<aside> 🇵🇠In this section we will be discussing some of the challenges that were faced by Open Source technologies as
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One of the biggest challenges faced by open source technologies in the Philippines is that there are misconception around DPGs / FOSS that prevents or make it hard for these technologies to be adopted. The following are some of the misconceptions.
Open Source Technologies are free hence they are inferior as compared to more expensive solutions.
There is always an apprehension on using free technologies because there is a notion that free technologies are inferior as compared to proprietary technologies. There always preference to proprietary technologies given that there are usually support and maintenance packages with proprietary technologies.
Open Source Technologies are Totally Free
Corollary to the earlier misconception, another common misconception on open source technologies is that they are totally free. There are costs that will be incurred when using Open Source Technologies. These costs does not impact the cost of owning the technology, but they impact the usage and maintenance of the technology.
Example Costs Associated to Open Source Solutions
For the case of MOSIP’s implementation in the Philippines, while the technology itself is free, there are costs associated to it. Some of the costs are:
Infrastructure costs - The system needs to be deployed on a cloud server, and there are regular recurring fees when cloud servers are used.
Manpower costs - There will be personnel who will maintain the system and they will be paid with salaries.
Customization costs - Open Source Technologies are designed to be flexible and scalable and there are instances when these systems need to be customized so that they can be used in local context. Customization of a system requires infrastructure and developers who can actually customize the system. These items will entail costs as well.
Many of the DPGs that are available right now are developed by a specific set of people (i.e. academe). One challenge that is being faced is that there is a limited number of people who has capability in a particular open source technology. DPGs like OpenMRS or DHIS2 are very popular worldwide, but there limited use in the Philippines because of the lack of capacity in modifying and sustaining the systems especially at the local health facility level.
Another issue with the use of Open Source technologies is on licensing and ownership. There are procurement activities that actually prevent the use of Open Source Technologies, because there are provisions in the procurement law on ownership of Intellectual Property (IP) on software systems deployed to Government. Transferring the IP to Government will be a challenge especially if we use DPGs since, there are some DPG licenses (i.e. Apache license, MIT license) that prohibits the transfer of exclusive ownership of the DPG to another entity.
Another issue encountered in the use of DPGs is the challenge to integrate multiple systems developed by different entities. In the absence of a pre-defined architecture, systems tend to build SILOs and this more expressed when we use Open Source Technologies, since these technologies are deployed separately. Unless joint developer teams work together to make them interoperable (i.e OpenMRS and DHIS2 or OpenMRS and OpenIMIS), it will be very challenging to connect systems. It is also important that an underlying architecture is already available to make it easier for systems to interoperate.
Sample OpenMRS - DHIS2 Integration (www.sil-asia.org)