Case Study: Free and Open Source Software

A pilot study in the East of England has been testing the viability of Open Source software. This has been supported by a concurrent Circuit Rider project. Both projects are funded by the ChangeUp programme and run by Cambridge Independent Advice Centre. A range of organisations were selected to receive a free computer and other hardware, software training and support.

The collaboration enabled the organisations selected to:

• Run joint training events
• Joint purchasing which would not be available to individual frontline organisations
• Exchange experience and ideas, mainly via the circuit riders
• Identify common areas where open source could be applied, for example:
  • Content management run websites
  • Remote access
  • Automated back-ups

Collaboration directly between the selected organisations has been slow to materialise but some potential projects are beginning to emerge. For example, two organisations were having difficulty getting information to traveller populations, many of whom find reading difficult. A third organisation, CamSight, trains blind people to get information from the Internet by using special text to speech software. This software may offer the solution to the traveller communities.