An IDA Workshop on OSS Competence in the Public Sector,
which took place during the LinuxTag Conference and Exhibition in Karlsruhe on June 23, 2004
In response to growing interest in the benefits of OSS in the public sector, many public administrations have set up OSS competence centres to foster the development of the technical competence that the public sector will need to support OSS deployment. Others are considering putting in place such competence centres, so what better way of facilitating the exchange of experiences then to bring all together at the IDA event? LinuxTag, the world’s biggest open source-centred exhibition, provided an attractive back-drop for the IDA event.
62 representatives from existing and planned OSS Competence Centre initiatives, as well as public sector policy makers, participated in the IDA event and discussed how to initiate and run such centres. Presentations looked at aspects related to their organisation, to resources and at recurring issues specific to the “matter” that they deal with, i.e. open source software. Discussions on the policy context showed that public sector usage of open source software has become a mainstream issue and that the debate is widening to include broader, societal aspects of open source. For example, there is growing interest in the effects of open source software on innovation, productivity, competitiveness and job creation. In this respect it is worth noting that many of the competence centres presented at the IDA event also aim to ensure the economic cohesion of their regions by acting as innovation centres for local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The workshop was divided into three sessions, covering a broad range of themes that were centred on practical, real-life experiences of setting up and running OSS competence centres. The first session offered a look into the policy background of OSS, from a proposal presented to the Nordic Council to the diverse experiences in Spain, Finland and Lithuania. The second session offered discussions of the business model of competence centres, with first-hand knowledge offered by representatives from the German Federal Office for Data Protection, Skolelinux, Open Advantage and the Dutch Competence Centre OSOSS. In the last session, five brief case studies were presented.
The purpose of the IDA event was not only to create a one-off opportunity – however valuable – for the people active in the field to meet and exchange ideas. It also aimed at assessing whether collaboration between competence centres at European level should be more structured and whether this would require any support from EU programmes such as IDA. While it is premature to specify concrete actions, consensus on the following key points did emerge during the meeting:
- Regular follow-ups to the Karlsruhe event would help improve collaboration between competence centres;
- Despite the publicity given to open source, there is still a strong need for information on cases of use of open source. The translation of case studies into other languages can play an important role;
- Although there is great interest and good will towards the idea of sharing applications between competence centres this will require that a structure of co-ordination be put in place;
- Co-ordination on broader policy objectives related to open source software is generally welcomed.
At the event, it was suggested by some that competence centres might pick up on these points and develop proposals for actions. It was also noted that the IDA open source observatory would soon start work on an inventory of e-government solutions.
Participants at the IDA competence centre event also discussed the involvement of the private sector in achieving the objectives of competence centres, noting that the opening of competence centres to private sector actors could be considered. With strong interest in the topic of OSS use in the public sector also coming from abroad, another point to consider for future meetings is international participation.
For more information about the contents of this workshop, please see the proceedings and presentations below.
OSS Competence Workshop Proceedings |
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Workshop Proceedings (PDF)
