11.5. Public Administrations and Libre Software Before the year 2000, libre software was almost completely off the political radar in Europe. But since then, and with widely varying intensities, it has entered the political agenda in many European cities, regions, and countries. In some cases, it is considered as one possible choice for public administrations in their role as intensive users of services based in software. In some others, it is deeply linked to efforts to promote the information society. In this respect, some public administrations are actively proposing libre software as a viable alternative for citizens and companies in their area of influence. Finally, some legislative bodies have also considered law proposals which deal specifically with libre software. Initiatives are happening at all levels: European Union institutions, national governments, regional administrations, and municipalities. However, the situation varies a lot from country to country and from region to region. All in all, our feeling is that we have reached a point in Europe where it is strange to find institutions that have not at least considered the use of libre software. In fact, several studies signal the public sector as one of the driving forces behind libre software in Europe for the coming years. In the rest of this section, we will take a look at some of these initiatives. 11.5.1. Actions by the European Commission The European Commission (the institution in the European Union most similar to an "executive branch") has promoted several actions related to libre software. By 1999 an informal group of experts, the European Working Group on Libre Software,[17] was meeting in Brussels at the request of some officials of the DG-INFO (Directorate General on Information Society). The main interest of these meetings was to explore specific opportunities for Europe in the field of libre software, to provide the Commission with some input about its impact in the European IT sector. The most widely known output of the group was the report titled "Free Software/Open Source: Information Society Opportunities for Europe?" (http://eu.conecta.it/paper.pdf) which was presented in Brussels in March 2000. This was probably the first public activity of the Commission in relation to libre software and represented a kind of turning point which led to many other actions by European institutions. The report identified some signals that evolved later into trends. It also recommended both the consideration of libre software solutions in public administrations, and activities to inform the European industry about new possibilities. In addition, the report presented a complete landscape of the libre software world, from technical, legal, and economic points of view. [17] Although the group is no longer active, http://eu.conecta.it hosts some information about it. There is also an open mailing list, freesw, that is still used for announcements and discussions related to libre software in Europe.
Since the days of that group, libre software has been present in several actions funded by the European Commission, which has had a policy of researching and publishing information about it, without promoting it explicitly. To describe just a few of those actions, we will concentrate on some initiatives promoted by the IDA (now IDABC) program and by the IST program (in the context of the fifth and sixth R&D Framework Programs). IDA (Interchange of Data between Administrations) was a program of the European Union, started in 1999 and aimed at the funding, development, and coordination of pan-European services for public administrations. Since 2004, it has been continued by the IDABC program. IDA and IDABC have performed many activities related to libre software, which are referred to in the IDA Open Source Observatory ( http://europa.eu.int/idabc/en/chapter/452). Among them, the following can be highlighted: "European Interoperability Framework for pan-European eGovernment Services" ( http://europa.eu.int/idabc/en/document/3761; 2004). This reference document on interoperability was written after an extensive consultation process. IDABC considers it the highest-ranking module for the implementation of e-government in Europe. It includes several references to libre software, among which the following can be highlighted:
Open Source Software (OSS) tends to use and help define open standards and publicly available specifications. OSS products are, by their nature, publicly available specifications, and the availability of their source code promotes open, democratic debate around the specifications, making them both more robust and interoperable. As such, OSS corresponds to the objectives of this Framework and should be assessed and considered favourably alongside proprietary alternatives. "IDA OSS Migration Guidelines," ( http://europa.eu.int/idabc/en/document/2623#migration; November 2003). One of the best guides for the migration to libre software. Specially targeted at public administrations, many of its analyses and recommendations are, however, valuable for any party considering moving from proprietary to libre solutions. It includes a detailed methodology for estimating the convenience of the migration, and for putting it into practice. It also provides complete descriptions of some typical scenarios, and configurations for the usual cases (email, desktop, server, etc.). "Pooling Open Source Software, Feasibility Study," ( http://europa.eu.int/idabc/en/document/2623#feasibility) June 2002. A study on the opportunities for sharing libre software among public administrations, from technical, legal, functional, and financial points of view. "Study into the Use of OSS in the Public Sector," ( http://europa.eu.int/idabc/en/document/2623#study) June 2001. One of the first reports on the use of libre software in public administrations. Includes some general information on libre software, and details on libre software solutions (about 100 examples showing specific systems that could be useful in the public context). It also analyzes the deployment of libre software in Europe at the time of the report, and presents some interesting conclusions. Organization of meetings and symposiums for sharing experiences on the use of libre software in public administrations in different countries. These have been helpful for coordinating actions and establishing links among the promoters of different initiatives. The IDA Open Source Observatory. This is worth mentioning, as it provides a good compilation of information about libre software, its situation in Europe, and many issues especially relevant to public administrations.
