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3 ways open-source software helps nonprofits keep up with data protection demands

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As the driving force behind the future of data sovereignty, open-source software is the natural fit for nonprofits seeking to adopt modern digital solutions.

NGOs and nonprofits face many of the same threats to their data and digital assets as large enterprises. The fundamental difference is that they rarely have the budgets to implement the latest enterprise-grade data-protection measures and hire top expertise in the space. In fact, according to the CyberPeace Institute, 86% of NGOs lack cybersecurity plans.

As a result, many philanthropic ventures are highly vulnerable to threats like cyberattacks and data leaks, with half of NGOs reporting being targeted in recent years. At the same time, they face the same pressures from industry regulators as the business world to protect personally identifiable data.

Perhaps the most sobering fact about cyberthreats facing nonprofits is how philanthropic work itself makes them a target. Many cybercriminals make a point of exploiting peoples’ goodwill by launching targeted social engineering scams with a view to stealing donations away from good causes. For example, charities in the UK lost £8.6 million to fraud between April 2020 and March 2021. Naturally, when this happens, donors start losing confidence, with potentially crippling impacts on legitimate nonprofits and their beneficiaries.

Of course, data protection isn’t just about protecting against malicious threats, but also about protecting data from threats like accidental leaks or compliance failures. In a sector that relies immensely on trust, reputation, and accountability, these challenges must be tackled together as one. At the same time, however, NGOs and nonprofits must address the challenges in a way that doesn’t end up interfering with their long-term policy goals.

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How open-source solutions and low-code development empower digital sovereignty

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By making software development accessible to a broader range of users, low code and open-source solutions can enhance digital sovereignty and interoperability.

As businesses and society at large become more dependent on data, they are also becoming more dependent on foreign countries. This is perfectly demonstrated by the fact that 92% of the data generated in the western world is stored on servers in the US. Moreover, as the sheer volume of data continues to grow, it is becoming less feasible to move it to other platforms in other countries. Herein lies the growing emphasis on digital sovereignty – the idea that people and organizations should have control and ownership of their own data.

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How To Protect My Company Data?

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As our current business landscape continues to evolve, the amount of data that businesses are expected to collect, track and analyze daily is increasing at an exponential rate. However, with increasing amounts of data, there is also a growing need to protect your company’s sensitive data. If your company’s data falls into the wrong hands, it could be potentially disastrous for employees, clients, and stakeholders.

Recent studies indicate that the average cost of a data breach to companies worldwide is approximately $3.86 million. Therefore it is imperative that your company leverages the power of secure software to protect sensitive data. Planet Crust’s low-code CRM solutions are 100% open-source, can be self-hosted behind any cloud or firewall, and enable businesses to take advantage of security automation. Read more

What Does “Apache 2.0 License” Mean?

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A software license is defined as a legal agreement between an end-user and the owner of a particular software program that details the terms and agreements for the use and distribution of the software.

Furthermore, a software license usually outlines how many times a particular software can be downloaded, how much the use of the software costs, and the varying levels of source code access that end-users can take advantage of. The software license is an extremely important factor in ensuring that the legal and permissive rights of all involved parties of a software program are appropriately maintained.

The Apache 2.0 license is a particular type of open-source, permissive software license that ensures that end-users are granted a license to any patent that is covered by the software in question. An Apache 2.0 license ensures the security and availability of safe and powerful open-source software. Read more

What Are The Five Features That Make A City ‘Smart’?

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A smart city is a particular regional or geographical location that utilizes digital and electronic technology and infrastructure to collect data, monitor city operations, share information in real-time, and much more. 

Smart cities have been proven to have many benefits, such as an increased focus on sustainability, better security systems, more efficient communication, and less crime. The global smart city industry is expected to reach a market value of $820.7 billion by 2025, with a CAGR of 14.8%.  Read more

How Can We Control Where Our Data Is Stored?

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In our increasingly technologically advanced business landscape, data is becoming more and more valuable. Therefore, breaches in data security and encryption can be extremely disastrous for modern businesses. It can result in financial losses, decreased productivity levels, and a lack of trust with customers. Studies show that data breaches for U.S.-based companies can cost an average of $8.19 million.

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Does NASA Use Open-Source?

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NASA (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration) is America’s space exploration agency and the civil space program. NASA employs approximately 312,000 people across the United States and maintains a public central data storage repository, encouraging open innovation, viewer engagement, and public involvement.

Studies show that 78% of businesses run a percentage of their operations on open-source software. NASA utilizes open-source platforms to significantly streamline and automate business processes, which ultimately reduces enterprise application development costs, encourages cross-departmental collaboration, reduces the length of software development cycles, and much more.

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What Is the Best Open-Source Software?

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Open-source software is defined as any commercial software that is openly licensed and accessible for users. Open-source software also allows users to share, adjust and modify its source code to adjust to their specific needs and preferences.

Approximately 78% of companies run at least some of their business processes using open-source software. Open-source software encourages cross-departmental collaborative participation, open principle exchange, rapid enterprise application prototyping, and community-focused software development. Read more

Are All Open-Source Software the Same?

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Open-source software is defined as openly licensed and collaborative software that allows users to modify the application’s source code and structure freely. The open-source design platforms have entirely revolutionized the software development process and the quality of applications that businesses can create.

Open-source development software promotes and fosters open collaboration, application customization, and decentralization of the software development process. Therefore, open-source software is an extremely important tool for encouraging innovation, development, and creativity within the application software industry.

Approximately 78% of businesses utilize open-source software to run some aspect of their day-to-day operations. Although open-source technology is a potent tool to create complex, high functioning software, many believe that all open-source software is the same. However, there are multiple different types of open-source software with varying levels of functionality and capability. Read more

A Road Map Towards Digital Sovereignty

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Digital sovereignty and privacy are becoming an increasing priority as digital and online technology continue to evolve and advance.

Digital sovereignty is defined as a geographical area’s ability to control the data, software and hardware it relies on and creates. The convergence of information has now resulted in data becoming a valuable commodity.

For individuals, digital sovereignty refers to one’s ability to own and control the handling of their data safety and privacy. Personal individual data is often collected and exploited by bigger corporations, which is unethical and an invasion of user privacy. Most users expect their country’s government to protect their digital privacy, and therefore many countries must follow a series of steps to achieve optimal digital sovereignty.

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