Share and reuse interoperability solutions for public administrations

Eric Besson, the French Minister for Industry, Energy and the Digital Economy, paid an official visit to Tunisia on 4 July 2011 which resulted in an Open Source Software (OSS) cooperation between the two countries.

France and Tunisia signed a joint declaration on governmental cooperation in the OSS domain, which provides for the planning of the first Franco-Tunisian OSS meetings to be held in Tunisia during autumn 2011.

In addition, an agreement was signed to establish a Tunisian equivalent to the French ‘Passport to the Digital Economy’ programme. This programme, which trains micro-enterprises and SMEs in the use of ICT, was successfully implemented in France. The objective is to optimise the growth of these businesses by including them in the Internet economy. A € 30 000 contribution will be allocated by France for the transfer of experience and the adaptation to the Tunisian environment.

The idea to reinforce cooperation is not entirely new. On 9 May at the Solutions Linux 2011 trade show in Paris, Mr Besson and Tunisian State Secretary for Technology Adel Gaaloul had already announced the creation of a working group on Franco-Tunisian industrial cooperation in OSS, combining the two ministries, the French Federation of Free Software and the Tunisian Association of Open Source Software.

According to a press release issued on 10 May 2011 by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and the Digital Economy, the working group will make recommendations to:

• promote investment;

• develop collaborative projects between France and Tunisia;

• facilitate internships for Tunisian students in France as part of their professional integration in Tunisia;

• prevent a brain drain by mobilising Tunisian expertise in their country of origin;

• exchange experiences in eGovernment.

Further information:

• Original news article - ADULLACT (in French)

• ‘Passport to the Digital Economy’ (in French)

• Official press release - Ministry of Industry, Energy and the Digital Economy (in French)

• Background information - ePractice eGovernment Factsheet for France