OSS in Public Administrations: Malta

The government of Malta made significant steps towards the adoption of OSS[1] by Public Administrations. These steps included the elaboration of its Open Source Policy and Directive documents, which in parallel to the continuous update of the “Adopted Specifications” standard are levelling the field for IT solution providers in Malta. This initiative is especially welcome in Malta where most of the IT environment (the infrastructure, enterprise systems, but also IT education and eSkills-improvement initiatives) are focusing primarily on commercial proprietary software solutions.

Introduction

Malta is one of the smaller EU member states, and this characteristic assisted the country to exhibit a small, agile, and efficient public sector. The study of OSS adoption in the Maltese Public Administration can yield useful conclusions that can be used by other Public Administrations within or outside the EU.

The Maltese Public Administration approaches OSS through three main directions: The Open Source Policy and Directive, the Open Standards Policy and Directive, and the Adopted Technologies Standard. The new landscape calls for a non-intrusive adoption of OSS and adopts an open standards based approach. The procurement of IT solutions by Public Administrations should not be based on specific technology restrictions and focus on the required properties and interoperability. In this direction, the Open Standards Policy and Directive documents provide the framework that should be used for IT solutions for the public sector.

Following this introduction, a description of the current environment and the OSS strategic directions is included in the “Organisation and background” chapter. Financial and technical issues of the new landscape follow, and the study concludes with the evaluation of the initiative.

Organisation and background

Before examining the OSS Policy of Malta, it is important to understand the current landscape, which essentially drives the IT procurement of the public sector in Malta.

Current landscape

The current situation in Malta exhibits strong preference for particular technologies. This trend is undoubtedly influenced by having a population which is mostly exposed to particular sets of technologies, right from the very early stages of the educational system. A significant example is the ECDL certification, which is in principle technology-agnostic, and which is part of the secondary education curriculum. The Department of Education has procured particular automated test and certification software that is exclusively dependent on specific technologies.[2]

Significant role in the current landscape has played the alliance of the Maltese government with Microsoft. Several initiatives towards spreading digital literacy were taken and a Microsoft IT academy was opened at the University of Malta. In addition, popular software such as Windows XP, Vista and Microsoft Office were sold at a nominal price.[3]  Recently (September 2011), the government signed a five-year strategic partnership agreement with Microsoft.[4]

The general perception that OSS related activity and application in Malta is almost nonexistent prevails. The misconception is further amplified by the fact that service/ training providers assume there is no interest in OSS; consumers on the other hand assume that there is no support for OSS. Local training provisioning related to OSS technologies is mostly limited to back-office software administration type of training. Other OSS solutions are primarily dependant on foreign training providers, usually provided by UK and US professionals.

The role of MITA

The Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA) is the prime Government Agency with a mandate spanning from Information and Communications Technology (ICT) policy to programmes and initiatives in Malta. MITA manages full implementation of IT programmes in Government focusing on enhancing public service delivery and provides the infrastructure needed for the provision of ICT services to Government. MITA is also responsible for the propagation of ICT within society and the economy and for the promotion and delivery of programmes with the intention of enhancing ICT education and the use of ICT as a learning tool. MITA is responsible for the upkeep of the Government of Malta ICT Policies, Directives and Standards, collectively referred to as the GMICT Policy Framework.

The MITA Strategic Plan 2009–2012 states that “MITA will embrace the application of open standards and technologies as a matter of policy coupled with the smart application of open source applications and systems, this approach will ensure that the Agency is geared toward harnessing its benefits in large-scale public implementations.”[5]

Financial aspects

A recent[6]  stock-take exercise conducted by MITA shows an increase in demand for alternate ‘line of business’ (LOB[7] ) tools within Government, particularly those built on OSS technologies. It is believed that this can be attributed to two primary factors related to immediate needs. These factors are immediate acquisition cost and the flexibility of functionality that OSS software can provide for specific business needs.