Within the IST (Information Society Technologies; http://www.cordis.lu/ist) research program, the Commission has funded (and is funding) several projects related to libre software. Many of them are aimed at the production of libre software in a given domain, such as AGNULA (http://www.agnula.org; libre software distributions specialized in audio and video). A detailed listing of those projects is available in the area devoted to libre software in the Information Society Thematic Portal ( http://europa.eu.int/information_society/activities/opensource/european_activities). Some others are devoted to researching libre software as a matter of study, with the aim of improving general knowledge about it: FLOSS ( http://www.infonomics.nl/FLOSS) was the first academic research of the libre software phenomenon as a whole, looking at it from many different points of view. It included studies on the developers themselves, based on a survey and on the analysis of author information in source code, focusing on sociological data about them. It was the first to provide some insight about why developers participate in libre software projects, what professional profile they have, what amount of time they devote to libre software, and where they come from. The study was also successful in the introduction of the name FLOSS (an acronym for "free, libre, open source software"), which has since been used in many other cases, especially within the research community. AMOS (http://www.clip.dia.fi.upm.es/~amos/AMOS) was a project to research the feasibility of building a system capable of categorizing and allowing searches among libre software package descriptions. This is especially useful for developers looking for code to reuse in their systems. COSPA (Consortium for Open Source in the Public Administration; http://cospa-project.org), started in 2003, aimed to analyze the effects of the introduction of libre software and open standards in European public administrations. FLOSS-POLS (Free/Libre/Open Source Software: Policy Support; http://www.flosspols.org) is a project started in 2004 as a follow-up to FLOSS, and includes research tracks on government policy toward libre software, gender issues, and the efficiency of libre software development methods for collaborative problem solving. FLOSS-POLS will also deal with libre software in e-government, and will look for feedback from governments in relation to policies about libre software. CALIBRE is an action to coordinate the research on libre software in Europe, and to help transfer its results to industry. It started in mid-2004, and has already organized several conferences with a special focus on showing the results of libre software engineering, or on the use of libre software within European industry.
In the following years, it is expected that more and more projects related to the study of libre software will be approved in future calls, in what seems to be a growing interest by the European Commission research work programs to understand how libre software works from several points of view. 11.5.2. National Initiatives At the national level, the situation is different from country to country. And even among those who have started some kind of action related to libre software, approaches are diverse. However, some common patterns can be identified. It is unusual to find a national government that has not issued studies and recommendations for the use of libre software in public administrations. There is also a certain consensus on some matters that have been proposed again and again, such as consideration of libre software for public acquisitions, adherence to open standards and interoperability, the need for inspection, and the importance of retaining proprietary rights on software. In any case, the following brief descriptions of the state of affairs in several countries should show both consensus and diversity of approaches:[18] [18] Some of this information was obtained from the European Information Society Thematic Portal, http://europa.eu.int/information_society/activities/opensource/cases, and from the Open Source Observatory, http://europa.eu.int/idabc/en/document/1677/471.
France -
ADAE (Agence pour le Développement de l'Administration Électronique, Agency for the Development of the Electronic Administration; http://www.adae.gouv.fr/index.php3), formerly ATICA, maintains a good deal of information related to libre software in public administrations, and organizes activities related to that topic. It has also published several reports of special interest. Among them, it is worth mentioning the "Guide de choix et d'usage des licences de logiciels libres pour les administrations"[19] ("Guide to Choosing and Using Free Software Licenses for Government and Public Sector Entities), a complete guide to the legal implications of using libre software licenses, either for external software (obtained with or without cost) or for software produced by the administration itself (recommending the GPL in this case). There are also some recommendations for the promotion of libre software in the framework of e-administration programs, and cases of large-scale deployment, mainly of OpenOffice.org, in French public administrations. [19] http://www.adae.gouv.fr/upload/documents/free_software_guide.pdf, linked from http://www.adae.gouv.fr/article.php3?id_article=172, which includes a translation into English.
