= Expert Brochure to Modernise Public Digital Infrastructure with Public Code - Translated Versions Online =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200310-01.sk.html ]
What is Free Software? How does it contribute to digital sovereignty,
security and transparency of state digital infrastructure? Which steps
can public administrations take? These and more questions are answered
in our publication "Public Money Public Code – Modernising Public
Infrastructure with Free Software". After the successful release of the
English version of our brochure we translated it into three more
languages: German, Czech and Brazilian Portuguese.
The recent debates about digital sovereignty show that the desire for
self-determined government action in the field of digitisation is
immense. Digital services offered and used by our public administrations
are the critical infrastructure of 21st century. In order to establish
trustworthy systems, public bodies must ensure they have full control
over the software and the computer systems at the core of our state
digital infrastructure. We need software that helps public
administrations regain sovereignty over their critical digital
infrastructure, allowing them to become and remain independent from a
handful of companies.
The brochure summarises the FSFE's long-term expertise with additional
knowledge from leading experts in various ICT areas. It helps readers
understand Free Software and its benefits for a modern digital public
infrastructure. Hot topics covered include the avoidance of vendor lock-
in, improvement of IT security through openness, exploring different
business models, handling of procurement issues, and learning from
innovative approaches to smart cities.
== Get your copy now ==
You can download a PDF version of the brochure or order a printed
version on the brochure page [1]. The document is licensed as CC BY-SA
4.0. Available languages printed and PDF: English, German; available
languages PDF: Czech, and Brazilian Portuguese.
We would like to thank the volunteers and partners who have contributed
to translate the brochure. If you would like to enable the translation
into more languages, you can help us with a donation or by becoming a
supporter [2].
The brochure is published as part of the FSFE's "Public Money? Public
Code!" initiative. With a strong alliance of the administration of
Barcelona, the Parliament of Asturias, over 180 organisations, and more
than 27.000 individuals, we demand that publicly financed software
development should be made publicly available under Free Software
licenses. You can sign our open letter and find out more at
publiccode.eu [3].
1: https://fsfe.org/campaigns/publiccode/brochure.sk.html
2: https://my.fsfe.org/donate
3: https://publiccode.eu/
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations to understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-determination.
It enhances users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software
adoption, encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and
provide resources to enable everyone to further promote Free Software
in Europe.
http://fsfe.org
= Security scandal around WhatsApp shows the need for decentralised messengers and digital sovereignty =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200228-01.sk.html ]
The recent security scandal around WhatsApp and access to the content of
private groups shows that there is an urgent need for action with regard
to secure communication.
Links to private chat groups in the proprietary WhatsApp messenger can
be used to show the communication and private data of group members,
even if you are not a member. The links could be found on various search
engines. Even if they are removed from search results, links still work
and give access to private group communication. Among these groups are
also administrations like civil servants of the Indonesian Ministry of
Finance. This case shows again that digital sovereignty is crucial for
states and administrations. The security breach was first reported by
Deutsche Welle [1].
In order to establish trustworthy and secure communication, governments
need to strengthen interoperable Free Software solutions using Open
Standards [2] and enable decentralisation. This helps administrations as
well as individuals to protect their privacy and empowers them to have
control of the technology they use. The software is already in place and
was used by most of the internet users before Google and Facebook joined
the market: XMPP! This open protocol, also known as Jabber, has been
developed by the Free Software community since 1999. Thanks to Open
Standards it is possible to communicate with people who use a completely
different client software and XMPP server. You are even able to
communicate with other services like ICQ or AIM - some might remember.
XMPP has also been used by tech enterprises like Facebook and Google for
their chat systems, but both eventually switched to isolated proprietary
solutions, so XMPP has been forgotten by many users.
Still, there are many XMPP servers in use and - as the recent scandal
around WhatsApp shows - it should be considered as an alternative by
users nowadays. But of course there has also been a development in the
field of Free Software and Open Standard messengers in the last decades.
