USE OF OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE IN LOGISTICS ICT EDUCATION

Nowadays Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) play a very important role in Logistics. The Open Source Software (OSS) movement is creating new models for research and education. This work argues over the exclusive use of OSS for supporting the laboratory sessions of ICT undergraduate courses in the domain of Logistics Management, in a Greek public Higher Education Institution. We demonstrate the successful adoption of OSS and its influence in Logistics Management education, focusing on learning of concepts rather than products. Four sample courses that are closely related are considered: Databases Management, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Logistics Information Systems and E-Business. The requirements and selection of the most suitable open source programs, the adaptation of the existing educational material and the development of new course-ware are presented. The various factors that can influence the successful implementation, the issues that we addressed, and the students’ attitudes towards using OSS are analysed.