The Council of the Polish Region of Lower Silesia corrected its procurement specification following complaints from a civil IT procurement watchdog. In the updated request, published in September, the council no longer asks for a specific proprietary brand of operating system and ditto office suite. The watchdog hopes this opens the way for providers of open source alternatives to participate in the bid.
The watchdog 'Proper Public Procurement of IT' in a statement welcomes the region's correction. "We are happy that the authority admits the mistake and, without delay, changed their tender documents." Pppit says the correction shows that its substantial comments are helping Polish public administrations improve their procurement practices. "This case is a model for the cooperation between our NGO and the authorities."
In the original tender documents published on 11 August, the Lower Silesian Regional Council had named a specific proprietary brand of operating system and ditto office suite, in violation of European procurement rules. In its new terms there is no longer a reference to the proprietary brand.
Pppit wrote to the council in August to explain that the public authority is discriminating contractors that want to offer competing software solutions. Following the update, the NGO says the authority has opened the way for open source competitors to enter into the bid.
Reporting on their success, Pppit notes that the council reserves the right to use an independent audit to determine if the proposed software solutions will meet the requirements.
Pppit sees the modification as an "unquestionable success." The organisation did not yet respond to questions if it believes the new tender will result in IT service suppliers offering solutions based on open source.
More information:
Report by Pppit (in Polish)