Open Source software usage by European Public Administrations

Programme 2007 - 2013 Interreg IVC

Date of latest update: 2021-04-06

Description

Description (EN):

FOSS represents a potential of significant competitiveness gains of its adopters, both for public administrations as well as citizens and companies. As a result, it is of vital importance to examine how and whether appropriate public policies can alleviate barriers and inhibitors rendering the potential benefits of FOSS actual ones and enhancing the competitiveness of European economies. Public administrations can play a unique role as a catalyst force in demonstrating the value of FOSS and in removing legal and organisational obstacles and inhibitors by acting as early adopters. OSEPA aims to explore this potential through interregional cooperation and to cultivate a debate among public administrations in this direction with a view to: • Analyse, promote knowledge and foster awareness on the main benefits and disadvantages, cost evidence and effectiveness resulting from FOSS adoption and use. • Explore, identify, build consensus on the framework conditions enabling FOSS to become a technically, financially, legally viable alternative offering of IT solutions. • Explore, identify, build consensus on and promote European, national and regional policies and approaches that may facilitate the emergence of FOSS as a mature and viable business model. • Promote awareness, exchange and disseminate knowledge, good practice and case studies regarding technical, financial and legal aspects of FOSS adoption by European public administrations in order to reduce uncertainty, inertia and resistance-to-change that limit experimentation and adoption of FOSS software. • Discuss and promote the adoption of internal policies, mission statements, methodologies and action plans facilitating European public administrations to experiment, exploit and benefit from FOSS solutions.

Achievements (EN):

In the context of the OSEPA project, twelve good practices on FOSS usage have been identified and described in the 1st version of the OSEPA Good Practice Guide. The guide will be updated with further Good Practices by September 2012. The OSEPA team has also developed: •A concise guide on FOSS procurement for EPA’s •Technical efficiency guidelines for selecting between and among FOSS and proprietary SW solutions •A report on the impact of FOSS on business models and strategies •A Policy Recommendation Paper •A report on the economic foundation of FOSS and major market trends •An analysis on current situation on FOSS European and national policies and practices •A report on License Issues •Qualitative and Quantitative analysis based on the results of the survey on FOSS usage that was executed in 19 EU countries •Synthesized assessment report for the Study Visits •Synthesized assessment report for the Workshops •Synthesized assessment report for the Site Visits. All of the OSEPA outputs have been published at the project website and can be found at: osepa.eu/pdeliverables/index.php. Furthermore, by June 2012, eight interregional workshops, six study visits, four site visits, and two EU Conferences were organized by the consortium to facilitate the exchange of experience among the partners, the politicians, and the FOSS experts involved. Topics such as licensing, transferring of good practices, human aspects, initiatives that utilize FOSS to run commercial development projects, and, of course, FOSS economic benefits have been analyzed. A conference also took place in Extremadura of Spain where the strategic and policy making aspects of administrations’ transition to FOSS was explored. The Conference gathered high profile experts, elected representatives and IT managers of public administrations, as well as delegates from competence centers and FOSS developers and communities. The role model region of Extremadura of Spain roll out its knowledge, experience and enthusiasm to other EU regions and municipalities. The conference resulted in the signing of a Manifesto which outlines the main advantages of FOSS in PA’s and establishes the commitment of the signatories to promote FOSS awareness. Between 28th and 29th of March '12, the 2nd OSEPA conference took place in the town of Jihlava (CZ). The conference explored the strategic impact of FOSS adoption and in relation to the environment and potential of EPAs. On the whole, the conference covered a broad spectrum of topics and offered a balance of technical and non-technical topics: legal and economic aspects, licensing issues, best practices and case studies, interoperability, compatibility, e-government, data access and security, cloud computing, personnel training, drivers and inhibitors, open source solutions, open source communities and developers. The driving forces and inhibitors influencing open source software adoption as well as the benefits, the drawbacks and the potential for EPAs to migrate to open source software were clarified and discussed. Moreover, the perspectives, the requirements, the challenges, and the opportunities in the use of FOSS by EPA's were discussed. During the Conference a FOSS Policy Statement was released to the participants aiming to gather support signatories with the objective to influence relevant policy makers and make FOSS a recognized and viable alternative of software procurement.

