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Guoli Zhang

Guoli joined the Social Informatics Group in October 2005

Guoli Zhang

Guoli received her MSc in Information Systems in 2005 from Napier University. Her undergraduate background is Information Management, which she studied in China. Guoli speaks two languages, Mandarin Chinese and English. Guoli's interests are Open Source and free software, the Open Source movement, diffusion and adoption of Open Source. This research aims to investigate the factors influencing OSS adoption in non-profit organisations. The emphasis is on how software procurement and implementation strategies are decided, including internal policy and links with external bodies. It is widely recognised that open standards can influence adoption since open standards facilitate interoperability between OSS and existing proprietary software. Social factors are also important, and political factors especially in the poorer nations. The initial technology frame of open source included ideas of freedom and sharing. This ideology has influenced political decisions on OSS adoption and it is felt that ideology may have a similar influence on non-profit organisations.

Guoli works with Kathy Buckner and Dr. Keith Horton.

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