Answer: FOSS or Free and Open Source Software.

With a grant from the European Union or EU, the Institute for Popular Democracy or IPD implemented a project in 2006 called “Piloting Free and Open Source Software and Open standards in local government units (LGUs)”. The project’s goal was to develop demand driven applications for LGUs.

LGUs were chosen as the primary beneficiary or partner because they have the potential for creating the biggest impact at the grassroots level.  IPD currently has 10 pilot projects: 3 in Palawan, one in Bicol, 3 in Visayas (Samar, Bohol and Antique) and 3 in Mindanao (Iligan, Davao, and Digos).

According to the result of the survey done by the National Computer Center sometime in 2001, most LGUs have computers but the utilization rate was quite low because either they don’t have the software to run it or it was pirated.

Open source, on the other hand, means whenever you get a bit of software that is open source, you can both see the open source code and change it according to your needs. And, second, it’s free in two contexts.

With the concept of open standards, IPD proposes the use of one common standard for the whole government. There has to be some mechanism for inter operability.

With this in mind, the IPD and the EU will hold a national conference on Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and E-Governance. It aims to bring together IT Practitioners, LGU officials and policy makers and to demonstrate actually functioning applications that are designed to support key areas of work of LGUs like resource mapping, revenue collection and local legislation. The conference is open to all parties who are on free and open source software.

The national conference is also envisioned to showcase the various FOSS applications developed for and used by LGUs in the Philippines, and to discuss issues related to this process as well as to the adaptation of FOSS in supporting good e-governance.

The national conference will be held on March 7 and 8, 2007 at Hotel Edsa Shangrila.