3. Background
Country: East of Thailand, west of Vietnam, north of Cambodia, south of
China
Total Population: 6 million (2005)
Number of websites in English and other languages: Approximately 100
websites, all in English (Lao langauge is approx. 50>)
National bandwidth within the country: via Thailand, China, Vietnam
National bandwidth to and from the country: operating byt 4 major
operators via fibre optics
4 Telecommunication operators: ETL, Laotel, Unitel, Milicom-Lao
5 Internet Service Providers: ETL, Laotel, LAT, Milicom-Lao, PlanetOnline
4. Government and Private Sector
ICT Policy Development (To be merged with Telecom Law soon)
●
Infrastructure and Industry
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ICT Application (development, promotion and use of Open Source)
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Standardization
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Human Resources Development
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Legal Framework
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Education (Open Source for edcuation)
E-Government
Based on the e-ASEAN framework, the government has promoted
tremendously the importance of using the Internet in government
institutions.
- Computerization of Tax and Customs Department
- Legal/Law information system
- Information management system for the government public
administration reform program.
5. Government and Private Sector
Government
•National Authority of Science and Technology
•E-Governement Project
•Open Source lab
•Various ministry setup web, email, DNS, BIND, firewall, file
servers( Redhat, CenTOS, ...)
•National Unviersity
•Offered courses in Linux administration, web development; dns,web,
file, firewall, and etc
•Programming in MySql, PHP, and etc
•National Internet Gateway(NiG)
•More 70% of servers is based on Open Source
Private Sector
•Number of colleges and IT firms offered Linux programming,
administration, Web and Database programming
•IT Consulting (Xangdao Conslting firm) developed mobile development
based on Android, Moblin, and PhP, and web content management
systems
6. Lao Open Source movement and Localization
History: Efforts
1992 - 1999 Anousak to worked on Linux ...(Slackware and other distros)
2000 –2003- Find a way to develop Lao software based various development
kits
2003 – Developed Lao version of KDE based (Redhat) for the NGO work called
ICT for Rural Area (VoIP and Applications). Theppitak was a programmer.
2004- UNDP/NAST ICT for development Project: National Policy and Lao ICT
Standardization (keyboard, input method, OpenOffice, Thunderbird email
client, issues with Lao support for Open Source and Windows)
2006 – now. Working on a small group of Linux/Open Source lovers
Why promote Open Source?
1) Freedom to develop free of charge
2) low cost
3) reliability
4)To create Lao in Lao langauge for those that don't speak other langauges
other than their own mother tungue.
5)Currently, Lao people who want to use computers must first learn English.
In a country with low literacy rates, this creates a very high barrier to access
to ICT.
7. Why FOSS for Lao Government for the country?
Reasons:
1) National Security
2) Open standards, avoidance of vendor lock-in
3) Reduced reliance on imports
4) Developing local software industry
5) Localization
6) Intellectual Property Rights, Piracy, WTO (soon)
8. Lao Open Source movement and Localization Efforts
Localization Efforts:
2006 – now. Working on a small group of Linux/Open Source lovers
What we do:
- A team have translated Ubuntu ( using Launchpad), OpenOffice.org
- Problem with above. Reverse the translation for upstreams- started:
GNOME, Debian, KDE, Mozilla, Translation Project (TP)
- Working with/on various Open Source acitivities/groups as well.
Issues
•Team is fragmented and volunteering efforts (unlike Cambodia- KhmerOS)
•Young Team (some are newly graduates and some lacked of English)
•Funding (lacked)
Future
•Look promising and continue to forge the development forward
•To create Lao distro (Ubuntu) with above packages
•Low cost computer and laptop (CherryPal?)
•Defvelop Open Source training materials and promote with support of the
government and private sectors
11. Thank You
About Presenter
Anousak Souphavanh
Lao Open Source Devloper/Evangelist. Developing various Open
Source systems, ie.g Debian, GNOME, KDE, OpenOffice, Moblin,
Mozilla, and etc.
Holds degrees in BS and Masters Computer Science from
University of Binghamton University and Rochester Institute of
Technology, USA.
Worked for the IBM for about 8 and half years as IT Specialist,
UNIX Security, Network specialist. Joined STEA/UNDP in October
2004 as Senior Technical Advisor and became part of the ICT
team that had two components: E-policy and the localization.
Work with various Lao Government agencies and International
firms. An owner of an ICT Consulting called Xangdao Consulting,
specialized in open Source software development, Lao mobile
development, and various IT solutions.
Contact Information:
anousak@gmail.com