For instance the Matrix protocol is a widely recognised and respected
standard for secure and decentralised communication. This is proven by
the fact that it is being used by large Free Software communities like
Mozilla [3], KDE [4], but also in the whole French administration [5] or
Germany's armed forces [6].
The Free Software Foundation Europe therefore asks governments to use
interoperable, decentralised Free Software messenger solutions and also
provide funds for security programmes like bug bounties around these
projects. Individuals are advised to change their messenger to a Free
Software one.
The FSFE also started an initiative called "Public Money, Public Code!",
requiring that publicly financed software developed for the public
sector be made publicly available under a Free and Open Source Software
licence. If it is public money, it should be public code as well. The
campaign is supported by administrations like the city of Barcelona,
more than 180 NGOs and 27.000 individuals. You can find more information
on publiccode.eu [7].
For users of Android mobile phones, the Free Software Foundation Europe
started the " Free Your Android [8] " campaign. It helps users to regain
control of their data and Android device by proprietary components and
eventually the complete operating system with Free Software. The FSFE
collects information about running an Android system as free as possible
and coordinates efforts in this area.
1: https://www.dw.com/en/whatsapp-security-flaw-over-60000-groups-still-access…
2: https://fsfe.org/activities/os/index.sk.html
3: https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/synchronous-messaging-at-mozilla-the-decisi…
4: https://dot.kde.org/2019/02/20/kde-adding-matrix-its-im-framework
5: https://matrix.org/blog/2018/04/26/matrix-and-riot-confirmed-as-the-basis-f…
6: https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/collection/open-source-observatory-osor/news/ma…
7: https://publiccode.eu
8: https://fsfe.org/campaigns/android/index.sk.html
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations to understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-determination.
It enhances users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software
adoption, encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and
provide resources to enable everyone to further promote Free Software
in Europe.
http://fsfe.org
= REUSE makes copyright and licensing easier than ever =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20190807-01.sk.html ]
REUSE helps developers to declare copyright and licensing of their
projects. Today, the REUSE project released version 3.0 of their
specification. The new edition is accompanied by a helper tool and makes
adopting the best practices easier than ever.
The licensing of a software project is critical information. Developers
set the terms under which others can reuse their software, from
individuals to giant corporations. Authors want to make sure that others
adhere to their chosen licenses; potential re-users have to know the
license of third-party software before publication; and companies have
to ensure license compliance in their products that often build on top
of existing projects. The REUSE [1] project, led by the Free Software
Foundation Europe (FSFE), helps all of these parties.
REUSE aims to have all copyright and licensing information stored as
close to the source files as possible. This is achieved by directly
adding this information to the file in a standardised and machine-
readable form. If a file does not support that, a .license file or
central DEP-5 configuration file can be used instead. This way,
developers can be assured that re-users will not oversee copyright
holders and their intended license.
Following the best practices is simple:
1. Choose and provide licenses: Select a Free Software license, find the
unique identifier of this license, and store the full license text
inside a dedicated LICENSES/ directory.
2. Add copyright and licensing information to each file: Add at least
two lines indicating the copyright holder and the license.
3. Confirm REUSE compliance: Use the REUSE tool to check whether all
necessary information is present.
Adopters can start with a new tutorial [2] that explains how to make a
repository REUSE compliant. To ensure that developers can concentrate on
their actual work, we have developed the REUSE helper tool [3] that
automates and assists with some of these steps. It can also be included
in CI/CD workflows [4] to confirm REUSE compliance continuously.
Our constantly expanding FAQ [5] answers basic questions about
licensing, copyright, and more complex use cases. Advanced users and
integrators will find the full specification [6] helpful.
And there is more to come: The REUSE initiative will continue its work
on making copyright and licensing easier for everyone. Our roadmap
includes configurable templates for adding the headers with the helper
tool, as well as an API that for example allows projects to display a
dynamic badge indicating the REUSE status, or third-party services to
integrate REUSE checks.
REUSE is already being used by various software projects like the Linux
kernel [7], and recommended by other license compliance initiatives like
OpenChain [8]. We welcome other developers to adopt REUSE and look
forward to feedback and collaboration. Please contact us [9] and join
the mailing list [10].
