OpenForum Europe supports the European Commission's determination to make Europe 'cloud active', as outlined in Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes' speech in Davos today.
We share her view that cloud computing has the potential to be a game-changer for our economy. If properly harnessed it will boost innovation and productivity and provide benefits for businesses of all sizes as well as for individuals.
The decision to avoid building a European super-cloud is a wise one. Europe is not alone in identifying the opportunities cloud computing provides. Europe will need to co-operate with other parts of the world in what is now recognized as a global phenomenon.
OFE applauds the determination of VP Kroes to protect users in the cloud by ensuring that their data is protected, and can be freely moved from one provider to another without encountering technical obstacles. Cloud computing should be just like the Internet itself - firmly based on principles of transparency, open access and open standards.
Read more:
- ICT procurement consultation Jan 16, 2012
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As you may be aware, the European Commission (DG Information Society) has launched a study to develop guidelines to help public authorities to procure ICT products that are based on standards. Background to the study can be found here: Background to work. Many thanks if you have already contributed to the work.
Draft guidelines have now been prepared and Europe Economics, on behalf of the European Commission, is seeking views on how useful these guidelines might be, as well as views on practical implementation measures.
A short survey is available here Survey link. Your assistance in filling it in is greatly appreciated. Please see the attached letter of support from the Commission for more detail: Letter of support.
Please note that the survey will close on 14th February 2012. If you require any assistance in answering it please contact Deborah Kelly or Saattvic on +442078314717 or at ict@europe-economics.com. Your responses will remain completely confidential.
- Latest
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Commission pledges €10m to cloud partnership
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Press Release - OFE welcomes the European Commission's Cloud Computing Strategy and its focus on harnessing the buying power of the public sector
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France launches open data portal
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Open public data can drive growth in all sectors
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10 Things to Look Forward to in LibreOffice 3.5
- Commission pledges €10m to cloud partnership Jan 27, 2012
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ZDNet - The European Commission is to put €10m towards forming a group of European governments to jointly purchase cloud products.
The European Cloud Partnership, made up of governments and industry, will define common standards for cloud procurement, digital agenda commissioner Neelie Kroes said in a speech on Thursday.
"The partnership will... look at standards; it will look at security; it will look at ensuring competition, not lock-in," said Kroes. Joint procurement of cloud services by European public bodies and "pooling of resources" is the eventual aim of the partnership, she said.
Governments will ask providers for prototypes, and then move to product procurement.
The European Cloud Partnership is part of the Commission's overall cloud computing strategy, which will be presented later this year.
More commentary:
Bloomberg - EU Seeks Joint National Cloud-Computing Purchases for Growth
Information Management - Cloud Partnership Targets European Standards, Procurements
- France launches open data portal Jan 26, 2012
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The H Open - France has launched a beta version of an open data portal under the domain data.gouv.fr
. According to a French government announcement referenced by the European Commission's Joinup,
the web site, which launched on 5 December 2011, makes government data
available to the public free of charge and without restrictions. The
portal currently provides access to around 350,000 government records,
including the budgets for 2011 and 2012, air quality data, a summary of
accidents resulting in personal injury, geographic data on more than
3,000 railway stations, and the catalogue of the French national
library.The data published at data.gouv.fr is released under an open licence (License Ouverte)
which allows the data to be used for any purpose. It is mainly provided
in easily processable .xls and .csv formats. Businesses, researchers
and citizens are being called upon to develop new uses for this public
data.The objective of the initiative is to increase transparency at government agencies by providing the public with access to the data that the government uses as the basis for its decision making. The French government is also hoping that the availability of this data will lead to the development of new business models.
- Open public data can drive growth in all sectors Jan 24, 2012
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The Guardian - Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude recently argued that access to data can curb public spending; but it should also be an integral part of a more ambitious growth agenda for the UK.
The autumn statement, which announced the Open Data Institute, demonstrated the government's idea that public data – produced, collected or paid for by public bodies – can deliver economic and societal benefits.
The European Commission also published its open data strategy in December. This aims to deliver on the €140bn promise that public data in the EU can enable new businesses to deliver innovative services, improve public sector transparency and efficiency and, ensure decisions by governments are based on greater evidence and insight.
Widening access to public data, regardless of origin or volume, is a necessary first step towards deriving insights to guide policy decisions and create business opportunities. It will not by itself, however, increase administrative efficiency or transform commerce.
By taking three key actions, public bodies can unlock data's full potential and engage citizens and entrepreneurs in innovative ways.
- 10 Things to Look Forward to in LibreOffice 3.5 Jan 24, 2012
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PCW - Hard on the heels of the release of the bug-fixing LibreOffice 3.4.5 last Monday, the Document Foundation on Friday published a release candidate version of LibreOffice 3.5, which will be the next major version of the office productivity software.
- Extremadura to move all of its 40,000 desktops to open source Jan 24, 2012
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Joinup - The administration of Spain’s autonomous region of Extremadura is moving to a complete open source desktop, replacing the current proprietary desktop platform, confirms the region's CIO, Teodomiro Cayetano López. The IT department started a project to install the Debian distribution on all 40,000 desktop PCs. "The project is really advanced and we hope to start the deployment the next spring, finishing it in December."
The project makes it Europe's second largest open source desktop migration, between the French Gendarmerie (90,000 desktops) and the German city of Munich (14,000 desktops).
- IBM readies answer to Google Docs and Office 365 Jan 19, 2012
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ZDNet - IBM has officially launched a beta version of its cloud-based IBM Docs document-editing tool, with a final version expected to go up against Google and Microsoft's services later this year.
