DeclaracionEsteli-en

De Software Libre Centroamérica

Declaration of Estelí

Definitions

Free Software: Computer program whose license guarantees the user access to the source code of the program and authorized him to run for any purpose, modify and redistribute both the original and its amendments, without having to pay additional royalties to previous developers.

Open Standards: Technical Specification, published and controlled by an organization that is responsible for its development, which have been accepted by the industry, available to any user to be implemented in a free software or another promoting competitiveness, interoperability and flexibility.

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Preamble:

We, members of the Central American community of users, developers and free software activists have gathered in the city of Estelí, Nicaragua, with the following objectives: to collect organizational experiences of the communities, share expertise, create social ties and cohesion of ideas in the region and set common objectives for the advancement of Free Software in Central America.

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Taking into account that all the governments of our countries have signed and ratified the Iberoamerican Charter of Electronic Government, emphasize the importance of remembering the claims of the charter in terms of recommending "the use of Open Standards and Free Software because of security, long-term sustainability and to prevent public knowledge is not privatized."

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Considering also that the use of Free Software and Open Standards:

1. Helps to strengthen the national software industry.
2. Actually contributes to reduce the social and technological breach.
3. Enables interoperability of information systems of the State in order to give quick and timely responses to the citizens, improving governance and autonomy.
4. Allows to improve the security levels of the systems.
5. It is a tool for achieving technological sovereignty and autonomy, and a better investment of public resources.

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'We agreed to urge governments, educational institutions, research centers, civil society and all related entities in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama to:'

1. Establish as state policy, the use of Open Standards and Free Software in Public Administration.
2. We promote research and development of software from a licensing model, building access and free developed using open standards, with special incentives for those purposes.
3. Promote the widespread use of Free Software and Open Standards in society, training and instructing the users.
4. Establish policies to include free software developed using open standards in basic education programs and diversified under the principles of Inclusive Education Technology, creativity and solidarity.
5. Set within the plans and development programs and implementation of Free Software and Open Standards, mechanisms that respect the identity, diversity of contexts, cultures, ethnicities and genders.
6. Ensure the appropriate development of operating systems and applications for specific populations according to their ethnic, cultural and socioeconomic background.
7. Which social inequalities in access to education and technology can play patterns and models that Free Software can be a tool that provides for participation, autonomy and empowerment of women in society.
8. Do not allow the patenting of software algorithms and therefore violates the technological development of our countries and opportunities for our people to become active participants in knowledge construction.
9. That the public should share information on patent applications and amendments to the laws of copyright, so that these data are accessible free of charge and available through digital media, using open standards.
10. The information and studies in universities and public institutions must be available for use, learning and improvement by being in the public interest.
11. Which university curricula must be incorporated into their subjects, free of licensing schemes.
12. That universities should include within the careers related to the development of systems, basic knowledge about the general concepts of copyright and licensing schemes.

Issued in the city of Estelí, Nicaragua, on the twentieth day of June of two thousand nine.