Discuss this article [11]
1: https://reuse.software
2: https://reuse.software/tutorial
3: https://git.fsfe.org/reuse/tool/
4: https://reuse.software/dev
5: https://reuse.software/faq
6: https://reuse.software/spec
7: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/Doc…
8: https://www.openchainproject.org/news/2017/09/13/fsfe-contributes-reuse-gui…
9: https://fsfe.org/contact
10: https://lists.fsfe.org/mailman/listinfo/reuse
11: https://community.fsfe.org/t/reuse-makes-copyright-and-licensing-easier-tha…
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations to understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-determination.
It enhances users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software
adoption, encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and
provide resources to enable everyone to further promote Free Software
in Europe.
http://fsfe.org
= Three conclusions to draw from Google denying Huawei access to software =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20190520-01.sk.html ]
Google denies the Chinese IT giant Huawei access to Google's proprietary
components of the Android mobile operating system which threatens IT
security. This highlights the importance Free Software has for
technology users, public bodies, and businesses. The Free Software
Foundation Europe (FSFE) presents three essential lessons from this
case.
Following the U.S. administration's decision to effectively ban American
companies from doing trade with the Chinese company Huawei, Google
suspended all business with the company. This affects all software which
is not covered under Free Software licences. In practice, Huawei's
upcoming and potentially also current phones will no longer get support
and updates for the Android operating system. They will also not have
access to the proprietary Google apps and services like Gmail and Google
Play. Although proprietary software should be avoided in the first
place, especially the latter will put future Huawei user at risk because
without access to the default app store on most stock Android phones
they will miss important security updates for the apps installed through
it.
Google offers only a base version of Android under a Free Software
licence but bundles it together with proprietary apps and services. The
non-free components of most stock Android devices have numerous
downsides for users, as the FSFE has documented since 2012 [1]. Now, the
current case demonstrates that even tech giants like Huawei face similar
dependencies and vendor lock-in effects as any individual users if they
rely on proprietary software.
== Three Conclusions ==
The following lessons can be drawn from this case:
1. The FSFE urges *users* to use Free Software operating systems and
applications on their computing devices. With proprietary software,
they are on the receiving end only and vendors may deny them access
to crucial security updates if the vendor or a government changes its
strategy. Free Software enables control of technology, and the more
important that technology becomes in our daily lives, the more
relevant Free Software becomes for users. For Android, the FSFE helps
users to regain more control with its Free Your Android initiative
[2].
2. *Governments and especially the European Union* should invest more
resources in Free Software to gain independence from large
enterprises and other states. The current case highlights the lack of
influence the EU has on outside technology providers. Instead of
waiting for a future European IT monopolist to enter the stage, the
EU and its members states should invest in Free Software development
[3] and focus on supporting local Free Software organisations as well
as businesses. This would effectively foster the inner-European
market and enable independence for European citizens and the EU
economy. This step is essential for avoiding exposing European
infrastructure to shutdowns controlled by external factors.
3. The FSFE urges *companies* to use as much Free Software as possible
in their supply chains. Proprietary software makes a company
dependent on its vendor and this vendor's government. The current
case shows that the US was able to force Google to stop delivery of
its proprietary products – but could not stop delivery of the Free
Software components of Android. Had Huawei invested more resources in
Free Software apps and services, the US strategy would not have hit
them as hard. Although the current events are linked to the scrutiny
the Chinese company is under right now, it is obvious that this could
happen to any other company based in any other country as well.
The earlier allegations against Huawei already showed that code for all
critical infrastructure should be published under a Free Software
licence [4]. The latest episode of the Huawei affair illustrates that
the same applies to apps and services. Just days before the European
Elections, this should be a wake-up call for the next constituent
Parliament to ask the European Commission for European directives that
foster independence of European technical infrastructure and that build
on Free Software, starting with the demand to release publicly funded
software as public code [5].
