Title: LinventiX - Technology Transfer and
Information and Communications Technology the Open Source Way
Abstract: LinventiX
is a technology selector, adapter, localizer, marketer, and developer. The
purpose of the product is to provide a homegrown technological base from
which a regional sustainable technological advantage can spring. In a nutshell,
the grand vision is one of identification of prevalent deployed software
technologies and substituting them with open source equivalents. While a
by-product of such an operation will inevitably be the introduction of innovative
technologies, this is not our core purpose. We choose to accept what the
market defines as required as a function of what is used and seek to provide
viable and attractive alternatives. We choose open source for several key
reasons: Open source as legitimized by an OSI-compliant licensing scheme
eliminates traditional capital investment requirements both from the point
of view of our operations and from the point of view of the eventual user.
We plan on maintaining the open source licensing approach and extending its
benefits to the market and user. There is a more profound goal from
the effort to promote and popularize the employment of open source. The development
of the region from an ICT perspective hinges largely on catalytic technology
transfer infusions to bring the local and regional state of the art into
synchronization with the global one. Open source software is inherently technology-transfer
friendly; in fact the technology transfer component is unavoidable: you obtain
the technology, you obtain the means by which it works (the source code)
- no more black boxes. Egypt and, more generally the Middle Eastern
region are not yet familiar with the range of ways for revenue generation
for an open source product and support provider; from a marketing perspective,
this is an enormous niche which will need to be filled rapidly. We the founders
of LinventiX possess a unique cross-section of skill-sets covering business
wisdom, extensive open source experience, market hands-on experience, and
a solid academic background to provide perspective. Beyond the scope of deploying
open source to create viable alternatives to deployed technologies, we set
no boundaries. While we intend to start with tightly focused pilots in the
interest of gaining mind-share and a rapid commencement of positive financials,
our ultimate aim is to make open source pervasive and profitable. We know
open source and we know its potential; the revolutionary effect of this disruptive
model of development has the potential to leapfrog Egypt and the region into
the forefront of the technological elite. LinventiX exists to bring this
about.
Authors: Youssef
Assad, Moutaz Haddara, and Ahmed El-Ragal