Important legal notices
 
Contact   |   Who 's Who   |   Search on EUROPA   
Back to IDABC home page Back to IDABC home page
The Programme 
Projects 
Your Europe 
eProcurement 
eGovernment Practice 
Open Source Observatory 
Interoperability 
eSignature 
Resources 
IDABC Events  
Public consultations  
Search
 
 
  Registration   |   Call for Tenders   |   FAQ   |     Site Map  
 
 
See printer friendly version Print

IDABC expert studies and advices: Expert information on open source in the European public sector
An important part of IDABC's mission is to provide expert advice to public bodies across Europe. Specialist studies help Member State administrations of all levels to learn about best practices in open source software, and reap the full advantages of this software model.

Public administrations may be interested in working with free software projects in order to take advantage of their adaptability, low cost and the ability to engage with the large developer community. This document aims to help PAs achieve this successfully. 
[pdf]

For software developed by the public sector, the adoption of an Open Source licensing policy is a prerequisite to create and reinforce a community of users and developers, which could hopefully generate a continuous steam of improvements, support and new releases. Thi study looks at legal and economic aspects of releasing public sector-developed applications under open source licences.
[pdf] 

While patents on computer programs are not allowed in European law "as such", in practice, patents have been granted that cover functionality in many common software applications. They pose a risk to the development and distribution of software. This study discusses the most important issues for public administrations. 
[pdf]

When Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) and government are mentioned in the same context, it is usually in relation to public sector use of software. Sometimes, it is related to public sector policies for the promotion of FLOSS. But there are also an increasing number of projects producing customised software for public administrations. This report looks into why FLOSS developers should collaborate with the public sector, and suggests how they should do this. 
[pdf]

Public administrations may be interested in working with free software projects in order to take advantage of their adaptability, low cost and the ability to engage with a large developer community. This guide aims to help PAs achieve this successfully, and helps them to avoid the most common stumbling blocks along the way. 
[pdf]

These guidelines have been designed to help public administrators decide whether a migration to OSS should be undertaken and describe, in broad technical terms, how such a migration could be carried out. They are based on practical experience of a limited number of publicly available case studies, and cover a wide range of management and technical concerns.
[pdf - EN] [pdf - FR] [pdf - ES]

This is independent study recommends the creation of a software clearing house which public administrations can use to share the software they have developed. This facility, which would concentrate on applications specific for the needs of the public sector, could encourage the replication of good practice in e-government services.
[pdf - en]    [pdf-fr]   [pdf-de]

This study gives an overview of the availability and potential use of FLOSS-based solutions, reflecting the situation in spring 2001. It focuses on FLOSS usage experiences in the public sector of six European countries and the EU administration. Finally, it provides an overview of the FLOSS market structure, describing opportunities and potential problems related to the use of FLOSS solutions. 

1. OSS Fact sheet (PDF)
2. Use of Open Source in Europe (PDF)
3. The Open Source Market Structure (PDF)
4. Annex: OSS alphabetical list and software identification (PDF)


[home]