Also in France, two of the first proposals of laws related to the use of libre software in public administrations were produced. In 1999, Laffitte, Trégouet, and Cabanel drafted in the French Senate the 2000-117 law project, aimed at enforcing the use of libre software in public administrations in those domains where technical solutions were already available (considering a whole set of exceptions and temporary measures to facilitate the transition period). It also considered the creation of a Libre Software Agency, funded by the government, which would help public administrations in the deployment of libre software technologies. In 2000, another law was proposed by Jean-Yves Le Déaut, Christian Paul, and Pierre Cohen. It was similar in objectives and rationale, but was not compulsory about the use of libre software in public administrations, but more focused on the availability of source code for applications and on the principle of "right to compatibility of software," which aims to guarantee the interoperability principle, common in European legislation. Although neither of these projects was approved, both have influenced later law initiatives in many other countries.
United Kingdom -
There have been several studies and pilot experiences, which led in 2002 to the publication by the OGC[20] (the Office of Government Commerce) of a formal policy on the use of libre software, "Open Source Software: Use within UK Government" (http://www.ogc.gov.uk/oss/OSS-policy.pdf) which mandates not only the consideration of libre software in procurements, but also that decisions must be made considering "value for money" (a policy that has been widely copied in many other countries, especially in the developing world). At the same time, it establishes a policy of avoiding lock-in by proprietary software providers, supporting open standards and specifications, and exploring the use of libre software licenses for dissemination of research and development funded with public money. A document on implementing this policy was also published. "Guidance on Implementing OSS" ( http://www.ogc.gov.uk/embedded_object.asp?docid=2498) provides details on how and when to consider libre software, and includes a detailed study of proprietary software lock-in practices and how to avoid them. [20] http://www.ogc.gov.uk/. Information related to libre software is at http://www.ogc.gov.uk/index.asp?docid=2190.
Some trials have also been conducted, with an interesting final report about them, "Open Source Software Trials in Government: Final Report" ( http://www.ogc.gov.uk/embedded_object.asp?docid=1002367; published in late 2004), which states the viability of libre software solutions, with different perceived levels of maturity depending on the area of implementation. In March 2005, the Open Source Academy was announced ( http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/319). Funded by the UK government, supported by several municipalities and other institutions (including OpenForum Europe and Open Source Consortium), and with the help of the private sector, it is aimed at the promotion of the use of libre software in local government.
Germany -
The German federal government produced in 2002 one of the first official documents dealing with the use of libre software in public administrations, "Open Source Software in der Bundesverwaltung"[21] ("Open Source Software in the Federal Administration"), by the KBSt (Coordination and Advisory Agency of the Federal Government for Information Technology). Later, in 2003, it produced the "Migration Guidec" (http://www.kbst.bund.de/Anlage303777/pdf_datei.pdf), one of the more complete documents about how to migrate to libre software, including detailed technical information about possible paths for migration in several domains. The German government has also funded some libre software developments, or improvements to existing systems, that were critical for its IT strategy. In 2005, it announced the Open Source Software Competence Centre,[22] a web site aimed at spreading best practices regarding the use of libre software in the public sector. [21] http://www.kbst.bund.de/dokumente/Publikation/,-300432/dok.htm. A long summary in English is also available at http://www.kbst.bund.de/Anlage302856/KBSt-Brief+-+English+Version.pdf.
[22] OSS-Kompetenzzentrum, http://www.kbst.bund.de/oss-cc.
Italy -
In February 2004, the Italian government issued rules regarding the use and acquisition of libre software in public administrations, "L'Open source nella pubblica amministrazione."[23] hey were formally made public after the release of an official report, "Indagine conoscitiva sul software a codice sorgente aperto nella Pubblica Amministrazione,"[24] which presents some rather interesting conclusions on the characteristics of the use of software by public administrations. The rules set the criteria to consider when acquiring software (which include interoperability, nondependence on a single provider or on proprietary technologies, availability of code for inspection, etc.), and specifically included libre software as a possible choice. [23] http://www.governo.it/GovernoInforma/Dossier/open_source/index.html.
[24] http://www.governo.it/GovernoInforma/Dossier/open_source/open%20software%20PA.pdf.
