OSOR has just published the first versions of reports on the state of open source in Mexico and China. These reports offer a comprehensive overview of each country’s use and policies on open source software as of 2023. They delve into the evolution of policies in recent years and provide various examples of open source usage in public administration specific to each nation.
In these reports, you will discover the key governmental bodies actively involved in open source initiatives. In Mexico, the reports highlight the roles of the National Digital Strategy Coordinator and the Public research Center of the Federal Government, while in China, emphasis is placed on the Ministry of Industry and Information technology's and the China Open Source Cloud League.
Each report showcases the recent history of legislations linked to open source and open technologies in these countries with two widely different legal cultures. We hope our reader will be able to grasp on the wider government interventionist policy and the renewed focus and interest in open source within the respective governments.
While China has a history of active involvement in open source spanning over 25 years, the open source industry in China can be seen as a multifaceted collaboration between the public and private sectors, often with a blurred line between governmental and private interests, this report also tries to portray its recent opening toward international collaboration when it comes to open source organisation and standardisation.
Regarding Mexico, the report illustrates how the federal level now mandates the conditional prioritisation of open source software for public administrations. This initiative was inspired by similar measures initially introduced in some of Mexico’s 31 Member States, with the first call for such measures dating back to 2009.
You can access the detailed reports here. Additionally, concise factsheets highlighting key insights from both reports are also available.
We trust that you will find these reports informative. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at EU-OSOR@ec.europa.eu.
Warm regards,
The OSOR team