Like Google Docs and Office 365, IBM's service lets people to edit and share text, presentation and spreadsheet documents. Unlike them, it has a feature to assign specific sections of a document to key staff for editing, the company said in its announcement on Tuesday.
"We have approached IBM Docs with the idea that a document is a container of different sections, and so we have made it a flexible item that can integrate more collaborative elements," IBM product manager Jeanette Barlow said.
- Linux is getting too big Jan 18, 2012
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FudZilla - Linus Torvalds is getting a little worried about the size of the Linux kernel source code.
In the last three years or so the source code size has grown by 50-percent and the latest version is more than 15 million lines long. Linux started with 10,000 lines of code, and version 1.0.0 grew to 176,250 lines by March 1994. Less than ten years ago Linux 2.4 had about 2.4 million lines of code.
- Tech Giants Join Forces To Fight Amazon's Cloud Jan 18, 2012
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Business Insider - A long list of tech giants want to make it easier to steal one another's cloud computing customers. They are creating a technology standard that lets enterprises easily move their applications from one cloud to another.
The group includes 3M, CA Technologies, Cisco, Citrix, EMC, IBM, Red Hat, SAP, Software AG, and others.
- OASIS Forms TOSCA Technical Committee to Advance Open Standard for Cloud Portability Jan 17, 2012
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Market Watch - The OASIS international consortium has launched a new open standards initiative to enhance the portability of cloud applications and services. The OASIS Topology and Orchestration Specification for Cloud Applications (TOSCA) Technical Committee will advance an interoperability standard that will make it easier to deploy cloud applications without vendor lock-in, while maintaining application requirements for security, governance, and compliance.
- BETT 2012 Jan 16, 2012
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Oxford University Computing Services - David Baker - I didn’t think BETT was as manic as in previous years, but I don’t usually go on the first day, so maybe it’s always like that. And Mr Gove was there to open it, so I’m sure he had a calming influence.
The economic situation is clearly having an impact: hardly any freebies this year. More interestingly, many exhibitors (even those with a heavy UK presence) had European staff on the stalls – looks like downsizing is happening and staff have to be brought in from all over for big events. There were significantly more Chinese exhibitors, mainly offering their own interactive digital whiteboard (IDW) solutions, and also more French, German and East European companies.
So, some things that caught my attention:
- Hope shines through crack in lid of open standards coffin Jan 13, 2012
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Computer Weekly - Woah there, cowboy. The UK hasn't broken its open standards pledge quite yet.
The Cabinet Office may have rescinded its open standards policy. It might even be about to put it to public consultation after it had already received a democratic mandate as manifesto commitments of both parties in the coalition government. And it may be that this reversal was done despite the government having already turned that mandate into a civil service edict and a central tenet of government ICT Strategy as well.
And it might have done this after lobbying from companies like Microsoft that opposed it.
But it's not killed the policy dead. Not yet.
- "An Open-Source World"? Where's The Open Source? Jan 12, 2012
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ComputerWorldUK - Glyn Moody - If we are to believe the early signs, 2012 may well be the year that British schools finally start to address the continuing shame that is ICT teaching. As I and many others have noted, the current approach essentially consists of sitting people in front of Microsoft Word and Excel and making them learn a couple of commands on the menus. It seems that the message has finally got through to the powers-that-be:
Imagine the dramatic change which could be possible in just a few years, once we remove the roadblock of the existing ICT curriculum. Instead of children bored out of their minds being taught how to use Word and Excel by bored teachers, we could have 11 year-olds able to write simple 2D computer animations using an MIT tool called Scratch. By 16, they could have an understanding of formal logic previously covered only in University courses and be writing their own Apps for smartphones.
(Or they might just sit down and write a new operating system kernel as someone else did a few years ago.)
Those words - amazingly - were pronounced earlier today by the UK Education Secretary Michael Gove as part of a long-awaited speech about the future of ICT teaching in the UK.
- AT&T, Oracle Bet On Open Source Clouds Jan 12, 2012
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Seeking Alpha - Which has more value in the cloud, open source code or an open API?
Rackspace (RAX) is betting on open source code with its CloudStack project. Amazon (AMZN) has long bet on open Application Program Interfaces (APIs) with its Amazon Web Services. Analyst Matt Asay says it's the API that matters.
Oracle (ORCL) and AT&T (T) now say it's the source code that matters.
Oracle this week placed a big bet on open source by naming Cloudera its supplier of big data software for its Oracle Cloud Appliance.
- UK Government Betrayal of Open Standards Confirmed Jan 10, 2012
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ComputerWorld - Glyn Moody - Just before Christmas I wrote a fairly strongly-worded condemnation of what I saw as the imminent betrayal of open standards by the UK Cabinet Office. This was based on reading between the lines of a new Procurement Policy Note, plus my thirty years' experience of dealing with Microsoft. At the time, I didn't have any specific proof that Microsoft was behind this shameful U-turn, but Mark Ballard has, it seems:
The British government withdrew its open standards policy after lobbying from Microsoft, it has been revealed in a Cabinet Office brief leaked to Computer Weekly.
- Microsoft hustled UK retreat on open standards, says leaked report Jan 09, 2012
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Computer Weekly - The British government withdrew its open standards policy after lobbying from Microsoft, it has been revealed in a Cabinet Office brief leaked to Computer Weekly.
