Free software in Europe's public sector HOWTO Open Source in public administration

Disclaimers

1. The information and views set out in this presentation are those of the presenter and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Neither the European Union institutions and bodies nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of this presentation.
2. Free software and open source software are synonyms

This talk

2. HOWTO open source in public administrations
3. Key policies
4. Expected benefits
5. What's missing?
1. But first: about OSOR

Open Source Observatory & Repository

• More than 2000 news items, over 100 studies
• Nearly 4000 government IT solutions (federated repositories)
• EUPL

HOWTO open source in public administration

1. Make free & open source a task for the CIO

• Licence costs are just the tip of the iceberg
• Flexibility, scalability, speed
• Take control, get rid of lock-in

2. Make Moz://a Firefox the default browser

• Provides leverage in dealing with IT suppliers
• Break the lock-in to IE and proprietary technology
• Available on all workstation operating systems

3. Make open standards mandatory

• Be mindful of the definition
• Take care of the selection process
• Walk your talk

4. Help the organisation change

• Small-scale pilots
• Involve key-actors
• Communicate, explain and motivate

5. Engage the communities

• Require open source skills (in-house and suppliers)
• Optimise procurement to SMEs and sole proprietors
• Promote, sponsor and facilitate open source development

Key policies

• France's Digital Law & rules on Public Sector Information
• United Kingdom's Open Standards Policy
• Bulgaria's amended eGovernment law, mandating a national 'GitHub'

Expected benefits

• Autonomy, sovereignty, control
• Increased efficiency, innovation
• Growth of local, national & European software & services sector

What's missing?

• Political awareness
• Well-organised advocacy by civil groups and industry
• Patches for procurement

Recaputulation

• CIO's task
• Use Firefox
• Open standards
• Manage change
• Dig communities

Credits

• Thanks to our European Commission for making this possible
• Thanks to Clémentine Valayer, Daniel Melin, Eric Ficheux, Laurent Joubert, and many others for their valuable comments
• Thanks to the herculean Debian, Emacs, Org-mode, and Reveal.js