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FOSS The Final Frontier?
Maurice L McNaughton
April 3, 2011

Anyone who considers themself a Trekkie (A cult fan of the Star Trek Series franchise) would immediately recognize the turn of phrase that titles this piece as being drawn from the opening monologue of every Star Trek television show or movie..  "Space... The final frontier... These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission.. etc.

In somewhat similar manner as the intrepid crew of the Starship Enterprise explored the vast unknown reaches of Space, so too is the MSB Center of Excellence (COE) embarked on a journey to explore the relatively unexplored application of Free and Open Source Software in the local business community.. To boldly go where none has gone before?

Re-Engineering local Microfinance Operations
Maurice L McNaughton
September 18, 2010

So we're heading off to Uruguay in a few weeks to present our ideas about the use of ICT (mobile in particular) as an enabler of the local Microfinance process, and hopefully to secure funding to pursue these ideas. Studies have shown that the development and operating performance of the microfinance sector in Jamaica and the English-Speaking-Caribbean lags considerably behind their counterparts in many other developing countries...

30 Countries, 420 Ideas, 20 Winners!
Maurice L McNaughton
August 1, 2010

MSB through a collaboration between its Centre of Excellence and an interesting mix of partners (more on that in a subsequent Blog), has gained the distinction of being one of 20 best winning ideas selected for the "Technologies for Financial Inclusion Program ". This was in response to a Multi-Agency Call for Project Ideas that would improve the low-income population’s access to financial services by applying innovative technological solutions in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The Call attracted 420 Idea submissions from 30 Countries...

FOSS, Philosophy & Politics - What's the Connection?
Maurice L McNaughton
June 15, 2010

The application of Computing in Business (some folks call it MIS) is continually evolving as a discipline. As an Industry, we've now learned after many years of failed IT Projects (17% success rate according to the Standish Report), that critical success factors are more about Organizational Context, Culture and People rather than the technology itself. Perhaps we could refer to these collectively as the "Politics" of the Organization... The Open Source phenomenon has rattled the very foundations of the commercial software industry.. And while Open-Source has spawned some fascinating technologies, it Is fundamentally more about the Philosophy of Collaboration and Community than about technology itself...