Our good friends at T-Hub, Telangana have helped connect us to the Information & Technology Department, Government of Telangana. Continuing the previous work with the Union Government and the State Government of Tamil Nadu, we are reaching out to the Telangana State Government on FOSS Policy issues.
We are requesting policy enthusiasts in the FOSS United community to send in their comments on this letter by next week. We intend to send this letter to the Telangana government folks on the Saturday, 29th of July, 2023.
In drafting this letter, we reviewed the IT initiatives of the Government of Telangana.
Rahul & Venky.
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To,
Shri Jayesh Ranjan,
Principal Secretary (IT),
Government of Telangana.
10th July, 2023
Subject: Growing Telangana’s IT ecosystem rapidly through Free and Open Source Software (FOSS).
Dear Sir,
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We note with sincere appreciation the strides that Telangana has made in the industrial and IT sectors, and its aim of realising the Vision of Digital Telangana by leveraging Information Technology for effective and efficient governance, sustainable economic development and inclusive social development. We have reviewed your IT policies and feel that a policy/guidelines on FOSS in Telangana will help your state’s enterprises and government agencies promote innovation, reduce costs, grow Telangana’s startup ecosystem, and encourage skill development and capacity building. In the next sections, we elaborate on these points.
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Transforming Telangana into a talent hub through FOSS: Availability of affordable talent is the #1 factor that determines where startups and IT enterprises set up their base. Today, FOSS forms between 50-90 percent of the IT infrastructure of most enterprises, and this number will keep increasing. Therefore, Telangana can become an attractive talent hub through targeted initiatives that increase the pool of FOSS talent.
The Telangana Academy of Skill and Knowledge (TASK) initiative can add training on FOSS alongside existing training on proprietary tools. FOSS United can help the Telangana Government create the relevant training programs and find the relevant providers/FOSS training vendors. In addition, the TASK initiative should consider making the training materials itself public through FOSS licenses, making the material easy to access for a larger audience and ensuring that Govt money is being spent on creating public goods. -
Growing Telangana’s startup ecosystem: As India’s largest incubation centre, T-Hub can enlighten the community of startups, corporations, governments, academia and investors on the advantages of FOSS usage. Towards this end, FOSS United has already partnered with T-Hub to launch HydFOSS, a conference to bring the community together to discuss FOSS. FOSS United is committed to being a T-Hub partner and providing FOSS expertise to the community in Telangana.
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Deploying FOSS for effective and efficient governance: India’s Policy on Open Source in eGovernment has ensured that our country’s biggest eGov projects are built on FOSS. National IT projects like UPI and GST have been built on FOSS, ensuring huge cost savings, avoidance of vendor lock-in and greater control over the technology stacks. A similar policy at the state level can help the Telangana Government deliver better, faster and more affordable e-government solutions to its residents.
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Encouraging Innovation and the Research and Innovation Circle of Hyderabad (RICH) initiative: FOSS powers Science and Technology. Scientific breakthroughs like the Discovery of Gravitational Waves and the First Image of a Black Hole were created using FOSS. To foster innovation and catalyse the ecosystem, the Govt should promote the use and creation of FOSS within Academia.
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Our Recommendation: FOSS United recommends that the Telangana Government set up a FOSS program office that coordinates closely with the IT Department and its various initiatives to enable skills development, capacity building, deployment of FOSS in Government and coordination with academic institutions to make Telangana a FOSS leader in India and the world. At FOSS United we are happy to extend our support for Telangana Government’s initiatives for attaining leadership in FOSS technologies.
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About FOSS United: FOSS United Foundation is a registered non-profit founded in 2020, dedicated to the cause of building Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) projects and communities in India. The foundation aims to provide grassroots support to FOSS projects and events, and evolve into a community-industry collaboration with a diverse group of members and patrons.
The foundation’s goals are:
a. To enable and evangelise the use of FOSS in academia, social sector, industry and government.
b. To promote the spirit of hacking and tinkering.
c. To build quality FOSS for public good.
We look forward to working with you to make Telengana a leader in FOSS and IT. We request a 30 minute meeting with you on the sidelines of Hyderabad FOSS on 29th July, 2023, to discuss the above points.
With warm regards,
Venkatesh Hariharan,
Public Policy Director,
FOSS United.
