Nirvesh Sooful, Leiter der IT-Abteilung der Stadt, erläuterte anläßlich eines Seminars zu freier und Open-Source-Software die Position und die Ziele der Millionenstadt. Laut Sooful betreibt Kapstadt bereits heute eine der größten OSS-Implementierungen. So werden im Rahmen des »Smart Cape Access«-Projekts 540 Desktop-Rechner mit OSS betrieben. Mehr als 40.000 Benutzer in den Gemeinden nutzen diese Rechner. Sooful wandte sich an diejenigen, die die Praxistauglichkeit des Open-Source-Desktops bezweifeln, mit den Worten: »Wir verwenden ihn bereits.« Der beste Beweis dafür sei wohl die Anzahl der Leute, die die Rechner verwenden.
Read more: Südafrika: Kapstadt will führender Open Source-Anwender werden
Sooful, who said the city already runs some of the "largest open source implementations around", said the Smart Cape Access project has 540 open source-based desktop machines in daily use. "Right now we have more than 40 000 users in the communities using these terminals. To those that say the open source desktop is not ready for wide usage we say 'we are already doing it'. There is no better proof than to see this number of people using an open source desktop."
Read more: South Afica: City of Cape Town to be a 'leader in OSS'
The concept is being tested in about 600 cities worldwide, including in the US and Taiwan, where cheap internet access and phone calls are already a normal part of life. Just how seriously the idea is being taken in SA was seen in the large turnout last week for a Digital Cities conference held by BMI-TechKnowledge.
Read more: South Africa: Telecoms Could Become a Basic Municipal Service
The department, having already rolled out mobile units that make use of satellites to enable citizens in rural parts to apply for ID books, is now investigating a national fingerprint database.
Cabinet has given the idea of a national identification system that makes use of fingerprints stored in a database its 'in concept' approval.
Read more: E-governance rollout part of South Africa's anticorruption drive
The group, referred to as the “Beyond Hackers Team” claims that they operate from Chile, South America.
Knowing well that they infiltrated South African Government websites, the hackers left the following message on the hacked sites: “South Africa Government Server... hohoho - pwned by byond crew!! – Chile”.