However, the current limited degree of OSS awareness by Public Administrations and Education limits considerably the potential for increased rate of OSS adoption. A number of misconceptions related to OSS quality being low and that OSS is not locally supported seem to prevail.[8]  Although the perception changes and to a certain degree improved, there still is a considerable element of uncertainty towards the adoption of OSS.

As with any transition, it is expected that the change from existing technologies incurs overhead. In addition, the adoption of openness requires better understanding of how solutions are designed, built, and how they interoperate. It is therefore crucial to evaluate the medium- and long-term benefits in comparison to this initial overhead in order to make a procurement decision. In this decision, the crucial need of flexibility, which is mandatory for Public Administrations, must be taken into account.

Proprietary vendors present opposing arguments. Jan Muelfheit, from Microsoft said in 2009 that “You need to look at the total cost of ownership of that solution. While Open Source Software is saying the software piece is for free then the customers are paying a lot in terms of services. What is good on the commercial software is that it creates jobs. We have over 120 partners in Malta. You simply need to look beyond the price of software. If you look at the total economic value and in terms of economic opportunities, Open Source Software is still missing big-time.”[9]

Malta had started in 2003 a close business relationship with Microsoft. In 2008, the Ministry of Infrastructure Transport and Communication (MITC) had declared that OSS solutions would be included in the search for the most advantageous solutions for its operations.[10]

 

Technical aspects

The adoption of OSS by the Public Administrations in Malta is defined in three parallel directions:

• Open Source Software (Policy and Directive);
• Open Standards (Policy and Directive); and
• the (continuously updated) Adopted Specifications.

These directions are discussed below.

Open Source Software Policy and Directive

The MITA Business Plan (2009–2012) states that one of the goals of MITA is to “accelerate the adoption of cost-effective and non disruptive deployments of Open Source Software (OSS) within Government.” This goal is planned to be achieved through the following activities:

• Reviewing the application of Open Source in Government;
• Identifying best-of-breed Open Source products;
• Non-intrusive implementation of key Open Source initiatives;
• Launching an Open Source Observatory;
• Enabling the proliferation of Open Source Software.

The Open Source Policy/Directive provides guidelines ensuring quality in the OSS procured by Government. The main characteristics of the adoption of OSS are:

• The solution must be cost-effective; however, the initial procurement cost is not the only parameter:
  • TCO, Exit, Training and Support costs etc.
  • Use of OSS in part or in full to minimise long term costs.

 

 

• The transition to the proposed solution must be non-disruptive, among others in the sense that it must meet business requirements, it must comply with the principle of technology neutrality regarding its security features and desktop environment, and it must support internationalisation;
• Promote the adoption of an appropriate Open Source Business Model;
• The solution must be covered by one of the OSS licenses that provide the following characteristics:
  • They allow free redistribution of the solution, if applicable;
  • They allow modification of the solution in part or in full;
  • They allow the solution to be reused in other solutions.

Licenses that comply with the above requirements include the European Union Public License, the GNU General Public License, and FreeBSD;

• Registration of solutions under Government OSOR Intranet or OSOR.eu.

Open Standards Policy and Directive

MITA launched in 2010 an Open Standards Policy and an accompanying Open Standards Directive. The policy recognises Open Standards as key enablers to implement flexible, re-usable and interoperable ICT resources and dictates that:

• All prospective ICT investments, procured and/or developed internally within the Public Sector, shall adopt Open Standards as directed in the Open Standards Directive.
• Existing ICT investments shall, when required, employ Open Standards to provide compatible interfaces through adaptation schemes where appropriate. Open Standards based solutions and approaches should be preferred when selecting replacement systems or when major enhancements to the existing system are required.
•  All requests to adopt an Open Standard which is not listed in the Adopted Specifications (GMICT X 0071) shall be approved by the Regulator and shall be accompanied by complete justification.