Website: http://www.interreg4c.eu/

Expected Results (EN):

OSEPA's main results are: A) Survey of current FOSS usage in at least 20 EU countries. B) A requirements analysis and guidelines on software procurement policies of European Public Administrations. C) Two European conferences will take place. The primary objective is to explore the strategic impact of FOSS adoption and relate it to the existing European Public Administrations’ technology and service environments. D) Interregional events (9 Workshops, 6 Study Visits & 5 Site Visits) aiming to facilitate exchange of experiences. E) Good Practice Guide on FOSS use among European Public Administrations. F) Analysis and recommendations on European and National Policies and practices on FOSS. The project dissemination activities will promote awareness on FOSS and on OSEPA activities targeting a) relevant segments of the public opinion and b) Officers and elected representatives of local regional and national administrations. The consortium includes four national associations of municipalities and communities, regions, municipalities and knowledge organisations reaching within the consortium 1302 European local and regional Public Administrations.

Thematic information

ICT and digital society Regional planning and development

Partners (12)

Lead Partner: ΚΕΝΤΡΙΚΗ ΕΝΩΣΗ ΔΗΜΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΚΟΙΝΟΤΗΤΩΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ (Κ.Ε.Δ.Κ.Ε.)

Address: 8 GENADIOU ST. & AKADIMIAS ST., 10678 ATHENS, Greece

Legal status: n/a

FUNDACIÓN PARA EL DESARROLLO DE LA CIENCIA Y TECNOLOGÍA EN EXTREMADURA

Name: FUNDACIÓN PARA EL DESARROLLO DE LA CIENCIA Y TECNOLOGÍA EN EXTREMADURA

Address: Montesinos 28, 6002 Badajoz, Spain

Legal status: n/a

ΔΗΜΟΣ ΣΤΡΟΒΟΛΟΥ

Name: ΔΗΜΟΣ ΣΤΡΟΒΟΛΟΥ

Address: 100, STROVOLOS AVENUE, 2094 STROVOLOS, Cyprus

Legal status: n/a

LatviaS PAŠVALDĪBU SAVIENĪBA

Name: LatviaS PAŠVALDĪBU SAVIENĪBA

Address: 1 MAZĀ PILS STREET, LV1050 RIGA, Latvia

Legal status: n/a

Ερευνητικό Ακαδημαϊκό Ινστιτούτο Τεχνολογίας Υπολογιστών (Ε.Α.Ι.Τ.Υ.)

Name: Ερευνητικό Ακαδημαϊκό Ινστιτούτο Τεχνολογίας Υπολογιστών (Ε.Α.Ι.Τ.Υ.)

Address: Nikou Kazantzaki, University of Patras Campus, Rion, 26500 Patras, Greece

Legal status: n/a

Föreningen SAMBRUK i Sverige (SAMBRUK)

Name: Föreningen SAMBRUK i Sverige (SAMBRUK)

Address: c/o Sandvikens kommun, Tillväxtkontoret, SE81180 Sandviken, Sweden

Legal status: n/a

Kraj Vysočina

Name: Kraj Vysočina

Address: Žižkova 57, 58733 Jihlava, Czech Republic

Legal status: n/a

MFG Baden-Württemberg mbH – Innovationsagentur des Landes für IT und Medien

Name: MFG Baden-Württemberg mbH – Innovationsagentur des Landes für IT und Medien

Address: Breitscheidstrasse 4, 70174 Stuttgart, Germany

Legal status: n/a

Gemeente Schoten

Name: Gemeente Schoten

Address: Verbertstraat 3, 2900 Schoten, Belgium

Legal status: n/a

Primaria Municipiului Bistrita

Name: Primaria Municipiului Bistrita

Address: PIATA CENTRALA, NO. 6, 420040 BISTRITA, Romania

Legal status: n/a

The University of Sheffield

Name: The University of Sheffield

Address: Firth Court, Western Bank, S20 2TN Sheffield, United Kingdom

Legal status: n/a

Regione Emilia-Romagna

Name: Regione Emilia-Romagna

Address: Viale Aldo Moro 18, 40127 Bologna, Italy

Legal status: n/a

Partners map

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Open Source software usage by European Public Administrations

Project acronym: OSEPA

Project start date: 2010-01-01

Project end date: 2012-12-31

Project status: closed

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 1 847 686.21

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 1 473 599.04

Co-financing sources:

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2007 - 2013 Interreg IVC

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2015-09-01

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

204 / 204 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

2 250 / 2 250 (100%)

Notes on the data

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Open Source software usage by European Public Administrations

Description

Thematic information

Partners (12)

Partners map

Summary

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

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