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In 2003 InterSpace Media Art Centre started a project devoted to help NGOs in Bulgaria to switch to open source software in their work.
The project has been developed towards a background which makes the need for such an initiative apparent: the illegal software is still widely used in Bulgaria while Bulgaria has adopted laws against breaching of intellectual property rights which concerns the use of illegal software too.
“Open Source for NGOs in Bulgaria” project aims to promote the advantages of open source software within the NGO sector in Bulgaria. Over a period of one year a large number of NGOs were offered the chance to use the free services of a highly professional team based in InterSpace.
By helping NGOs to switch to open source software, the project helped saving the NGO sector funds that could be used for worthy causes, other than buying commercial products.
After two years of work on supporting the migration of the Bulgarian Non Governmental Organizations (NGO's) to Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) we can say that NGO's in Bulgaria are positive about using FOSS in their daily work. Moreover, they became independent of the proprietary software and enough self-convinced in their resources to start their own FOSS projects.
During the third year we want to create models of migration to FOSS useful for NGOs in Bulgaria, Eastern Europe and Eurasia. We are planning to make specific models for the different types of NGOs, to be presented online with full documentation on the eRiders web site http://www.eriders.org and as a printed manual with a DVD. One member of our eRiders team will participate in international events, presenting our experience to specialized audiences. Supporting the implementation of these models in different Bulgarian and international NGOs, we will organize week-long “shadowing” visits of technical experts from these organizations, and consultations to share our experience with NGOs that are interested in starting their own FOSS projects.
During the third year of the project we intend to continue our support for the Bulgarian NGOs that have already joined the project, focusing on the optimization of our support.
We are also planning a seminar about the models and practices of migration to free and open source software, especially for the NGO sector.
Main activities for the third year:
1. Creation of key models for migration of the main types of NGOs.
At the moment there are a few main types of NGOs participating in the FOSS project. Our idea is to create migration models based on our experience working with these ìcase study NGOs.î We also plan to produce documentation of the specific needs of these NGOs and the context of the FOSS implementation in their working practices and offices.
Examples of such types of NGOs are:
- Art and Culture NGOs: Red House for Culture and Debate - Sofia, Institute for Contemporary Art - Sofia
- New media organizations: Internet Society in Bulgaria, InterSpace Media Art Center
- IT organizations: Foundation for Applied Research and Communications, UNDP program for telecenters in Bulgaria
- Grassroots Linux and FOSS groups: Free Software Foundation ñ Bulgaria
Open Club - Plovdiv
- Green organizations: For the Earth
- Human rights organizations: Bulgarian Helsinki Committee
- NGOs of invalids and people with physical difficulties: Bridge Association, Sofia, The Club of Invalids, Blagoevgrad
Each of these organizations has different needs and the documentation of the process of “satisfying” these needs will be very useful for any organization planning to start a project similar to ours.
All the “case studies” will be published in English on a web site about the migration of NGOs to free and open source software and in a printed manual with a DVD of software and video documentation. This documentation will also be accessible from the eRiders web page, where we are going to set up a special section for FOSS.
All the documentation will be published under Creative Commons license.
In the budget are also included five presentations of the models for migration at important international events.
2. Organizing of “shadowings” for organizers and technical experts from different Bulgarian and international NGOs. Trainings for trainers.
We are going to organize short (one-week) residencies where the participants can work with the Bulgarian eRiders team, “shadowing” us in our process of working. This is the most effective way for us to share the experience accumulated by the team during the implementation of the project over the past two years.
The visitors will be working with us shoulder-to-shoulder, implementing and developing different parts of the FOSS project. Additionally they will participate in discussions with the eRiders and our beneficiaries where they can learn firsthand about everything from strategy to implementation.
3. Translation and localization of software, including translation of existing manuals and creation of new ones for important applications.
The team of eRiders will continue its work on the Bulgarian translation of the graphic environment GNOME, an activity that will benefit all the NGOs in Bulgaria.
We will test and document different applications, with a stress on the multimedia ones, and will focus on the use of FOSS under different operational systems (OS).
4. Continuation of the development of ISLD (InterSpace Linux Distribution), based on Debian Linux.
ISLD is the one of the main components of the implementation of the project. It utilizes all the experience and skills of the eRiders team. This distribution is the backbone of our strategy of migration to FOSS, and a guarantee that the project will meet the specific needs of every organization planning to migrate.
Now in its forth edition, this distribution has been implemented successfully on many computers in the NGOs participating in FOSS for the Bulgarian NGOs project and in many municipalities in Bulgaria, Macedonia and Kosova. 5. A two-day seminar, taking place at the end of 2005, in Red House - Center for Culture and Debate in Sofia.
The goal of the seminar is to evaluate all the work on the FOSS project for the participating NGOs, Linux and FOSS communities, as well as for the wider Bulgarian community.
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