This is a very interesting article on the roles played by open source software developers in helping to stop the spread of Ebola virus in Sierra Leone. Payroll crisis hindered the recruitment of doctors and nurses and also undermined people's confidence in the health system at a vital time, which ultimately exacerbated the spread of the virus. By leveraging on the use of open source software, these IT developers managed to find solutions for logistics and accounting issues, which would not have possible without the existence of open source frameworks. With this huge open source ecosystem, these software developers managed to develop a mobile money system that substitued cellphone minutes for cash and created a automated payment system, thus effectively ending spread of virus.
I find this article extremely relevant to what we have learnt about open source software where it is more superior to proprietary software attributed to wisdom of the crowds. Such an epidemic could not have been reduced in a matter of weeks, without the use of open source software as it is not possible for these developers to develop such complex systems in such a short time with no funding available. This article highlights the wonders of open source software, where modified and more reliable source codes can be distributed to the masses and thereby improving their lives.
By: See Wei Xuan
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