Discuss this article [6]
1: https://freeyourandroid.org
2: https://freeyourandroid.org
3: https://publiccode.eu
4: https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20190205-01.sk.html
5: https://publiccode.eu
6: https://community.fsfe.org/t/three-conclusions-to-draw-from-google-denying-…
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations to understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-determination.
It enhances users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software
adoption, encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and
provide resources to enable everyone to further promote Free Software
in Europe.
http://fsfe.org
= Free Software in Munich - FSFE thanks cabaret artist Christine Prayon =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20190515-02.sk.html ]
Yesterday, political satirist Christine Prayon was awarded the 10,000
Euro Dieter Hildebrandt Prize of the City of Munich for demanding
political or decidedly socio-critical political satire. Prayon is
donating the prize money to the Free Software Foundation Europe.
The jury states [1], among other things, that the award recipient Prayon
"[...] does not simply accuse - she unmasks, and we are her witnesses".
Prayon herself used her thank-you speech to put the finger on one of
Munich's sore spots: Prayon describes the former genius, progressive
process of making Munich independent of the providers of proprietary
software and letting the complete administration run on a free system.
Prayon then criticised the switch back to proprietary systems.
The migration of workstations back to proprietary software will cost
Munich almost 50 million Euros over the next six years. A further 37
million Euros will have to be invested in implementation projects. The
Free Software Foundation Europe already criticised the migration-project
in the past. The migration will not solve existing organisational IT
problems in the day-to-day administrative business. At the same time new
dependencies on manufacturers of proprietary software will arise and
license fees will be paid to the proprietary manufacturers instead of
using these funds in tax payers' best interest for the further
development of the software and the cooperation with other
administrations. The systems become less transparent and no longer
comprehensible for citizens. Further information on the migration plans
of the City of Munich can be found here [2].
Munich is thus turning against the trend: in other administrations, Free
Software is being used with overwhelming success. Since the French
government decided to start using more Free Software back in 2012,
between 0.6% and 5.4% more companies using Free Software have been
created in France every year; between 6.6% and 14% more people find
employment in the IT sector every year. In Barcelona, 70% of the budget
for the development of new software is used to create Free Software.
Contracts have so far been awarded to 3,000 companies, 60% of them SMEs,
mostly from the region. In collaborative projects, more and more cities
are working on common software solutions and jointly develop them,
saving costs and sharing risks.
The Free Software Foundation Europe has launched the campaign "Public
Money? Public Code!" to convince other administrations to switch to Free
Software and support them in their migration. As part of the campaign,
we published the specialist publication "Public Money Public Code -
Modernising Public Infrastructure with Free Software". The brochure aims
to answer questions from decision-makers about the benefits of using and
developing Free Software for the public administration.
More information about the campaign and its supporters can be found on
our campaign website at publiccode.eu [3], and the brochure can be found
here [4].
The Free Software Foundation Europe would like to take this opportunity
to thank Christine Prayon for her commitment to Free Software and her
generous donation.
1: https://www.muenchen.de/rathaus/Stadtverwaltung/Kulturreferat/Kulturfoerder…
2: https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20190515-01.html
3: https://publiccode.eu/
4: https://fsfe.org/campaigns/publiccode/brochure
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations to understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-determination.
It enhances users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software
adoption, encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and
provide resources to enable everyone to further promote Free Software
in Europe.
http://fsfe.org
= Copyright Directive – EU safeguards Free Software at the last minute =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20190326-01.sk.html ]
The European Parliament adopted the controversial Copyright Directive by
348 votes in favour, 274 votes against and 36 abstentions. Today's vote
marks the end of years of debate in the European Union. Heated
discussions about the introduction of upload filters ended up in
protests of tens of thousands people in the streets all across Europe.
In a last minute action back in September 2018, the European Parliament
adopted an amendment and pushed it through the trilogue to at least
protect Free and Open Source Software.
