Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/58912
Technology DATABIT Outsourcing to India is having expected effects, including an increase in job creation in that country, especially in the tech sector. For example, according to , low of the Irwin L. Gross eBusi- ness Institute; Abhijit Jain, an MIS doctoral student; and Jeff Smith and Greg Meyers, alumni of the Fox school. Work on the business plan included conducting a needs assess- ment and a stakeholder analysis for the city, as well as holding 13 focus groups and a town hall meet- ing where citi- zens could add their voices to the project. Plans for the citywide wireless network were presented to the city in February. On Febru- Bangalore-based Infosys Technologies Limited reported adding 14,200 employees last year, an increase of 40 percent. Hyderabad- based Satyam Computer Services Ltd. added 1,977 employees in the quarter ending last September, an increase of 23 percent. ary 29, Phila- delphia's mayor, John Street, announced that the city-spon- sored nonprofit group Wireless Philadelphia had partnered with Earthlink to create the network.z TOOLS OF THE TRADE IT Groups Give Higher Education 'Open Source' Software Options In response to the rising cost of main- taining software licenses for higher education, organizations dedicated to the release of "open source" software designed specifically for colleges and universities are gathering momen- tum. Open source software makes its source code available to the public, so that a community of users can adapt, improve, and advance the soft- ware faster than traditional software development. That model, say open source advocates, can help col- leges and universities take charge of their own software needs. Since its launch in January 2004, the Sakai Foundation, formerly the Sakai Project, has worked to develop and distribute an open-source collaboration and learning software program designed for higher education. The foundation involves more than 80 educational partners and 12 commercial affiliates. In July, the Sakai Foundation released the latest version of its software, Sakai 2.2.0, which includes assignment and scheduling, teaching, portfolio publish- ing, messaging, discussion, and Web editing tools. The Kuali Foundation, another open source partnership, was launched 58 BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006 in August 2004 as the Kuali Project. It pooled institutional investments from Indiana University, the University of Hawaii, the National Association of College and University Business Offi- cers (NACUBO), and open source software company r-smart group. Their goal was to develop a financial infor- mation system for colleges and uni- initial version of KFS includes base modules that track accounts, general ledger functions, transactions, report- ing, and workflow. Additional mod- ules will involve accounts receivable, budgeting, capital assets manage- ment, endowment and other functions. Brad Wheeler is the board chair- versities using the open source model. In March 2005, the project received a $2.5 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. In April, the Kuali Foundation released the "test drive" of its Kuali Financial Systems (KFS) software, which is specifically designed for col- lege and university fiscal enterprise management. It is based on the finan- cial system design used for more than a decade at Indiana University. The man of the Kuali Project and a board member of the Sakai Foundation. He also serves as the chief information officer at Indiana University and as an associate professor of information systems at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business in Bloomington. Wheeler notes that the advantage of the open source model is that it allows those who work in higher education to design software specifi- cally suited to their needs, while also maintaining control over its code, its development—and its cost. "Like the Sakai Project, Kuali is aggregating institutional resources to develop and sustain open source software together as we all strive to do more with less," Wheeler says. For more information on the open source efforts of the Sakai Foundation, visit www.sakaiproject.org. For more information on the Kuali Project, visit www.kuali.org. n z Computer world