IMIO, short for "Intercommunale Mutualisation Informatique Organisationnelle," is a public organisation operating within the Walloon Region of Belgium. It is dedicated to promoting and coordinating the sharing of solutions and services among local authorities in the region. One of their key initiatives is the "IA.Solution," which comprises a suite of open-source modules developed by IMIO to address the specific needs of local governments.
The IA.Solution is deployed as a Software as a Service (SaaS) on IMIO's infrastructure. The solution encompasses various modules, including communal portals, "iA.Delib" for managing deliberations, "iA.Urban" for handling permits, "iA.Teleservices" for online public services, a project management module, “iA.Docs”, a mailing management module, an intranet, a out-of-school childcare module.
The total user base for IMIO's solutions is estimated to be around 25,000 users (city servants).
iMio serves 404 local authorities in wallonia including 244 towns (90 % of the municipalities), 108 Public Centre for Social Action, 13 police zones, 12 fire departments, and 4 provinces are currently using at least one module are listed on an online map.
Some of which participate in the governance of IMIO through positions on the board of directors and the management committee.
IMIO plays a central role in implementing a common IT strategy for local governments and fostering collaboration among public bodies. By producing open-source software tailored to the needs of local authorities, IMIO helps these entities avoid vendor dependencies and maintain greater autonomy.
The primary aim of this initiative is to foster collaboration among local authorities, resulting in several significant benefits:
- Cost Reduction: Pooling resources and sharing solutions leads to a reduction in overall costs, both in terms of human resources and materials.
- Knowledge Sharing: IMIO facilitates the exchange of knowledge and best practices among local authorities, thereby enhancing their collective expertise.
- Synergy: Collaboration among different actors within the region promotes synergy, ensuring that efforts are aligned and more effective.
The organisation achieved a turnover of more than €6 million with 49 employees.
Since 2021, iMio has achieved financial autonomy and no longer depends on an operating subsidy from the Walloon Region. The only source of funding comes from contributions from its members for the services used since there is no annual contribution requested from members.
IMIO's results have exceeded forecasts outlined in its business plan, demonstrating its commitment to long-term sustainability. The pricing model is based on individual "products" and is linked to the population size of the municipality. It encompasses various services such as training, corrective maintenance, scalable migration to new versions of software, web and telephone support, and the management of the solution on IMIO servers, including backups, security, performance, and capacity management.
Most of the applications within the IA.Solution are built using a common programming language, Python and several frameworks (Plone, Django, Odoo).
All open-source application source code is available on GitHub.
The sustainability of the project results from close collaboration with a network of technological SMEs and open source communities (OCA -Odoo, Plone Community). Sprints and conferences are regularly organised to ensure consistency between business applications and frameworks and maintain tight connections between public services and open source communities.