The Department of Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) also formerly opposed the policy before Cabinet Office withdrew it. BIS supported Microsoft's position against open standards, the backbone of the government's ICT policy. The Business Software Alliance, infamous for its lobbying against open standards policy in Brussels, also lobbied against the government policy.
Microsoft took up direct opposition to the ICT Strategy's pledge to give preference to technologies that supported open standards of interoperability between government computer systems, said the briefing paper.
The software supplier was concerned this would prevent companies from claiming royalties on the point of exchange between those systems.
It complained specifically about the wording of UK procurement policy, which in January 2011 established a definition to explain its edict that open standards should be used in government computing wherever possible. UK policy specified that "[open standards] must have intellectual property made irrevocably available on a royalty free basis".
- NASA Launches Agency-wide Open Source Initiative Jan 06, 2012
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fedscoop - NASA has launched a new website, located at code.nasa.gov, aimed at centralizing the agency’s open source software efforts and creating a collaborative environment to discuss issues related to its use.
The site, currently in “alpha” phase, will be developed over a three-stage process and include a directory of development projects, points of contacts, online discussion forums and help “guide internal and external groups in open development, release, and contribution.”
- Of Open Source and the European Commission Jan 05, 2012
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ComputerWorldUK - Glyn Moody - At the end of last year I reported on the worrying signs of vacillation from the UK government over its support for truly open standards. At least it's relatively straightforward to keep tabs on what's happening in Blighty; Europe is another matter - I find the labyrinthine bureaucracy and its digital shadow pretty hard to navigate. So I was pleased to come across the following page, entitled "Strategy for internal use of OSS at the EC".
For a start, it has this useful summary of the Commission's gradual adoption of open source solutions:
- Misplaced priorities hampering UK government uptake of open source Jan 04, 2012
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opensource.com - According to a computing.co.uk article entitled Open Source: The government's commitment so far, most of the IT technology used in the UK government is still proprietary and comes from single vendors.
Open source adoption by government agencies in the UK is progressing, but is still being hindered by a focus on "free as in gratis." Decisions based on cost-of-acquisition alone ignore the other real and more important values offered by open source, which are derived from "free as in freedom."
- Security 'misunderstandings' remain open source barrier Jan 03, 2012
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UKauthorITy - Cultural barriers and misunderstanding of security risks remain the biggest blocks to the public sector's wider implementation of open source, the civil servant tasked with boosting open source has told UKAuthority.com.
Robin Pape, chief information officer for the Home Office and the senior responsibility officer within government for open source and open standards, said open source software is still not being given appropriate consideration when government bodies evaluate software options.
"The primary reason open source isn't considered is cultural - government customers and its leading suppliers have largely been happy to procure proprietary commercial software and have not been aware of, or had experience with, open source alternatives". Pape said in an email interview with UKauthorITy.com. "This is changing, and we can encourage this change by recognising that an "intelligent customer" function requires both a technical and commercial understanding of open computing, as well as a difference in how the market is engaged."
Another significant reason is misunderstanding of how the government IT security process applies to open source, he said. "We have worked to clarify the security risks around open source, and the good news is that on balance open source is no more or less secure closed than closed source software. This means that open source software cannot be excluded from an options analysis for security reasons alone."
- On a lighter note - Adventures in Self-Publishing: eBook or Dead Tree? Dec 23, 2011
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The Standards Blog - Andy Updegrove - This series highlights aspects of my experience self-publishing The Alexandria Project, available soon as an eBook and in soft and hardcover.
If you are of a certain age (and I, most regrettably, am definitely of a certain age), a book means a certain thing, and that is this: something that you can hold in your hands, keep on a shelf, pack up and carry in a box in move after move (after move, after move…), and generally treasure for life, if it’s a good read or a valued resource. Kept indoors and absent a natural disaster, it can – and does – live on for centuries, always there, patiently waiting to be discovered anew, generation after generation.
It should therefore come as no surprise that the book I wrote last year, The Alexandria Project, will soon be available in tangible as well as eBook form. This is not to say that this makes a terrific amount of sense, viewed from any rational economic point of view. After all, it’s not likely that any bookstore will ever stock it. Moreover, because of costs of production, it’s also not likely that many people will buy it in soft cover, as compared to electronic form, let alone hardcover.
After all, why would they? I plan to sell the eBook for $2.99, and anyone can download free eReader software (Amazon’s Kindle, for example) to their laptop, cell phone or smartphone. At close to 300 pages, The Alexander Project will cost more than double that just to print in soft cover, before adding shipping and any profit that I might want to make on the side. So if you’re already into eBooks, which one would you likely want to buy?
- UK Government Open Standards: The Great Betrayal of 2012 Dec 23, 2011
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ComputerWorldUK - Glyn Moody - Back in February of this year, I wrote about PPN 3/11, a Cabinet Office “Procurement Policy Note - Use of Open Standards when specifying ICT requirements” [.pdf], which contained the following excellent definition of open standards:
- UK government pulls open standards recommendation Dec 23, 2011
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The H Open - The UK Government has withdrawn the procurement guidance it issued in February which defined open standards for public sector use as royalty free. The government issued the procurement policy note (PPN) PPN03/11
which committed the government to implementing open standards in the
public sector, but more significantly, defined open standards as being
royalty free. Now, though, in a newly issued PPN, PPN09/11, the government says it stands by its commitment to open standards but says that a survey
it held to "gather views on the definition of the term open standard"
and select particular standards has "raised many questions that need to
be investigated in more detail".
