Free and open source software (FOSS) can have a positive effect on national economies trying to improve the e-commerce divide according to the  United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). UNCTAD's mission to help developing economies play a bigger role in the world economy has become all the more important as economists say the picture looks bleak for self-supporting e-commerce and B2B entrepreneurship in developing economies. That chilling prognosis will not change as long as developing economies remain grounded in heavy overseas dependence for human and financial resources, trading processes, and logistics.

The UNCTAD E-commerce and Development Report for 2003 pegs FOSS as a way to solve the problem. "It can have an anti-monopolistic effect on the IT market and industry in a country because it allows anyone to provide IT services, administration, management and maintenance for compliant software and thus reduces barriers to entry. FOSS also helps users avoid getting locked into financially disadvantageous and long-term relationships with particular proprietary software vendors or producers."

Evan Leibovitch, president and co-founder of Linux Professional Institute, is no stranger to UN statements and meetings. He has become a world traveler of sorts and can be frequently found advocating FOSS at international meetings. He firmly believes that FOSS can expedite any developing countries’ efforts to become a real player rather than a passive consumer in the digital economy. 

Open readers will recall our story about his reactions while attending the World Summit Information Society meeting in Geneva in 2003, for example, co-sponsored by the UN. Heartened on the one hand to see involved FOSS supporters, Leibovitch also kept eyes wide open, spotting signs of FOSS detractors seeking to muddy the waters for OSS policy adoptions. In 2004, Leibovitch continues to talk, observe, and report on the impact on open standards and open source for turning, in his words, “technology importers into technology exporters.”

 He was there at last month’s FOSS-focused UNCTAD meeting of experts in Geneva, where he delivered an address on the economics of FOSS. In this interview with Open, Leibovitch shares what he saw at the UNCTAD meeting and where FOSS stands on the agenda of policy makers:

Before we get to the UNCTAD meeting specifically, let me ask you about all that you’ve been observing along the way. Are we any closer to seeing FOSS adoptions as public policy than before?

LEIBOVITCH: It's happening, slowly, in bits. Some countries are explicit about supporting FOSS--Malaysia and Brazil are two of the very active ones. Other countries are at least waking up to the fact that a choice exists, and that in itself is a significant milestone. Countries not yet embracing FOSS in public policy are at least seeing the great advantage of maintaining openness, demanding standards, and challenging assumptions. All are necessary pre-requisites for bringing FOSS into policy.

But why is it taking so long in bringing FOSS into policy? Open source and open standards seem to be the direct paths to economic independence for developing economies.

LEIBOVITCH: It's simply too hard to force the pace of societal change. In a growing number of cases, I'm coming to believe that the greatest obstacle to FOSS adoption is not the opposition of proprietary models, but of simple inertia. The very existence of the UNCTAD conference is designed to address what is for some a growing curiosity, for others validation of a path already being started. For yet others, it's a nuisance distraction from a proprietary path to which they've already committed themselves. Sooner or later they'll come around to at least recognize that the landscape is changing.

What in your view were some significant takeaways about the September UNCTAD meeting?

LEIBOVITCH:  Just the fact that it happened at is significant. Here is a UN group, which reports to the General Assembly, no less, actively debating and making recommendations on the use of FOSS. One part of the meeting that stood out in my mind was during the closing statements, when the representative of one of the world's poorest economies stood up to read something that may as well have been ghost-written by proprietary software interests. Here was a country that could be better served by FOSS than many, yet so clearly biased against it. That was actually quite sad, but it’s indicative of what FOSS advocates are up against.

We've seen your calls in the past for open standards. Is this something you spoke about there?

LEIBOVITCH:  Yes. The advocacy of truly open and unencumbered standards often gets lost in the debate between FOSS and proprietary models, and the point must not be lost, especially in areas of public policy. Truly open standards—that is, standards unencumbered by patents—play a crucial role. These standards must be part of public policy as the very least governments can do to protect the public good. I tried and think I succeeded to make the point that open standards are required to protect intellectual property rights at the most fundamental level. The best way to guarantee that a standard is truly open is to ensure that at least one open-source implementation of that standard exists.   

Obviously, your efforts to spread the word about open source and open standards fit right into the mission of the Linux Professional Institute, which is best known for its skills certification exams. What do you think UNCTAD gains from your appearance?

LEIBOVITCH: We have become a truly international organization, with a growing affiliate network that now stretches to every continent. We like to think that we have a truly international perspective on FOSS issues. Lastly, I think LPI, with its focus on education and capacity building, addresses a component of the FOSS world that is of great and increasing interest. This is especially true as the use of FOSS spreads ever further outside the community of software developers and vendors and into the realm of international development and the ICT [information and communications technology] mainstream.