Tanzanian Association Oslo

University of Oslo

Informatics Department

at Blindern

Store auditorium, Gaustad.

Trial lecture: 12. December 2008 at 11.15

Defense: 12. December  2008 at 13.15

Party time: 12. December 2008 at 18.15 same place

Thesis titled:

Design-reality gaps in Open Source information systems development. An action research study of education and healthcare systems in Tanzania"

The Free Open Source Software (FOSS) development approaches, as well as the justifications for using FOSS in the infrastructure domain where users are developers, are inherently problematic when applied to the Information Systems (IS) domain in developing countries. This thesis presents a theoretical and empirical informed analysis of FOSS development in IS using cases from the health and education sectors in Tanzania. It focuses on the interplay between the socio-technical conditions of IS in developing countries and the FOSS development approach. The objectives were to illuminate the design-reality gaps in FOSS development in the context of developing countries. The research design was based on participatory action research.

Three archetypal situations that exacerbate the reality of FOSS implementation in developing countries were identified as developer – sponsor, global developer – local developer, and local developer – local user gaps. The thesis recommends that, implementing FOSS in IS requires substantial investment on localising the software, training users, and developing support networks. The advantage of FOSS development in developing countries centres on the formation of sustainable collaborative networks through sharing of software and knowledge. These networks are important in helping a developing country to support the day to day customisation and managing of FOSS products. The core concept of FOSS is that full access to software source code must be granted in order to give individuals the freedom to create, use and distribute software. It emphasises the logic of non-discrimination to create conditions for free action and thought. This makes FOSS to be reminiscent to the Ujamaa policy of Tanzania which argues for all members of the society to have equal rights and equal opportunities.