- Open standards rift tears UK policy to shreds Dec 22, 2011
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Computer Weekly - Cabinet Office scrapped its open standards policy before opening it to consultation last month, opening the way for a major policy U-turn.
It issued a procurement policy edict on 30 November that erased a standards policy that had been in place since 31 January. It was revoked after a period of lobbying by powerful companies lined against its open standards policy that included Microsoft and the Business Software Alliance.
The 30 November edict to procurement officers, Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 09/11, said it superseded the 31 January policy, PPN 3/11. But it contained no superseding policy. It deferred to a forthcoming public consultation on open standards the Cabinet Office had announced 5 days earlier.
"PPN 3/11 has therefore been withdrawn," it said.
The policy had required public bodies to specify open standards "wherever possible" and had defined an open standard as something produced in an open forum, sanctioned by an international standards body, and made available irrevocably at zero or low cost without payment of royalties.
- Brazilan State Mandates Preference To ODF Dec 22, 2011
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Muktware - The government of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest state in Brazil, passed a new law which mandates public entities and companies in Rio de Janeiro to give preference to open document formats, in particular ODF. The publication of Law #5978/2011 was celebrated in an official event with representatives from the government, several state companies, and the FLOSS community.
Several Brazilian government entities heavily involved with IT had already signed the "Brasilia Protocol" in 2008, a mutual commitment to Open Data Formats. Similarly, many government sectors were already implementing changes towards open source internally. This new Law formalizes this commitment and extends it to the whole of the public administration in the State of Rio de Janeiro.
- Government not measuring whether its IT strategy is working Dec 22, 2011
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ComputerWorldUK - No clear baseline measurement in spite of good early steps, says NAO.
The government is not measuring whether its IT strategy is working, in spite of pouring millions of pounds of taxpayer money into it.
That is according to the National Audit Office, which said the Cabinet Office had "not yet developed a system for measuring the extent to which the strategy is resulting in sustained change". Whitehall needed much clearer timescales and baseline measurements.
Additionally, the government has only been "informally" managing resources to deliver the strategy, the NAO said. "Without a clear resource plan, gaps may start to hinder progress," it said.
- Apple wins US Android patent ruling against HTC Dec 22, 2011
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ZDNet -Apple has won a narrow victory over HTC in one of the companies' patent battles, with the US International Trade Commission ordering HTC to stop infringing on an Apple patent in its Android smartphones.
The ITC ruling (PDF), announced on Monday after multiple delays, stated that HTC must from 19 April, 2012 stop US imports of devices that infringe on two claims in the '647 patent. This patent covers the functionality where a smartphone user can tap on a link in, for example, an email to initiate a phone call or open a web page.
HTC has claimed the ITC ruling as a victory for itself, as Apple had originally tried to assert 10 patents against HTC, with multiple claims of infringement in many of these patents. In the event, the ITC only upheld two of the four claims Apple was citing in just one of those 10 patents.
- Apache forges ahead with OpenOffice.org suite Dec 22, 2011
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InfoWorld - Developer release planned; open source organization asserts trademark protection.
In its new role as steward of the OpenOffice.org open source office suite, the Apache Software Foundation expects to offer an Apache-branded version of the package for developers in 2012. Apache also is carefully guarding its trademarks.
Apache on Tuesday is releasing a statement about its OpenOffice efforts, entitled "Open Letter to the Open Document Format Ecosystem," which notes the planned 3.4 release, tentatively slated for early 2012. Apache has just about completed with code clearance stage of the effort, said Don Harbison of the Apache OpenOffice project management committee in an interview.
- Open data can unlock growth in Europe Dec 22, 2011
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Public Service Europe - The digital revolution and explosive growth of the social media culture is transforming the relationship between government, business and citizen. But when times are tough, opening up access to public data to improve the transparency and accountability of public bodies is not typically seen as a high priority.
Now, though, the European Commission has seen the potential of public data – data produced, collected or paid for by public bodies in the European Union – to deliver much wider economic and societal benefits. The commission's strategy, released on 12 December 2011, promises a future in which new businesses create economic growth by delivering innovative services; public administration is more transparent and efficient; and, policy decisions at all levels of government are based on greater evidence and insight. Legislating to open up access to public data, no matter what its origin or volume, does not by itself increase administrative efficiency or transform commerce. But opening up data is a necessary first step towards deriving valuable insights.
By acting on three key recommendations, the commission can unlock the potential of public data and, in so doing, engage citizens and entrepreneurs and reinvigorate national economies still struggling to deliver growth.
- Public sector needs to improve quality of information, warns Eurim Dec 20, 2011
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The Guardian - Parliamentary group gives cautious welcome to the EU's plans to open up more public sector data.
Sharing data on public services could have serious consequences unless the material has been valued, maintained and protected and the original reasons for its collection have been taken into account, the Information Society Alliance (Eurim), has warned.
In a report on the quality of public sector information, the group says that the drive to put central and local government data online, open to public scrutiny, has revealed the long standing problems with quality that lie behind the reluctance of some departments and agencies to trust one another's data. It adds that it is important that decisions on spending cuts are based on good quality information.
"Meanwhile demands from regulators and government agencies for the collection and retention of data that is not required for operational purposes, but might be needed in future, reduce UK competitiveness and add to public sector costs," says the document.
- Data storm: Making government data pay Dec 20, 2011
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BBC - Here's the good news: Europe's fiscally squeezed governments are sitting on assets that could be worth 40bn euros ($52bn, £33.6bn) a year.
The bad news is that, to realise those assets' full potential, governments have to give them away.
