According to the strategy, the government will direct all governmental entities to adopt open source solutions and to consider them in bids where possible and with no less than 50%. The strategy confirms that open source solutions are a cheaper alternative and allow the smooth devlopement of e-services, open source solutions also quickens the pace of innovation and cloud platforms' adoption, and enhance data utilization and analysis through the use of flexible solutions compared to proprietary software
In addition to Open Source software, innovation will be enhanced and made faster through the use of Open Application Programming Interfaces (Open APIs) to take benefit from software functionalities and to allow access to and the transferability of public information, and to enable interoperability between all governmental applications, data, systems and services.
Issa Mahasneh, the Executive Director of Jordan Open Source Association (JOSA), stated that the recent strategy differs from its predecessors in that it puts Open Source technologies on top of its priorities, and this is in tune with the global direction in digital transformation. He confirmed that Jordan has the expertise and the able OSS developers and they can be a backbone in the digital transformation in Jordan, for these technologies provide opportunities for local innovation and creativity. He welcomes the government strategy's interest in those with digital skills, including programmers.
He clarifies that the strategy is focused on data as a keystone in digital transformation and noted that Jordan has openly published government data for years, he emphasizes the strategy's focus on the quality and precision of data and the necessity of keeping it up to date and to make it available through the latest technologies. He also welcomes the ministry's directive in developing a platform exclusively for open data according to international standards by mid-2021.
The Jordan Open Source Association (JOSA) also welcomes the government commitment to finish all constitutional procedures to put in motion the law of personal data protection before the end of this year, and he asserted that the adoption of this law's draft in the fastest time possible is paramount for what it provides of protection of such data and to guarantee the rights and freedoms for individuals when it comes to their data.
Mahasneh praised the partnership between the ministry of Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship and Jordan Open Source Association (JOSA) in all fields including ones the strategy covers, especially the creation of a national charter of AI ethics, which will make Jordan one of the leading countries on an international scale in this regard.
He also maintained that the focus on open source technologies, such as open source software, open data, open source platforms, and other important factors included in the strategy such as protection of personal data and information security and artificial intelligence, all of which will help Jordan regain its footing in advanced international levels of digital transformation and in becoming a regional technological center of creativity and innovation.
