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'Technology neutrality' and what it means to us Malaysians
An opinion column on clarifications as to what technology neutrality really means in the context of market choices and the current situation in Malaysia. The situation is actually not biased towards FOSS, but towards incumbent proprietary software vendors and standards.
The recent announcement by the Malaysian Science, Technology and Innovations (MOSTI) Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Jamaludin Jarjis brought upon the formation of an alliance of vendors, organisations and end users to define a position statement. The Malaysian Open Source Software Alliance (MOSSA) has shown how much Open Source Software (OSS) has matured in the local ICT market where competing vendors and ISVs (independent software vendors) have come together with end-users to state their support for the definition of "neutrality" and what it means to Malaysia.
Actually, the announcement was just the clarification of the single sentence of "preference" to OSS solutions in the hypothetical (and rare) situation where all the advantages and disadvantages of proprietary and FOSS were equal. The Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit's (MAMPU) OSS Masterplan however is still supported by the government, which promotes the use of OSS and will continue to be used to increase efficiencies, competition, competencies and better solutions within the Government.
We do need to clarify the terms "neutral technology platform policy" or "Technology Neutrality". "Neutral" seems to suggest a passive attitude towards adopting the best solution. We do not believe that this is the true meaning of the direction. A "Neutral" position should mean that all procurement decisions should be based on a level and competitive playing field, with regards to triggers to mitigate risks of market manipulation through monopolies, results which are openly accessible standards with no encumbrances to patents and royalty, and the merits based on solid business rationale on functionality, cost effectiveness, interoperability, security, flexibility and performance.
Source: New Straits Times