In addition, deviations from the policy must be brought to the Government’s ICT compliance function with adequate justification. The adoption of Open Standards will result in a number of tangible benefits namely:

• Reduced vendor lock-in and dependency on specific hardware and software;
• Easier integration between ICT systems;
• Efficient re-use of existing ICT resources;
• Improved access to public information.

The Open Standards Directive presents how the Open Standards Policy is to be implemented. More precisely, the Open Standards Directive notes that ICT Standards to be adopted within Government need to comply with the Open Standards definition. In addition, it requires that a new standard may replace a previous one on the condition that the ramifications have been studied and that the standards are compatible, without incurring disrupting penalties to flexibility, interoperability and re-use. In addition, they need to have recognised implementations that are available from and supported by different sources.

Any request for an exemption from the terms of this Directive needs to explain in detail the technical or business justification and prepare any necessary exit strategies (or other mitigation processes) as required.

The following figure shows the assessment method followed for the adoption of standards within the Government, as described by the Open Standards policy and directive, above.

 

 Figure 1: Common Assessment Method for adopting Standards within the Maltese Government

Adopted Specification

As part of the standardisation process for IT technologies, MITA has issued the Adopted Specifications[11]  policy document. This document was first issued in 2009 and it is currently at version 3.0, as it is continuously updating to cope with new technologies as they become compliant with the Public Administration requirements.
The Government of Malta seeks for solutions that comply with a set of technology strategic principles: These principles include abstraction, interoperability, loose coupling, cohesiveness and generality.

Summary of initiatives

The following table has been taken from the Open Source Vision white paper[12]  and summarises the goals expected to be achieved within the period 2010–2012:

Initiative	2010	2011	2012
OSS Governance	Establish an OSS Policy and Directive. Ensure that the current Software processes can handle OSS software and modify process where required.	Establish a process to release selected bespoke Government Software as Open Source under EUPL. Establish a service to facilitate the awareness of already procured OSS within the Government of Malta.
Line of Business	Setup an OSOR intranet with a list of OSS products for reference to CIOs. Ensure that the Line of Business places OSS and PS on a level playing field.
Private Runtime Environments (PRE)	Start to provide segregated environments adopting PRE principles. Increase the usage of collaborative environments based on Plone. Align the eGovernment Hosting Policy and related policies.	Identify open source CMS for eGovernment purposes. Consider the adoption of Open Source business models for eGovernment solutions.
Public Education	Collaborate with Education and provide guidelines on OSS. Guide Education to deploy OSS software on Public Primary Schools desktops. Collaborate with Education to seek the provision of training for teachers on identified OSS. Identify programmes to promote the use of OSS within Education	Seek to allocate resource to aid the implementation of specific OSS implementations within Education. Guide Education to deploy OSS software on Public Secondary Schools desktops. Collaborate with Education to reduce technology dependencies with Public Schools desktops. Collaborate with Education to reduce product specific dependencies from National Curriculum. Plan and Drive an awareness campaign with parents. Collaborate with University of Malta and other Public post secondary educational entities to create localised OSS. Introduce an award at Embed[13]  for the use of OSS in class by children. Include OSS as a theme in the ICT Summer Club[14]  we are devising for Secondary School children. (subject to EU funding).
Research Programmes	Establish networking opportunities with University of Malta.	Collaborate with University of Malta and local OSS communities to encourage participation within research programmes.
Government of Malta Open source End user Group	Establish the Government of Malta Open Source End User Group.	Chair the Government of Malta Open Source End User Group meetings. Provide collaboration tools to the Government of Malta Open Source End User Group.	Establish a way to empower the Government of Malta Open Source End User Group.
Open Source Procurement Frameworks	Evaluate ways to encourage re-use of public software. Analyse the opportunities of distribution public software as Open Source under EUPL.	Provide guidelines towards the adoption of Open Source requirements in procurement. Establish guidelines for the creation of OSS projects and OSS communities. Procure re-useable software implementations and release as OSS.	Drive OSS communities to develop selected public software.
National OSOR and Forge	Run an OSOR Intranet, built on OSS. Carry out research on tools to establish a national OSOR and Forge.	Establish a National OSOR. Distribute public software as OSS. Adopt community principles for the maintenance of OSS Government software. Ensure the take-up of the National OSOR. Collaborate and Federate with http://osor.eu and other European National Forges.
Collaboration with EU, Vendors and Communities	Seek to increase participation in key OSS events. Increase networking opportunities with European National Forges. Collaborate and participate at European Commission related events. Identify the first OSS vendors for VSAs negotiations.	Identify a number of OSS strategic partners. Research and evaluate the possibility to organise a local national OSS conference.	Establish way to organise, or drive the organisation, of the first local national OSS conference.

