Information Technology Center.

System Usage

OpenOffice.org was used as the main desktop software for daily state administration work.

Software

OpenOffice.org 2.4

Why Use OSS/Linux?

1. Cost savings for the government
2. Avoiding non-compliance of the Copyright Act by government agencies
3. Technology choices that are fit for purpose

Why and How OSS Solves Needs/Problems

1. Percentage of departments owning computers and ICT equipment is still low
2. Cost savings allows for more ICT equipment to be purchased
3. Choice of technology on par with departmental users' need
4. Non-compliance to Copyright Act can be reduced in stages

Effect of OSS Conversion on Agencies and the Public

1. Number of computers supplied can be increased
2. Increase in skills and knowledge of officers and staff in multiple desktop applications
3. The spread of virii which is common through the use of MSWord file formats is reduced/stopped

Experience

1. Officers and staff found it hard to adapt to equivalent features between Microsoft Office and OpenOffice.org.
2. OpenOffice.org is more open compared to Microsoft Office. It supports multiple file formats and is not tied to Windows based files only.

Project Status

a) OpenOffice.org installation in government departments

Until today, computers supplied and installed with OpenOffice.org are:

Year	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	Total
Computers	450	122	550	350	380	350	2,202

In total, it is estimated that 70% of all computers are installed with OpenOffice.org software. This policy is continued in line with the efforts of the State Secretary so that government departments take cost savings measures.

b) ICT Cultivation Program (OpenOffice.org)

Till 2008, 1913 people were exposed and given training to OpenOffice.org.

Testimony

Name: Ahmad Bawadir Bin Haji Abdul Ghani
Post : Director of Information Technology for the state of Kedah
Telephone: [omitted]

What is surprising is that the migration to OpenOffice.org occurred way back in 2003, and this looks like a pretty extensive long term project. It also is good to know that they are consistently covering 10-15% of their users per year. This would mean they would need another two more years to fully migrate over to OpenOffice.org.

Kudos to Ahmad Bawadir and team in Kedah.

The original case study in Malay is as follows:

[Update 3:35am 16 August 2008: Thanks to MingShi for the better translations!]

Comments

[Wu MingShi]

Second Paragraph:

"...iaitu Microsoft Office yand manaianya sewajarnya dilesen mengikut unit yang dibeli"

Original translation
"... Microsoft Office, where it is licensed per the number of units purchased."

I think more emphasis should be given to the word "sewajarnya"

so I would had written

"... Microsoft Office, where it is [insert] should be licensed according to [/insert] [del]per[/del] the number of units purchased."

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Why and how OSS Solves Needs/Problems

3 Pilihan teknology setara kepada pengguna jabatan

Original Translation
"Alternative technology choices for department usage"

My reading is that isn't what intended. I would had used

"Choice of technology on par with departmental users' need"

Where the technology refers to oOo.org

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Effect of OSS Conversion towards Agencies and the Public.

I would change "towards" to "on"

Spelling error on item (3),
"3. The spread of vir[us]..."

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Let's complete the whole translation by putting in the last part!

"Testimony
Name: Ahmad Bawadir Bin Haji Abdul Ghani
Post : Director of Information Technology for the state of Kedah
Telephone: [omitted]

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One other thing:

I noticed that the malay language style in the two letters published is totally different from what I was thought back in the early 1990s in school in PJ. Had things changed?

[Ditesh Gathani]

Thanks Wu MingShi for the translations. Tho I believe "virii" is correct :)