Finland -
A working group promoted by the Finnish Ministry of Finance produced in 2003 the report "Recommendation on the Openness of the Code and Interfaces of State Information Systems,"[25] which (among other interesting recommendations) proposes the consideration of libre software for the custom developments funded by the public administration and for the acquisition of software. [25] http://www.vm.fi/tiedostot/pdf/en/65051.pdf, referred in http://www.vm.fi/vm/liston/page.lsp?r=65052&l=en&menu=2678.
Denmark -
The strategy of the Danish government with respect to libre software is exposed in the report "Danish Software Strategy,"[26] officially adopted in 2003. In summary, the approach is based on the principle of obtaining the maximum value for money, irrespective of the type of software (which is also the reason several detailed studies on total cost of ownership in libre and proprietary software scenarios are being carried out), but also not forgetting the importance of promoting competition, interoperability, and flexibility. Some preliminary studies performed prior to this report showed potential major savings could be made through the use of libre software.[27] [26] http://www.oio.dk/files/Softwarestrategi_-_Engelsk.pdf (available as a part of the Offentlig Information Online, http://www.oio.dk/software).
[27] http://www.tekno.dk/subpage.php3?article=969&survey=14&language=uk&front=1.
Sweden -
In 2003, Statskontoret, the Swedish Agency for Public Management, published "Free and Open Source Software, a Feasibility Study,"[28] a complete and detailed study of libre software, including cases in Swedish public administrations, with very positive conclusions. [28] http://www.statskontoret.se/upload/Publikationer/2003/200308A.pdf (in English).
Spain -
Many of the interesting developments related to libre software in Spanish public administrations have been achieved at the regional level. However, there are also some interesting actions by the national government. One of the most revealing is the inclusion of measures related to libre software in the document "Criterios de seguridad, normalización y conservación de las aplicaciones utilizadas para el ejercicio de potestades"[29] ("Criteria of Security, Standardization and Conservation for Applications Used in the Exercise of Authority"), edited by the Consejo Superior de Informática (Higher Advisory Board on Informatics), an interministry body of the Spanish administration. It details the issues to consider for all the applications used by the public administration and recommends specifically the use of libre software whenever technically feasible. It also recommends requiring the availability of source code for programs acquired by the administration, the use of open formats, and the use of libre software applications to access some kinds of data. [29] http://www.csi.map.es/csi/criterios/pdf/criterios.pdf. A summary available at http://www.csi.map.es/csi/pg5c10.htm.
The Netherlands -
The OSOSS program ( http://www.ososs.nl) is aimed at encouraging the use of libre software and open standards in public administrations. OSOSS is a program of ICTU, the national organization for IT in the public sector, founded by the Ministry of the Interior. In the context of this program, libre software is promoted as a full-fledged option. OSOSS is basically an informative advisory body, supporting policy makers in exploring the relationship between libre software and public administrations.
Norway -
The issue of libre software in the public administration has been dealt with by the Norwegian Board of Technology (a public, independent think tank on technology) in its report, "Software Policy for the Future"[30] (November 2004). It recognizes the potential interest of libre software, and recommends a policy similar to that of Denmark: pilot programs and careful case-by-case studies. [30] http://www.teknologiradet.no/files/endelig_rapport_programvarepolitikk_0066_20041109.pdf (full report, in Norwegian); http://www.teknologiradet.no/files/english_summary_041223_copy.pdf (executive summary, in English).
11.5.3. Other Initiatives in the Public Sector There are many other initiatives in the public sector. Among them, we have selected a short list which we have found especially meaningful as illustrative examples of the whole landscape: Extremadura (Spain) is a small, with a population of about a million, and relatively cash-poor region that has defined a strategy based on libre software to catch up on information society issues. The main principles of this strategy are connectivity and IT literacy for all citizens. One of the key projects for implementing it is gnuLinEx (http://linex.org), a GNU/Linux distribution originally targeted for primary and secondary education (deployed in tens of thousands of computers in all public schools), but which is now also used in the public administration and offered to SMEs and individuals. One of the latest initiatives announced by Extremadura (jointly with Lambdaux (http://lambdaux.com), a Spanish libre software company) is the CompatibleLinux (http://compatiblelinux.org) catalog, an analysis of the hardware available in the market with respect to its compatibility with GNU/Linux distributions. This initiative has also led to the AENOR[31] compatibility certificate, which can be specified by public administrations and companies seeking to purchase hardware for use with GNU/Linux distributions. [31] AENOR is the Spanish standardization organization; http://www.aenor.es.
