We presume that our public services value their autonomy. And that includes, of course, IT. We expect our governments to run their IT systems and not the other way around.

Over the years, OSOR has recorded how staying in control (or taking it back) is what attracts public services to open source solutions. The technology promotes their autonomy and supports accountability in the administrative decision-making processes.

It means that public services can make sure that widely-used critical software can be trusted. In October, OSOR reported on the launch by the European Commission of a series of open source bug bounties. This is one of several methods used by the EC to make sure that critical open source software is tested for any potential vulnerabilities.

Open source also means not having to worry about IT vendor lock-in. Suppose your maintenance provider, where many go about wearing red hats, is bought by a competitor that grew big selling blue mainframes. This could eventually impact services. However, the underlying technology is yours, because it is open. A public service can turn to any other specialist who wants to compete on the basis of providing the same or better services.

Also in October we reported on how the use of open source makes it easy to collaborate with others, whether these are local, regional, national or international. Here the case in point is the city of Barcelona. The city is working on open source projects together with no less than 23 other municipalities, regional and national authorities.

Lastly, we invite you to join us on 5 December at the Paris Open Source Summit, where we will discuss successes and shortcomings of open source policies. In our session at this international conference we aim to bring out the essential elements and agree on a common approach that increases their potential.

This session will take place on 5 December, from 14:00 to16:15 in Studio Photo at LES DOCKS DE PARIS – 50, av. du Président Wilson 93200 La Plaine St-Denis