Thanks to the Last Mile Initiative-Philippines (LMIP), a program implemented by the USAID-funded Economic Modernization Through Efficient Reform and Government Enhancement (EMERGE) Project, public schools and community e-centers (CeCs) throughout the country have been given free access to basic and useful computer applications.
LMIP supported the Commission for Information and Communications Technology (CICT) initiative to develop a Free and Open Source Software kit (FOSS kit), which compiles various office productivity programs and creative development applications in one easy-to-use, menu-based CD program. This includes OpenOffice, an internet browser, web authoring tools, graphic design applications, a project planner and accounting programs.
With support from LMIP, 500 initial sets of the FOSS Kit are now being distributed by the CICT all over the country to promote awareness, availability and the use of technology options that come with quality features comparable to commercial products.
Notably, the distribution of the FOSS kits not only increases awareness, access and use of software programs, they also promote respect for intellectual property rights since the kit only software and documents developed under the free and open source licensing models. Thus, the CDs are expected to benefit CeCs by providing them with quality programs that can serve as productivity tools for users without incurring the large initial setup costs usually associated with the use of branded or proprietary software. This will, in turn, allow CeCs to lower the fees charged to community users.
Finally, it is worth noting that normally, CeCs would have had to search and download these tools over the Internet, which presumes both knowledge of where to look and preferably broadband connectivity. FOSS kits make it possible and effortless for even those CeCs that are not yet connected to the Internet to have easy access to, and use of, open source software.