For free, and without licensing conditions, to all comers, including multi-national corporations as well as to local start-ups.
The assets are gargantuan archives of data that public administrations generate in the course of their public tasks. Such so-called public sector information can range from data sets about the weather and the natural environment to great works of historic art.
- Taking open data up a level Dec 19, 2011
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The Guardian - Nigel Shadbolt says it's time to accelerate the use of government data in generating innovation.
Data is variously described as the oxygen of the digital economy or the new raw material of the 21st century. So it is good to see that the UK is setting a cracking pace as it opens up government data for anyone to reuse.
Detailed data is made available every month on central and local government spending. Each month reported crime data is made available from every police force at an unprecedented level of detail. There have been releases of geographic data, health service performance data and transport data.
Whenever the data has been released the applications have followed. There are mobile apps that find you a parking space and companies using spending data to advise local authorities on how to get best value for money when procuring goods and services.
- Microsoft will beat Linux clouds at their own game - with open source Dec 19, 2011
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The Register - Open... and Shut Amazon may dominate public cloud computing, but not amongst the Microsoft groupies. Microsoft has managed to be an end-to-end cradle-to-grave supplier within the data centre, and is attempting to extend this motherly embrace to the cloud with its Azure platform.
Cracks have recently begun to show in this strategy, however, as Microsoft increasingly turns to open-source technologies like Hadoop to spice up Azure.
Is this a stopgap strategy or a sign of a more open Microsoft cloud?
The signs point to the latter, as Microsoft reaches beyond the Redmond talent pool to make Azure more appealing to the broader developer population. Microsoft's devoted customers, after all, haven't been the fastest moving on cloud adoption.
- Open data push is essential for growth, says Deloitte report Dec 14, 2011
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Computing - The use of open data could be a critical factor in determining the success or failure of the UK's growth agenda, according to a report from business advisory firm Deloitte.
But although the move will increase transparency and make government more innovative, responsive and better informed, there are ongoing issues around privacy, the report warns.
Called Unlocking Growth, How Open Data Creates New Opportunities for The UK, the report argues that providing data to the public will bring four main benefits:
Openness: as a result of making raw data easy to access and reuse the government will increase its accountability to citizens.
Innovation: the move will make citizens and government more innovative by encouraging the public and government developers to design own applications and harvest value from public data.
Responsiveness: access to information from social networks means the government can participate in public debate and be more responsive to the public.
Better informed: data analytics will become a core competency, improving productivity, quality and performance in the public sector.
The report follows several big announcements around making data more open.
- The best way to get value from data is to give it away Dec 14, 2011
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The Guardian - Yesterday European Vice President Neelie Kroes unveiled a new package of policies related to open data and public sector information.
Last Friday I wrote a short piece on for the Datablog giving some background and context for a big open data big policy package that was announced yesterday morning by Vice President Neelie Kroes. But what does the package contain? And what might the new measures mean for the future of open data in Europe?
The announcement contained some very strong language in support of open data. Open data is the new gold, the fertile soil out of which a new generation of applications and services will grow. In a networked age, we all depend on data, and opening it up is the best way to realise its value, to maximise its potential.
There was little ambiguity about the Commissioner's support for an 'open by default' position for public sector information, nor for her support for the open data movement, for "those of us who believe that the best way to get value from data is to give it away". There were props to Web Inventor Tim Berners-Lee, the Open Knowledge Foundation, OpenSpending, WheelMap, and the Guardian Datablog, amongst others.
- Open Data in Europe gets a huge boost from new EU rules Dec 13, 2011
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TNW - The Open Data movement has received a significant boost today with the announcement of the European Commission’s Open Data Strategy for Europe.
The move, which follows success with opening up public data to be used to create new apps and services in the UK and France, will see the Commission launching a three-pronged Open Data initiative. This will see it opening its own data portal, establishing standards for how open data should be handled across the European Union, and offering €100m in grants over the next two years to fund research that examines better technology for handling data.
Open Data allows developers to take existing public information, such as crime statistics, the locations of public amenities, public transport fares and much more, and transform it into useful tools to make that data more useful. For example, UK Pharmacy helps people in the UK find their nearest drugstore, and we’ve previously covered two teenagers who created a public transport app for smartphones using information made available under an Open Data strategy. Only last month, the UK government announced further initiatives in the UK.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the announcement is the EU-wide standards for Open Data. This will see a number of guidelines by which data should be handled across the Union:
- Hewlett-Packard embraces its webOS operating system again Dec 12, 2011
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The Australian - HEWLETT-PACKARD is making its webOS mobile operating system available to the open source community and will again consider making tablets based on the platform.
HP will take another shot at making webOS tablets, most likely in 2013, Meg Whitman, the chief executive of the world's number one computer maker, said in an interview with technology blog TechCrunch.
HP said it would continue to work on and support webOS, but the software platform will become open source, meaning that developers anywhere can tinker with it as they wish and it will be available for anyone to use free of charge.
"WebOS is the only platform designed from the ground up to be mobile, cloud-connected and scalable," Whitman said in a statement.
"By contributing this innovation, HP unleashes the creativity of the open source community to advance a new generation of applications and devices."
- Cabinet Office extends G Cloud deadline Dec 09, 2011
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The Guardian - The Cabinet Office has extended the deadline for suppliers to apply to join its G Cloud framework by three weeks to 19 December.
It said that it has received 532 expressions of interest to its invitation to tender, which was published in October, but wants to give even more companies an opportunity to apply.