“We are glad we were able to raise awareness and understanding of
what drives software development in Europe nowadays among many
policy makers. The exclusion of Free Software code hosting and
sharing providers from this directive is crucial to keep Free
Software development in Europe healthy, solid and alive. we are
dismayed that the EU missed the opportunity to renew copyright to a
reasonable extent. As upload filters are now introduced, we urge the
European Commission to avoid filtering monopolies by companies this
directive actually intended to regulate. We call on the European
Commission to promote the dissemination of Free Software filter
technologies, including financial support, for instance within the
framework of research programmes Horizon2020 and Horizon Europe.”
says Alexander Sander, Policy Manager of the Free Software
Foundation Europe.
The Free Software Foundation Europe and Open Forum Europe started a
campaign to “ Save Code Share [1] ” in 2017. More than 14.000 people
supported our call with an open letter which requests EU legislators to
preserve the ability to collaboratively build software online in current
EU Copyright Directive proposal.
1: https://savecodeshare.eu/
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations to understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-determination.
It enhances users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software
adoption, encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and
provide resources to enable everyone to further promote Free Software
in Europe.
http://fsfe.org
= Join the I Love Free Software Day 2019 =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20190214-01.sk.html ]
Today, as with every year on February 14th, people around the globe are
celebrating *"I love Free Software"* Day by expressing their love and
thanks to all the people working behind each Free Software project.
Follow the love with the hashtag #IloveFS today and add your own love
dedication to the stream!
Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our lives; and it is
important that this technology empowers rather than restricts us. Free
Software gives everybody the rights to use, understand, adapt and share
software. These rights help support other fundamental freedoms like
freedom of speech, press and privacy. And Free Software is also the
result of people who work together collaboratively and dedicate their
skills to a project. "I love Free Software" Day is a day to show our
appreciation to all these people behind any Free Software project and
our gratitude for their dedication:https://ilovefs.org
== Becoming part of #ilovefs [1] ==
Everyone can participate in *"I love Free Software"* Day and join the
celebrations by sharing a message of love with the hashtag *#ilovefs* on
any (social) media channel. Be it on a general note or directly
dedicated to a particular Free and Open Source Software solution. The
more people contribute their part, the more we will enjoy a beautiful
*"I love Free Software"* Day together.
Or help by spreading the word in the offline world among your friends
and colleagues and bring them together. We know about interesting
offline events happening, for example in Barcelona, Berlin, Sofia,
Stockholm, Tirana, Plovdiv and Zurich. Follow the stream and enjoy a
lovely day packed with thankfulness and creativity!
Happy *"I love Free Software"* Day everyone!
1: https://ilovefs.org
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations to understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-determination.
It enhances users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software
adoption, encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and
provide resources to enable everyone to further promote Free Software
in Europe.
http://fsfe.org
= Huawei case demonstrates importance of Free Software for security =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20190205-01.sk.html ]
The discussion of the Huawei security concerns showcases a general trust
issue when it comes to critical infrastructure. A first step to solve
this problem is to publish the code under a Free and Open Source
Software licence and take measures to facilitate its independently-
verifiable distribution.
The ongoing debate about banning Huawei hardware for the rollout of 5G
networks, following earlier state espionage allegations, falls too
short. It is not just about the Chinese company but about a general lack
of transparency within this sector. As past incidents proved, the
problem of backdoors inside blackboxed hard- and software is widely
spread, independently from the manufacturers' origins.
However, it is unprecedented that the demand to inspect the source code
of a manufacturer's equipment has been discussed so broadly and
intensely. The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) welcomes that the
importance of source code is recognised, but is afraid that the proposed
solution falls too short. Allowing inspection of the secret code by
selected authorities and telephone companies might help in this specific
case, but will not solve the general problem.
To establish trust in critical infrastructure like 5G, it is a crucial
precondition that all software code powering those devices is published
under a Free and Open Source Software licence. Free and Open Source
Software guarantees the four freedoms to use, study, share, and improve
an application. On this basis, everyone can inspect the code, not only
for backdoors, but for all security risks. Only these freedoms allow for
independent and continuous security audits which will lead citizens, the
economy, and the public sector to trust their communication and data
exchange.
