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Microsoft Indonesia has spoken out on a controversial recent
deal with the government, arguing that the deal was initiated by the
government as part of its efforts to improve Indonesia's information
technology sector as a whole.
Microsoft Indonesia president director Tony Chen told reporters
Thursday that the agreement had been clinched against the backdrop of
the government's efforts to reduce software piracy, including
negotiating with major software vendors for the use of their products
by government institutions.
"As a majority of the computers in government institutions use
Microsoft products, we were among the first the government invited," he
said.
The Communications and Information Ministry signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) with Microsoft Indonesia in November last year to
provide a total of 35,496 licenses for the Microsoft Windows operating
system, and 177,480 licenses for the Microsoft Office productivity
suite to government institutions.
The MoU will also offer long-term guarantees for the new software
investment, ensuring free upgrades for up to three years.
Microsoft Indonesia is also required to work closely with the
government in a partnership to improve IT literacy in the country,
including providing computers and IT training to schools across the
country.
Tony said that the MoU -- with a 70 percent discounted licensing price
-- would result in savings of up to US$200 million for the government,
compared to the $250 million it would cost if the government was to buy
licenses at regular prices. The government would also save $60 million
on the free upgrades.
He said that the agreement also showed the government's seriousness
about fighting software piracy, which would help attract more
investment to the country's IT sector.
Yet the deal has come under fire, including from the House of
Representatives, with the critics arguing that it would create a
monopoly for Microsoft, and undermine the government's own "Indonesia
Goes Open Source" program, which encourages the use of free and open
source software in the public sector.
The trend to use free and open source software has emerged in recent
years around the world based on various reasons, including antimonopoly
sentiment, transparency, cost efficiency and national security. Among
the countries and institutions that have gone open source are Peru, the
Extremadura region of Spain, the municipality of Munich in Germany, and
a number of government agencies in China.
Microsoft and other proprietary software developers do not disclose the
source codes of their products.
Tony said that the government had opted to sign the MoU due to the
still-limited use of IGOS, while it needed to move fast to improve both
Indonesia's IT sector and public services.
Tony's arguments were confirmed by Communications and Information
Minister Sofyan Djalil.
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