The £60m framework, which aims to provide government departments with 'pay as you go' IT services, has been designed to be accessible to SMEs, according to the Cabinet Office.
It claims that less stringent evidence of financial history is required from the SMEs that apply, there is no lengthy pre-qualification questionnaire, and suppliers are asked what they can offer, rather than government providing a "complicated specification that stifles innovation".
Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, said this was an example of government changing procurement. "We are asking suppliers what they can offer and setting out our requirements in the simplest way possible," he said.
- Open Source Total Cost of Ownership 2.0 Dec 08, 2011
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ComputerWorldUK - Glyn Moody - Back in 2006, I wrote a piece for LXer called "A Brief History of Microsoft FUD". This ran through successive attempts by Microsoft to dismiss GNU/Linux in various ways. One of the better-known was a series of "Total Cost of Ownership" (TCO) studies. By an amazing coincidence, these all showed that Microsoft Windows was cheaper than that supposedly cheap GNU/Linux.
Fortunately, people soon cottoned on to the fact that these studies, paid for by Microsoft, were pretty worthless (here, for example, is a great debunking of the kind of FUD that was being put out in 2005.) However, one knock-on consequence of that episode is that TCO studies rather fell from favour.
So it's interesting to see this new report prepared for the Cabinet Office with the title "Total Cost of Ownership of Open Source Software", which has been released under the liberal Open Government Licence for public sector information. Here's the background:
- Data.gov-In-a-Box and the struggle for open government Dec 07, 2011
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Washington Post - The U.S. government has, as part of it’s stated commitment to open government, released open-source code for portions of Data.gov, the U.S. data repository created as part of President Obama’s Open Government Initiative.
But, for an administration that has struggled to balance its aspirations with its actions regarding greater transparency, is the release the beginning of a deluge, or merely a trickle?
Programmers with the U.S. government have been working with programmers in India since August as a part of the U.S.-India strategic Dialogue to create Data.gov-in-a-Box, “an open source version of the United States’ Data.gov data portal and India’s [India.gov.in] document portal,” according to a message posted on the Data.gov Web site.
- Europe Proposes New Conditions on Research and Development Dec 06, 2011
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NYT - BRUSSELS — The European Commission proposed new rules Wednesday that could make billions of euros of research and development financing conditional on any resulting inventions being marketed in Europe first.
The proposal is part of a broad package of measures aimed at generating jobs and stimulating growth in Europe, and would need to be approved by all 27 E.U. member states and the European Parliament. The conditions could apply to parts of that package of proposed research expenditures, called Horizon 2020, worth €80 billion, or $108 billion, from 2014 to the end of the decade.
The commission, the European Union’s executive branch, could “set additional exploitation conditions in the work program or the grant agreement” in specific cases where there was “very high investment” or where a “strategic interest” of the bloc was involved, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, the European commissioner for research, said Wednesday.
“This should not be taken as the European Union or the commission putting forward a protectionist policy,” Ms. Geoghegan-Quinn said.
She added that there was “no more open research program in the world” than in Europe.
More comment:
- DWP Confirms 1,000 Open Source Desktops Pilot Dec 05, 2011
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eWeek Europe - Microsoft beware: a major UK government department is to trial open source desktops
The Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed that it is to pilot a scheme where it will trial 1,000 open source desktops.
News of the scheme was revealed by Mike Truran, customer delivery director at DWP, speaking at the Datacenter Dynamics Convergence conference. “If the pilot works we will take it forward,” Truran reportedly said.
- Suse looking to re-open Linux conversation Dec 05, 2011
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TechDay -Nearly eight months on from its purchase by global software company The Attachmate Group, Linux distributors Suse are beginning to implement changes to the way their business is run, including re-opening lines of communication with resellers and end users.
Although hugely respected in the world of developers, Linux hasn’t yet made the impact on businesses it deserves, according to Hamish Miles, Suse’s newly-appointed regional sales director for ANZ."We need to change the conversation into a business conversation,” Miles says."We need to try to avoid the IT department in the conversation, and talk to the finance guys.”
- More UK Open Data Moves - and Why That Makes Sense Dec 02, 2011
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ComputerWorldUK - Glyn Moody - In striking contrast with its disappointing performance in terms of supporting open source, the UK government continues to take huge strides in the world of open data. Details about its latest moves are contained in this document [.pdf] that came out of the recent 2011 Autumn Statement:
- EU Innovation: European Commission To Invest 80 Billion Euros In Research & Development To Drive Economic Growth Dec 02, 2011
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eGov - Horizon 2020 – a new programme which would see 80 Billion Euros being invested in promoting innovation, research and development was launched by the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn earlier today.
Horizon 2020 is a key pillar of Innovation Union, a Europe 2020 flagship initiative aimed at enhancing Europe's global competitiveness.
Funding provided by Horizon 2020 will be easier to access thanks to this simpler programme architecture, a single set of rules and less red tape. Horizon 2020 will mean: drastically simplified reimbursement by introducing a single flat rate for indirect costs and only two funding rates - for research and for close to market activities respectively; a single point of access for participants; less paperwork in preparing proposals; and no unnecessary controls and audits. One key goal is to reduce the time until funding is received following a grant application by 100 days on average, meaning projects can start more quickly.
- Google’s open source boss defends Android security isssues Dec 02, 2011
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TechWatch - Google hits out at security industry, which replies citing lack of app review process.