Furthermore, in order to verify code integrity – so that the provided
source code corresponds to the executable code running on the equipment
– it is either necessary that there are reproducible builds in case of
binary distribution, or that providers are brought into the position to
compile and deploy the code on their own.
"We should not only debate the Huawei case but extend the discussion
to all critical infrastructure." says Max Mehl, FSFE Programme
Manager. "Only with Free and Open Source Software, transparency and
accountability can be guaranteed. This is a long-known crucial
precondition for security and trust. We expect from state actors to
immediately implement this solution not only for the Huawei case but
for all comparable IT security issues."
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations to understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-determination.
It enhances users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software
adoption, encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and
provide resources to enable everyone to further promote Free Software
in Europe.
http://fsfe.org
= FSFE publishes expert brochure about “Public Money? Public Code!" =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2019/news-20190124-01.en.html ]
Why should governments develop Free Software? Where is Free Software
already generating benefits in the public sector? What are Free Software
business models? Answers to these questions and practical guidelines are
given in the new expert policy brochure published today by the Free
Software Foundation Europe. Produced with decision-takers in mind, the
brochure will be a helpful source of information for candidates and
parties running for the European Parliament election. Downloads and
prints are available under a Creative Commons license.
Today the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) releases its policy
brochure, *"Public Money Public Code - Modernising Public Infrastructure
with Free Software"* [1]. This brochure aims to answer decision-takers'
questions about the benefits of using and developing Free Software for
public administrations. To help understand the important role that
public procurement plays in this, the brochure presents an overview of
EU Free Software projects and policies, uncovering legislation on
software procurement. The FSFE will use this brochure in the upcoming
European Parliament elections to inform MEPs how to speed up the
distribution and development of Free Software in public administration
and putting in place appropriate legislation.
Download the brochure now:
https://download.fsfe.org/campaigns/pmpc/PMPC-Modernising-with-Free-Softwar…
=== About the brochure ===
The brochure evaluates the modernisation of public infrastructure with
using Free Software from the perspectives of academia, law, business,
and government. Expert articles, reports, and interviews help readers to
understand the opportunities for Free Software in public administration.
For decision-takers, practical guidance is provided to move forward and
start modernising public infrastructure with Free Software.
FSFE President Matthias Kirschner states: "Free Software licences have
proven to generate tremendous benefits for the public sector. This is
not a trend that will pass, but rather a long-term development that is
based on very positive experiences, and strategic considerations
resulting from serious vendor lock-in cases in the past. In a few years,
Free Software licences could become the default setting for publicly
financed IT projects. The Free Software Foundation Europe watches these
developments very carefully and we want to contribute our knowledge to
support the public sector in this transition."
First steps for making Free Software licenses the default in publicly financed
IT projects are outlined in the brochure. Other topics cover competition and
potential vendor lock-in, security, democracy, "smart cities", and other
important contemporary debates. The language and examples used have been
specifically chosen for readers interested in politics and public
administrations.
The brochure stars leading experts from various ICT areas. These include,
among others, Francesca Bria - Chief of Technology and Digital Innovation
Officer (CTIO) for the Barcelona City Council, Prof. Dr. Simon Schlauri -
author of a detailed legal analysis on the benefits of Free Software for the
Swiss canton of Bern, Cedric Thomas – CEO of OW2, Matthias Stürmer – head of
the Research Center for Digital Sustainability at the University of Bern,
and Basanta Thapa – from the Competence Center for Public IT (ÖFIT)
within the Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems. The
brochure is released in digital and print, and is published under a CC
BY-SA 4.0 licence.
=== About the campaign ===
With the 'Public Money, Public Code' campaign [2], the FSFE demands that
publicly financed software developed for the public sector is made
publicly available under a Free and Open Source Software licence. The
campaign's open letter [3] has, until now, gained more than 19.000
signatures, as well as support from more than 150 organisations. If it
is public money, it should be public code as well!
