The government of Botswana has informed the civil service that it will terminate the usage of Microsoft Office and Desktop products, citing budgetary constraints. Civil servants will instead be encouraged to use open-source software like Libre Office.
In the communication seen by BW TechZone, government stated that although it will renew the Microsoft Enterprise Agreement which expired on 31 March 2024, Microsoft Office will not be included in the services covered by the new agreement. Instead, it encouraged departments to consider open source solutions like Libre Office.
"After thorough evaluation and consideration of our budgetary constraints and strategic objectives, it has been determined that Microsoft Office and desktop products be removed from the enterprise agreement renewal as a cost-saving measure," government said in a statement.
Open-source software is computer software that is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any purpose.
"By embracing open-source solutions for desktop usage, we can significantly reduce our reliance on proprietary software vendors and allocate our resources more efficiently," government said.