As yet more research uncovers further security threats in Android devices, Google’s Chris DiBona has accused security firms and anti-virus vendors of being nothing more than “charlatans and scammers” who create scare stories in order to sell their software.
Angry at what he sees as an attack on open source software in general, DiBona posted a rant on Google+ about why open source has little to worry about from viruses.
This has led to a number of reports that suggest that Google’s approach to the Android malware problem is nothing more than burying their head in the sand, something which worries the security community greatly.
- Free, distributed search with YaCy 1.0 Dec 01, 2011
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Karsten on Free Software - Today we published a press release about a distributed Free Software search engine: YaCy 1.0. At FSFE, we don’t usually do press releases about new software. But this time, it’s about a broader point: The rise of distributed systems.
There are more and more Free Software projects that replace centrally run services with distributed ones. For example, identi.ca (running on status.net) offers a Free Software alternative to Twitter; diaspora and many others provide a free, distributed alternative to Facebook; and so forth.
Now YaCy fills a significant gap: A free, distributed search engine.
- 'A standard is open when implemented in open source' Dec 01, 2011
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OSOR - A public sector organisation should only refer to a software or file format standard if the standard has been implemented in a sustainable open source software implementation. Without such implementation there is significant risk for the organisation, recommends Björn Lundell after a review of public administration's policies. Lundell is a researcher at the University of Skövde in Sweden.
The implementation of a standard in open source is a good sign of openness, says Lundell, who presented the most recent results of his research into the longevity of electronic documents at the ODF Plugfest on 18 November in the Dutch city of Gouda.
- ECS Professors to co-direct UK's Open Data Institute Nov 30, 2011
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University of Southampton - ECS Professors Nigel Shadbolt and Sir Tim Berners-Lee have been named as co-directors of a new world-leading Open Data Institute, established by the UK Government to innovate, exploit and research Open Data opportunities.
The new Institute will be based in Shoreditch, the newly designated 'Tech City UK' area of London, where there is a huge concentration of Web 2.0 start-ups, and it will involve business and academic institutions.
The Open Data Institute is intended to help demonstrate the commercial value of public data and the impact of open data policies on the realisation of this value. The Institute will also help develop the capability of UK businesses to exploit open data opportunities, with support from University researchers. It will help the public sector use its own data more effectively and it will engage with developers and the private and public sectors to build supply chains and commercial outlets for public data. The Government is to commit up to £10m over five years to support the Open Data Institute through the Technology Strategy Board - in a match-funded collaboration with industry and academic centres.
- BBC Trust says open internet is crucial Nov 30, 2011
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DigitalTVEurope - UK ISPs that market internet access services should offer unrestricted access to the web, according to Diane Coyle, vice chairman of the BBC Trust, which oversees the governance of the UK public broadcaster.
Her comments are in response to last week’s publication of an Ofcom paper intended to open up a discussion on how the communications regulator might address traffic management concerns and what stance it should take on any potential anti-competitive discrimination amongst ISPs. “If the wrong approach is taken to net neutrality, the results would be bad for consumers,” said Coyle.
The BBC finds itself at the centre of the debate on net neutrality due to the popularity of its online platform iPlayer.
“Internet service providers (ISPs) feel they are being unfairly blamed by consumers for a sub-standard internet experience due to network congestion or poor coverage. They need to pay to upgrade to the speeds that consumers expect, so they are considering asking the content companies, whose services – like the BBC’s iPlayer – drive web traffic, to pay for a faster service for their content,” said Coyle. She said that the burden of upgrading fibre and 4G networks to deliver faster internet access need not fall entirely on ISPs. Content providers, for example, are investing in technology to reduce the bandwidth required to view videos.
- Open source: Is the government doing enough? Nov 29, 2011
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Computing - The promotion of open source and open standards is a key tenet of the government's ICT strategy, but did the publication of the Open Source Procurement Toolkit earlier this month and recent government initiatives provide the boost needed to increase understanding and procurement of open source within the public sector?
Open source is currently in use across several government departments, with Drupal powering the Cabinet Office website and some DirectGov services, Transport for London's Oystercard using an open source infrastructure, and the Department of Health using open source to work with EU partners.
In addition, some departments are creating their own open source technologies, such as the Department for the Climate Change, which has created FoxOpen. However, most of the technology used by government remains proprietary, with the Department for Work and Pensions, for example, still using comprehensive proprietary products from single vendors such as IBM.
The government's open source policy was established in 2004, but CIO for the Home Office and the senior responsibility officer for open source and open standards, Robin Pape, acknowledged in conversation with Computing that there had been limited progress towards a truly level playing field for open source. "This meant that opportunities for better value solutions were being missed," he said.
- Government opens consultation on definition of IT open standards Nov 29, 2011
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Computer Weekly - The UK has put its year-old open standards policy up for public consultation after months of opposition from the British Standards Institution and proprietary software vendors.
The move clarifies uncertainty about the coalition government's commitment to the open standards policy it nurtured in opposition, declared in January and made a central plank of its IT strategy in March. But while it suggests the Cabinet Office is prepared for a U-turn, it may raise support from interested parties that have not been represented by the powerful industry lobby that has been pressing for the policy to be diluted.
Computer Weekly has learned that Microsoft and the Business Software Alliance (BSA) have been lobbying the Cabinet Office to rewrite its open standards policy. Similar lobbying led the European Commission to water down the European Interoperability Framework (EIF), its own open standards policy, last year.
Liam Maxwell, Cabinet Office director of ICT futures, told Computer Weekly the consultation was intended to reach a broader constituency than he had reached through trade association Intellect informally since taking his post in September.
