On the 21st of November 2023, in the heart of Brussels, a landmark event celebrated the 15th anniversary of the European Commission’s Open Source Observatory (OSOR). The conference, titled “OSOR Turns 15: From Pioneering to Mainstreaming Open Technologies in Public Services,” brought together many of the brightest minds in the use of open source. A full conference room with 274 attendees witnessed the transformative journey of open source in public services. The event highlighted the significant achievements of open source communities, paying tribute to the innovators and visionaries who have been pivotal in shaping this landscape. In addition, it set the stage for future innovations in the realm of open source technology in public services.
In a dedicated message, European Commissioner for Budget and Administration Johannes Hahn congratulated the OSOR Community for the trustworthy knowledge hub it has become since its initiation and for its remarkable expansion of its community of experts and enthusiasts.
Both Commissioner Hahn and the Commission’s Director-General for Digital Services Veronica Gaffey stressed the fundamental role of open source in achieving more digital sovereignty, interoperability by design and digital transformation of public administrations. They both declared that OSOR will play an important role in the interoperability governance structure that will support the implementation of the recently successfully negotiated Interoperable Europe Act.
High-Level panel
In her keynote speech Francesca Bria, University College London Professor at the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, called the Act an excellent example of achieving digital rights for citizens, rather than reducing citizens to ‘data-extractivism’, the use of citizens’ data as raw materials. In the pursuit for a more sovereign and open digital European agenda, Bria called (among others) for a strengthened focus on free open source tech, data portability, and the sharing of privacy-preserving standards and protocols through added obligations in procurement agreements and public tenders. Also high on her wish list (in the wake of the Germany's Sovereign Tech Fund) is a new EU-wide technology fund.
According to Dutch Minister for Digitalisation Alexandra Van Huffelen, the essence of the Dutch digitaliszation policy should always be “Open source… unless.” But the full benefits of open source could only be realised if Member States work closely together on the EU level. “If we’re not sharing our experiences, we’re not going anywhere.”
To the Dutch Minister, open source is the best way to achieve value driven digitalisation that reflects values and that benefits both society and economy. The question of aligning open source practices with values is also important to Amandeep Gill, the United Nations Tech Envoy. He insisted not to overlook communities when it comes to open-source cooperation: “They know very well which problems they want to solve, and they have the data”.
DG -DIGIT Director for Digital Enablers & Innovation Natalia Aristimuno agreed with this point, while also emphasising that, apart from technicalities, a cultural shift in thinking in open source by default is still needed in many administrations. In this regard, lessons can be taken from the experience of France. Stéphanie Schaer, French Inter-ministerial Director of Digital Affairs (DINUM), testified about the country’s long tradition of at least 20 years in policy orientation on free and open source. She also presented a new digital strategy from the French ministry to promote the use of free and open source software in all public administrations.
Bulgarian MP and former minister for E-Government Bozhidar Bozhanov told the audience about a recent succesful practice in open source from his home country. Bozhanov worked on a Bulgarian law that got introduced in 2016 and which mandates that, when the government procures custom built software, the source should be open. According to Bozhanov, this law resulted in multiple benefits in the daily operations of administrations such as better auditability, transparency and cost-savings.
The OSOR Awards
“OSOR Turns 15” ended with the ceremony of the OSOR Awards, a competition that was specially created to honor the best open source solutions and initiatives created by or for public administrations in Europe. In total, 101 open source solutions and initiatives were submitted.
The prize for the popular vote went to Blue Hats, an active community of over 2,000 public sector employees that works to promote open source software in the public sector. Geotrek.Com, a global database and web application to manage and promote hiking in France’s Ecrins National Park, won the prize for best open source initiative. Lastly, the prize for best Open Source solution went to gvSIG Suite, an open-source geospatial information platform that is designed to provide advanced solutions in the field of Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
The other, notification-worthy, finalists of the OSOR Awards were the OS2 initiative, a community of public institutions that work together to develop and share digital solutions in Denmark, and Démarches Simplifiées, an open source driven website by which administrations can digitalise their public services in an easy, non-technical, way.
Mission accomplished
Monika Sowinska, Interoperable Europe’s project officer responsible for OSOR and main driving force behind the conference, thanked all the teams who made ‘OSOR Turns 15’ happen. “This special event was about acknowledging achievements of open source communities. It formed a very good pretext to look at how we can move forward and what the future holds for open source in Europe. By looking at the enthusiastic feedback we received from the participants and speakers, we are ascertained that these goals were achieved,” she commented after the conference.
While more visual materials on “OSOR Turns 15” will be published, you can rewatch the event already in its entirety (including the High-Level panel, other panels and the Award show) by going to the live-streaming page of the event.