This presentation is for all those Indians who are interested in driving policy change by exercising their rights and duties as citizens

1. Yes, you can!
Orchestrating policy change in
India
Venkatesh Hariharan
Director - Knowledge Commons
www.osindia.blogspot.com
venkyh@gmail.com

2. This talk is meant for all Indians who are
interested in building a better India by
exercising their rights and responsibilities
Who is this talk for?

3. What are my credentials to give
this talk?
● Former policy head of Red Hat and
Google (views expressed are my own)
● Fought key policy battles like OOXML,
open standards and software patents
● 15 years in journalism, eight years in
Public Policy
● Director of Knowledge Commons
● Advisory Board member, Software
Freedom Law Center

4. OOXML and Open Standards as
a case study
● OOXML proposed by Microsoft as a
standard at ISO
● ODF was approved by ISO earlier
● Microsoft proposed that "multiple
standards" are OK
● Intense lobbying from Microsoft.
Kazakhistan, Ivory Coast and other join
as new members on the ISO committee
● Microsoft wins a bitter battle at ISO but
loses in India

5. How we won India
● Zero awareness of Open Standards
● Intensive engagement with bureaucrats,
policy makers and the media
● Politicians and bureaucrats were
supportive of Microsoft. Media glare
caused them to back off
● Constantly kept the heat on Microsoft,
exposing that they were doing in other
countries

6. News snippets on OOXML
Corrupt countries were more likely to support the OOXML document
format
http://www.effi.org/blog/kai-2007-09-05.en.html
Microsoft "persuades" NGOs to support OOXML
http://osindia.blogspot.in/2008/02/microsoft-persuades-ngos-to-support.
html
OOXML put on hold amid opposition from India
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2008-06-
13/news/27732185_1_appeals-final-votes-format
India throws MS open format out of the window
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2007-08-
24/news/28434417_1_ooxml-odf-camp-microsoft

7. Net results
● After 18 months of deliberation, India
voted against OOXML at ISO
● India formulated an open standards policy
stating that only royalty-free open formats
will be used for e-gov
● ODF is now the approved standard for e-
gov in India. OOXML is not
● Tremendous effort required to implement
the policy but FOSS community lacks
resources

8. Lessons for policy warriors - I
● Team up with others who have the same
mission. You can't do this alone
● Government is not a monolithic entity.
Identify your friends within government
and empower them. Isolate your enemies
● Escalate fearlessly. We went up to the
Prime Minister's Office
● Be a "Customer from hell." Demand better
governance. Be relentless. Be ruthless

9. Lessons for policy warriors - II
● Engage with everyone, even your
opponents. Many a times, they might just
be misguided
● Democracy is like a muscle. You have to
exercise your rights and responsibilities
● Leverage all the weapons of democracy -
Media, judiciary, RTI etc -- for maximum
impact

10. A practical handbook for change
● Pick a cause you are passionate about
● Understand your strengths, and volunteer
● Understand your weaknesses. Team up
with others who complement you
● Build a community. Leverage social
media
● Change is a marathon, not a sprint
● Have a healthy disregard for the
"impossible."

11. Remember
Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service
and compassion are the things which renew humanity. —Buddha
Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your
country. -- John F Kennedy

12. What really worked
● Core group of three determined warriors
● Fantastic support from the free and open
source community
●

13. "Be the change you want to see in the
world." Mahatma Gandhi
"Ask not what your country can do for you.
Ask what you can do for your country."
-- John F Kennedy