The French police (Gendarmerie Nationale) started a plan in 2004 to switch to OpenOffice.org in all its desktop machines[32] (about 80,000 PCs). They expect to complete the switch by the end of 2005. They estimate savings at about EUR 2 million. [32] http://www.solutionslinux.fr/document_conferencier/420c7d6295f27.pdf.
The Kolab Groupware Project (http://kolab.org) was initiated in 2003 as a spinoff of the Kroupware contract (http://kroupware.org), which was funded by the German Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (BSI, Federal Agency for IT Security) and won by a consortium of three companies: erfrakon, Intevation, and Klarälvdalens Datakonsult. Kolab is today a libre software system that allows for the interaction among mixed groupware environments: KDE, Outlook, and web-based tools. This is one clear case of the promotion of a new libre software project by a public administration (in this case, because it was interested in overcoming this missing functionality in the libre software world). The city of Munich (Germany) started in May 2003 a plan to migrate to GNU/Linux and libre software (LiMux)[33] most of its desktop machines (some 14,000 PCs). This initiative, which started as a political one (including in the process a delay to get attention to the proposed European directive on software patents, during the summer of 2004), is backed by detailed studies and has had a lot of media attention. Despite this attention, the project had not been completed at the time of this writing. However, it seems to have started a trend followed by some other European cities (although there are also earlier cases, such as the city of Florence, which passed a law in 2001 mandating the use of libre software when feasible[34]). [33] http://www.muenchen.de/Rathaus/referate/dir/limux/89256/ (note by the city of Munich) http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/applications/0,39020384,39171380,00.htm (note in ZDNet).
[34] http://www.softwarelibero.it/portale/legislazione/mozione_comune_firenze2.shtml.
Rijkswaterstaat[35] (Directorate for Public Works and Water Management, the Netherlands) has been using the Geoservices system, heavily based on libre software, since 2003. Rijkswaterstaat has the responsibility of maintaining dikes, roads, bridges, and canals, and uses Geoservices for web-based access to geo-information obtained from many different sources. [35] http://www.rijkswaterstaat.nl; report on the experience available at ">http://europa.eu.int/idabc/en/document/3934/470>.
The Junta de Andalucia (regional government of Andalucia, the most populated Spanish region) has instigated two of the few laws related to libre software that are actually in force. The first one was the "Decree of measures to push the knowledge society,"[36] which deals with (among other issues) the use of libre software in education. It fosters the use of libre software in public schools (not mandating it exclusively) and mandates that computers purchased for that use be compatible with libre operating systems. The second law is an order approved on February 21, 2005,[37] which mandates the distribution as libre software of any program owned by the Junta de Andalucía. This order basically amounts to releasing a large quantity of code to the libre software community, doing the same for new programs built on behalf of the Junta. To the knowledge of the authors of this chapter, this approach is completely novel and marks the beginning of a new path in the promotion of libre software by public administrations. [36] Decree 72/2003, March 18, BOJA of March 21; http://andaluciajunta.es/SP/AJ/CDA/Secciones/Boja/AJ-BojaPagina/2004/10/AJ-verPagina-2004-10/0,20748,bi%253D696836605883,00.html.
[37] Published in the BOJA of March 10, 2005; http://www.andaluciajunta.es/SP/AJ/CDA/Secciones/Boja/AJ-BojaPagina/2005/03/AJ-verPagina-2005-03/0,22557,bi%253D699234368885,00.html.
Bergen, the second largest city in Norway reported a strategy, already deployed in large part, of using Linux on servers[38] (including the servers of the network for schools). The experience seems to allow for cost cuts both in hardware and in software, and includes the wide use of libre software instead of proprietary solutions for many services. [38] http://www.linuxforum.dk/2005/program/slides/LinuxIBergen/Linux_i_Bergen_-_Tuftedal.ppt (slides, in Norwegian), http://europa.eu.int/idabc/en/document/3471/469 (note in IDABC), http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/linuxunix/0,39020390,39173557,00.htm (note in ZDNet).
The city of Vienna (Austria) announced in early 2005 a plan offering its departments migration to OpenOffice and GNU/Linux on the desktop.[39] The migration plan is voluntary, linked to lower costs charged by the city's IT department, and is currently targeted for about 7,500 desktops. For this solution, a Debian-based distribution (Wienux) has been created. [39] http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/linuxunix/0,39020390,39185440,00.htm (note in ZDNet).
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