1:
https://download.fsfe.org/campaigns/pmpc/PMPC-Modernising-with-Free-Softwar…
2: http://publiccode.eu/
3: https://publiccode.eu/openletter/
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations to understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-determination.
It enhances users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software
adoption, encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and
provide resources to enable everyone to further promote Free Software
in Europe.
http://fsfe.org
= 32 European ministers call for more Free Software in governmental infrastructure =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2017/news-20171109-01.sk.html ]
On 6 October, 32 European Ministers in charge of eGovernment policy
signed the Tallinn Declaration on eGovernment that calls for more
collaboration, interoperable solutions, and sharing of good practices
throughout public administrations and across borders. Amongst other
things, the EU ministers recognised the need to make more use of Free
Software solutions and Open Standards when (re)building governmental
digital systems with EU funds.
The Tallinn Declaration [1], lead by the Estonian EU presidency, has
been adopted on 6 October 2017. It is a ministerial declaration that
marks a new political commitment at European Union (EU) and European
Free Trade Area (EFTA) level on priorities to ensure user-centric
digital public services for both citizens and businesses cross-border.
While having no legislative power, the ministerial declaration marks a
political commitment to ensure the digital transformation of public
administrations through a set of commonly agreed principles and actions.
The FSFE has previously submitted its input for the aforementioned
declaration [2] during the public consultation round, asking for greater
inclusion of Free Software in delivering truly inclusive, trustworthy
and interoperable digital services to all citizens and businesses across
the EU.
The adopted Tallinn Declaration proves to be a forward-looking document
that acknowledges the importance of Free Software in order to ensure the
principle of 'interoperability by default', and expresses the will of
all signed EU countries to:
"make more use of open source solutions and/or open standards when
(re)building ICT systems and solutions (among else, to avoid vendor
lock-ins)[...]"
Additionally, the signatories call upon the European Commission to:
"consider strengthening the requirements for use of open source
solutions and standards when (re)building of ICT systems and
solutions takes place with EU funding, including by an appropriate
open licence policy – by 2020."
The last point is especially noteworthy, as it explicitly calls for the
European Commission to make use of Free Software and Open Standards in
building their ICT infrastructure with EU funds, which is in line with
our "Public Money, Public Code" campaign [3] that is targeted at the
demand for all publicly financed software developed for the public
sector to be publicly made available under Free Software licences.
== What's next? ==
The Tallinn Declaration sets several deadlines for its implementation in
the next few years: with the annual presentation on the progress of
implementation of the declaration in the respective countries across the
EU and EFTA through the eGovernment Action Plan Steering Board. The
signatories also called upon the Austrian Presidency of the Council of
the EU to evaluate the implementation of the Tallinn Declaration in
autumn 2018.
"The Declaration expresses the political will of the EU and EFTA
countries to digitise their governments in the most user-friendly
and efficient way. The fact that it explicitly recognises the role
of Free Software and Open Standards for a trustworthy, transparent
and open eGovernment on a high level, along with a demand for
strengthened reuse of ICT solutions based on Free Software in the EU
public sector, is a valuable step forward to establishing a "Public
Money, Public Code" [4] reality across Europe", says Polina Malaja,
the FSFE's policy analyst.
== Tags ==
- front-page [5]
- policy [6]
- Public Code [7]
- OpenStandards [8]
- Digital infrastructure [9]
1: http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/document.cfm?doc_id=47559
2: https://fsfe.org/news/2017/news-20170710-01.html
3: https://publiccode.eu
4: https://publiccode.eu
5: https://fsfe.org/tags/tagged-frontpage.sk.html
6: https://fsfe.org/tags/tagged-policy.sk.html
7: https://fsfe.org/tags/tagged-pmpc.sk.html
8: https://fsfe.org/tags/tagged-openstandards.sk.html
9: https://fsfe.org/tags/tagged-digitalinfrastructure.sk.html
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations to understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-determination.
It enhances users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software
adoption, encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and
provide resources to enable everyone to further promote Free Software
in Europe.
http://fsfe.org