 

Evaluation

The introduction of OSS in Maltese Public Administration has received warm comments by the media. Amanda Debattista, an e-learning support teacher, underlines that ECDL should not be considered as a certification by a particular manufacturer, and serve as a certification for computer skills and competences.[15]  Michel Bugeja, an enterprise architect at MITA, writes: “With its establishment, the Government of Malta Open Source End User Group will provide a platform for interested parties to actively participate in the overall Open Source strategy being actively pursued by government by presenting suggestions, feedback and recommendations on how to capitalise on the effective use of Open Source.” [16]

 

Achievements

The biggest benefit of adopting Open Source Software is the freedom of choice rather than adopting free software. Primary benefits include:

• Reliability – Quality Assurance is usually carried out directly on the source code by a word wide community
• Choice – A number of open source solutions adopt open standards which allow different communities to create tools with similar functionalities while allowing interoperability

• Innovation – Open Source tend to provide new tools quicker
• Low-cost – Not necessarily initially but also taking into consideration exit costs
• Security – Vulnerabilities are identified early
• Fast Deployment – Most open source software is easily available and easy to install.

An important document created by the Government of Malta is the “Open Source Vision” white paper,” [17] which presents the roadmap towards the OSS adoption in Malta.

Lessons learned

Software as a service provided by suppliers that base their solutions on OSS in order to achieve competitive prices. Example is the recent procurement of an eProcurement solution as a service by MITA where a solution based exclusively on OSS components is used.
As noted in the Open Source Vision document “Adopting solutions which are not based on open standards not only seriously stifles competition but also severely constrains flexibility in terms of ‘choice’ in the long run. This is due to the formation of a mesh of dependencies which tends to leave respective consumers at the mercy (due to the cost involved in the transition/consideration/option to/of other alternatives) of respective vendors.”
It is important to acknowledge that MITA understands the term “free” as “freedom of choice”. This use is clearly not related to monetary terms, but it is not identical to the set of the four freedoms of the FSF.[18]

Conclusion

The situation in Malta before the vision paper and the open source software policy exhibited strong preference for particular technologies. Ross Mason, chief technical officer of an international vendor of OSS considers that “The government announcement will have a decent impact on open source awareness, putting open source at the forefront of any government IT decisions. [… However] I don\'t believe there is much of an open sourced developer community in Malta today and I don\'t really expect that to have a huge impact."[19]  The government initiatives presented above have the potential to change the public procurement of IT solutions landscape in a smarter, more cost-efficient direction.
The Government of Malta has made a significant step towards the adoption of OSS in Public Administrations with the Open Source Policy, the OSS Vision white paper, and related initiatives. The road towards OSS adoption is long, and the aim of the Maltese OSS policy is to support the non-intrusive adoption of OSS. The successful implementation of the OSS awareness initiatives will help Maltese Public Administrations find their way towards the smartest solution in their IT procurement, all factors taken into account.

