[IDEA] Replacing AutoCAD and SolidWorks with FreeCAD: A National Open-Source Engineering Initiative

[justinaquino]

Title: Replacing AutoCAD and SolidWorks with FreeCAD: A National Open-Source Engineering Initiative

---

Objective

To transition educational institutions, government agencies, and private sector companies from proprietary CAD tools (AutoCAD, SolidWorks, Revit, etc.) to FreeCAD, a powerful open-source alternative. The initiative aims to promote self-sufficiency, reduce dependency on expensive software licenses, and build a national library of open engineering and design resources.

---

Rationale

1. Economic Impact

• The average academic seat license for AutoCAD/SolidWorks costs between PHP 10,000–20,000 annually per user.
• For 10,000 students per year, this equates to PHP 100–200 million in software costs.
• Transitioning to FreeCAD would eliminate these recurring expenses, allowing schools to redirect funds toward hardware, training, or R&D.

2. Educational and Professional Ownership

• Students currently lose access to proprietary software after graduation.
• With FreeCAD, designs and projects remain accessible for life.
• Encourages continuous learning, self-paced development, and open portfolio building.

3. Sovereign Technological Development

• Promotes independence from foreign vendors and aligns with national digital sovereignty goals.
• Builds local expertise in open-source development and engineering tools.

---

Implementation Plan

Phase 1: Pilot and Training (0–6 Months)

• Identify pilot schools and departments (Engineering, Architecture, Industrial Design).
• Establish training programs and certifications in FreeCAD fundamentals:
  • 2D Drafting
  • 3D Modeling
  • BIM (Building Information Modeling)
  • FEM/FEA (Finite Element Analysis)
  • CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)
• Provide documentation, video tutorials, and a FreeCAD resource portal.

Phase 2: Repository and Collaboration (6–12 Months)

• Create a Philippine Open Design Repository hosted via BetterGov.ph.
• Archive and categorize student and faculty designs for public and research use.
• Develop plugins for Philippine standards (PNS), materials library, and templates for local industry.

Phase 3: Government and Industry Integration (1–2 Years)

• Collaborate with government agencies (DOST, DPWH, DepEd, CHED) to:
  • Include FreeCAD in official curriculums.
  • Require open design formats for government-funded projects.
  • Publish government infrastructure blueprints as open references.
• Partner with private companies to accept FreeCAD outputs for manufacturing and documentation.

Phase 4: Continuous Development (2+ Years)

• Form a FreeCAD PH Consortium of educators, developers, and industry partners.
• Organize annual hackathons, code sprints, and design competitions.
• Develop localized FreeCAD modules for:
  • Construction bill of quantities (BOQ)
  • Modular housing design
  • Manufacturing jigs and fixtures

---

Budget Allocation Overview

Category	Budget (PHP)	Description
Pilot and Training	10M	Development of training materials, certification, and workshops for FreeCAD adoption
Repository and Collaboration	5M	Hosting, curation, and database setup for the national design repository via BetterGov.ph
Government and Industry Integration	10M	Policy alignment, workshops with agencies, and integration of FreeCAD into national standards
Continuous Development and Consortium	10M	Annual events, developer support, and maintenance of local modules
FreeCAD Local Development Contributions	15M	Funding for Filipino FreeCAD developers to add features, improve usability, and integrate with local standards
Total Estimated Budget	50M	National rollout and sustainability plan for 2 years

---

FreeCAD PH Development Roadmap

• Invest PHP 15M in local FreeCAD developers to enhance features that make it more intuitive than AutoCAD.
• Implement a Philippine Reference System inside FreeCAD that:
  • Integrates with Philippine Design and Building Codes.
  • Provides AI-assisted search and recommendations for safety and compliance.
  • Connects to a public design database for examples, templates, and past projects.
• Develop localized tools for:
  • Automated PNS-compliant material checks.
  • Standardized project templates for public infrastructure.
  • Integration with national BIM and procurement systems.

---

Key Benefits

Stakeholder	Benefits
Students	Free lifelong access to CAD tools, portfolio ownership
Schools	Save millions on licensing, flexible learning environment
Businesses	Lower software costs, access to trained FreeCAD talent
Government	Open and transparent design repositories
Community	Shared access to national design assets

---

SMART Goals

Goal	Metric	Target Date
Launch pilot program	5 universities onboarded	Q2 2026
Build FreeCAD courseware	10 courses published	Q3 2026
National design repository	10,000 designs uploaded	Q1 2027
Contribute to FreeCAD core	5 accepted PRs	Q4 2026
Government adoption	3 departments using FreeCAD	Q2 2027
Develop PH Reference System	Beta release integrated in FreeCAD	Q4 2027

---

Call to Action

• Students: Download and learn FreeCAD today. Keep your designs forever.
• Educators: Transition your lab and classes to open-source tools.
• Government: Mandate open-source compliance for publicly funded projects.
• Industry: Accept FreeCAD files and sponsor FreeCAD module development.
• Developers: Contribute to the FreeCAD PH initiative and help build the Philippine Reference System.

---

Vision: A Philippines where innovation, design, and engineering are open, accessible, and sustainable — powered by FreeCAD and shared knowledge.

[justinaquino]

So will complement the Real-time transparent Construction (and Manufacturing) Materials Price Database.
Since FreeCAD can have a List of materials and their prices saved - and create a Bill of Materials that updates as the design updates.

Our team is currently evangelizing the use of FreeCAD - and we can recommend professionals who can aid in the rapid deployment of this tech. This would be the best way to contextualize the Transaprent Material Cost - because this would Update the cost of a Project based on the Database.

ALso requiring FreeCAD to be the CORE design documents - means everyone can easily substitute and update alternative materials and options to optimize the design.

[justinaquino]

What is 1M - this is the salary of 1.5-2 professionals for 1 year plus overhead (office, utilities, and admin outsource). This doesn't count the Procurement of Services and materials they will need to do their job. 50M in 2 years with an OPEX of about 7-10 core staff for the next 2 years. Procurement of Training and Marketing Services, and 15M of Development Services.
Of course you can easily scale up this project -
Take note of the RETURNS in terms of saving for Academe and the Industry at large.

[justinaquino]

We offer the Planning and Expertise to pull this off. We need access to legislators