‘Open source software can help grow SMEs’
The Director General of the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT, Mrs Dorothy Gordon, has advised small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country to make use of Open Source Softwares (OSSs) to enhance the growth and expansion of their businesses.
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Speaking at a transformational technology seminar organised by the centre in partnership with the Accra Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the February 12, 2014, she stated that SMEs could use OSSs to maximise profit without paying more for licenses.
She said many multinational businesses were making use of OSSs because they were innovative, secured, reliable, interoperable, sustainable and productive.
Mrs Gordon also stated that there were many OSSs such as free customer relations management softwares and free human resource management softwares that could help boost activities undertaken in their businesses.
She said the centre, as a government institution, had a mandate to serve the citizens and as such they were committed to motivating small businesses to be ambitious in order to expand to other territories.
According to her, the centre will do this by helping them transform their businesses through technology.
The Vice-Chairman of the Accra Chamber of Commerce, Mr Frederick .Y. Alipui, in his presentation, stated that the SMEs required schooling before they could appreciate and know the capacity of those softwares.
He expressed the hope that the centre would organise another session for the chamber, solely focusing on practicalities, since that would help them practice what they would learn.
Mr Alipui also suggested that import duties on computers should be scrapped off because the country was now using ICT as a tool to achieving excellence.
About OSSs
OSSs are computer softwares that are available in source code form with a license permitting users to inspect, use, improve, expand and distribute freely, all based on open standards and non-proprietary specification.
Some of these OSSs include Firefox, Libre office, ORANGE HRM, SUGAR CRM, all of which are tools that can be used by businesses to enhance office productivity. Businesses can also use tools such as Joolal and Doupal to create their own websites.