Links

Open Source Vision white paper.
Open Source Software Policy
Open Source Software Directive
Open Standards Policy
Open Standards Directive
Adopted Specifications standard

Notes

1.   The term OSS is being used in order to maintain a uniform terminology with respect to the OSOR.eu website. The basic concept behind all similar terms (Free Software, Libre Software, and Open Source Software) is freedom, and this is acknowledged universally. In the context of Public Administrations, however, it is necessary to underline the need for specific licensing terms guaranteeing this freedom, and therefore the OSS term seems to suit better in this context.
2.   MITA white paper “Open Source Vision”, at https://www.mita.gov.mt/MediaCenter/PDFs/1_Open%20Source%20Vision%20-%20White%20Paper%20%28NISCO%29.pdf (retrieved at 19/4/2011).
3.  Martin Debattista, “Malta and Microsoft: a marriage on the rocks?” article on Times of Malta, at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090521/technology/malta-and-microsoft-a-marriage-on-the-rocks.257855 (retrieved on 19/4/2011).
4.  MITA Press Release 14/2011 “Government And Microsoft International Sign Five Year Strategic Partnership Agreement” at https://www.mita.gov.mt/news.aspx?nid=383&catid=25 (retrieved on 5/9/2011).
5. Noel Cuschieri and Malcolm Mizzi, “Promoting Openness and Freedom of Choice”, presentation at https://www.mita.gov.mt/MediaCenter/PDFs/1_NISCO%20Openness%20and%20Freedom%20of%20Choice%20Presentation.pdf (retrieved at 19/4/2011).
6. The statement is made in the “Open Source Vision” document, published in October 2010.
7. “GMICT Vocabulary” standard defines “Line Of Business” (LOB) as “A software product that is not corporate”. Document available at https://www.mita.gov.mt/MediaCenter/PDFs/1_GMICT-X-0003-Vocabulary-v4.0.pdf (retrieved on 20/4/2011).
8. MITA, “Open Source Vision”, white paper at https://www.mita.gov.mt/MediaCenter/PDFs/1_Open%20Source%20Vision%20-%20White%20Paper%20%28NISCO%29.pdf (retrieved on 19/4/2011).
9.  Martin Debattista, “Malta and Microsoft: a marriage on the rocks?” article on Times of Malta, at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090521/technology/malta-and-microsoft-a-marriage-on-the-rocks.257855 (retrieved on 19/4/2011).
10. ibid
11. MITA, “Adopted Specifications” policy document, at https://www.mita.gov.mt/MediaCenter/PDFs/1_GMICT_S_0071_Adopted_Technologies.pdf (retrieved on 19/4/2011).
12. MITA, “Open Source Vision”, White Paper (p. 30) at https://www.mita.gov.mt/MediaCenter/PDFs/1_Open%20Source%20Vision%20-%20White%20Paper%20%28NISCO%29.pdf (retrieved on 19/4/2011).
13. EMBED is an award given to teachers and students in schools to celebrate the adoption of technology within education.
14. The ICT Summer Club is an education programme for students at secondary level that will be organised in summer to teach innovative ICT skills (subject to EU funding).
15. Amanda Debattista, “Free software: The educational perspective”, Times of Malta, 13/5/2010, at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100513/technology/free-software-the-educational-perspective.307054 (retrieved on 21/4/2011).
16. Michel Bugeja, “Government of Malta Open Source End User Group to be launched” Times of Malta, 22/4/2010 at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100422/technology/government-of-malta-open-source-end-user-group-to-be-launched.303960 (retrieved on 21/4/2011).
17.  MITA, “Open Source Vision”, white paper at https://www.mita.gov.mt/MediaCenter/PDFs/1_Open%20Source%20Vision%20-%20White%20Paper%20%28NISCO%29.pdf (retrieved on 19/4/2011).
18. Free Software Foundation, “The Free Software Definition” at http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html (retrieved on 20/4/2011).
19. Martin Debattista “The slow but sure rise of open source software in Malta”, Times of Malta, at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100715/technology/the-slow-but-sure-rise-of-open-source-software-in-malta.317956 (retrieved on 2/5/2011).