- Does Free Software cost jobs? Nov 28, 2011
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ComputerWorld - Last year I generated quite a response when I suggested that the major expense of school ICT, namely the human resources required to keep it all going would be cut and cut again. The model of school ICT that had come to pass required huge amounts of skilled technical support.
Well everything has changed. Schools have stopped spending and the firms that sold to them are making big redundancies as illustrated by the cuts imposed recently by RM plc. My college has frozen all posts and within ICT the only post to be unfrozen is a web developer post. All of our ‘mission critical’ apps are available through the web (which is how I survive using only my Chromebook) so it seems obvious to me that the conventional model of Domains and their technical armies will naturally wither away.
I am feeling a little uneasy. As part of an Open Source company my mantra to education was ‘reduce overheads, reduce support, save money, do more for less’...well the message got through ... right alongside the recession. Trouble is we did not create a single long term job during this crusade. The company I was with has no-one now employed in any aspect of education.
All the developments in education are web-based and mostly leveraging globally available free stuff much of which indeed owes its existence to free, open source software. Virtually none of it represents a single British job.
- Analysis: EU data-sharing projects show early promise Nov 28, 2011
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Computing - Vice-president of the European Commission Neelie Kroes is never short of things to say, but the constant flow of words masks a digital agenda which, despite lofty ambitions, has seen slow progress to date.
Pushing standardised e-government services across member states, along with the ICT system interoperability to support those services, has been a big focus for the EU for some time. It wants 50 per cent of individuals and 80 per cent of businesses to use e-government tools by the end of 2015, for example.
The EU has fostered a small number of projects designed to showcase working examples of successful implementation of e-government initiatives. These are intended to make it easier for smaller businesses in the region to set up shop in other member states.
Launched in 2008, the Pan European Public Procurement OnLine project (PEPPOL) was designed to ease communication between companies or suppliers and government bodies responsible for procurement processes in the EU, for example.
- The Crown and suppliers: a new way of working Nov 25, 2011
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Cabinet Office - The Crown and suppliers: a new way of working' event was held on 21 November 2011 in London.
- Ofcom: ISPs must reveal more about traffic throttling Nov 25, 2011
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ZDNet - ISPs must be clearer with broadband customers about how they restrict traffic, Ofcom has said, warning it may force them to do so if they do not improve.
In addition, customers should be told exactly what average speed they should expect to get when they sign a contract, the telecoms regulator said as it released a statement on net neutrality on Thursday.
"In general, [traffic management] is beneficial, and is used for example to protect safety-critical traffic such as calls to the emergency services. But it can cause concern, if for example it is used by ISPs to target competing services, in a manner which is not visible to consumers," the regulator said in a statement.
Fixed and mobile broadband providers typically have traffic management policies in place, but not all of their customers may be aware of them. Traffic management is typically used to ease congestion at busy times on the network: for instance, video services may be prioritised over mail at times of day when more people are watching, and peer-to-peer (P2P) traffic is often allowed less bandwidth at certain times.
- Ubuntu popularity falls as Linux Mint flourishes Nov 25, 2011
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The Inquirer - Ubuntu is losing popularity according to Distrowatch, with Linux Mint growing at a tremendous pace.
The Distrowatch Linux Distribution popularity tracker was updated earlier today showing Canonical's Ubuntu slipping to fourth place, with Linux Mint increasing its lead at the top. For many years Ubuntu had topped the Distrowatch popularity list, but in the past year it has slipped to second place and now is ranked fourth.
Ubuntu's drop to fourth place sees Red Hat's Fedora move up to second place and OpenSUSE take third. Not only has Linux Mint retained its position at the top of the Distrowatch charts, according to the web site its popularity has increased by over 66 per cent in the last month.
- Has open source outgrown the Apache Way? Nov 24, 2011
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ITWorld - Organizations like the Apache Software Foundation, the Linux Foundation, and the Free Software Foundation have long been a part of the open source and free software ecosystem. But some in the FLOSS community are beginning to wonder if these venerable organizations need to change in order to keep up with the changing demands of FLOSS.
- Francis Maude is unashamedly obsessed with procurement but what's in it for suppliers? Nov 23, 2011
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Computer Weekly - I attended a government event all about procurement today. The Crown and Suppliers: A New Way of Working, to be exact.
I know this doesn't sound exciting but I know for a fact that Francis Maude, minister for the Cabinet Office, has a different view. "I really mean it about being passionate about procurement," said Maude. "We have not got it right for quite some time."
Since the coalition government came to power Maude has been on a mission to cut government costs. IT is a prime target with billions spent on it every year.
The gist of it is that if the government can improve the process of buying IT, for example making it cheaper and quicker, millions can be saved without reducing the end product that IT promises.
But to do this Maude believes the government's procurement teams and the suppliers should talk more. This is why this conference was held and Maude promised it was not a one-off and that there would be more.
Here are some of the points I thought were interesting:
- 7TH ODF PLUGFEST Nov 22, 2011
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OpenDoc Society - The seventh plugfest was held in Gouda, The Netherlands on November 17/18th 2011.
- Copyright isn't working, says European Commission Nov 22, 2011
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ZDNet - People have come to see copyright as a tool of punishment, Europe's technology chief has said in her strongest-yet attack on the current copyright system.
Digital agenda commissioner Neelie Kroes said on Saturday that the creative industries had to embrace rather than resist new technological ways of distributing artistic works. She added that the existing copyright system was not rewarding the vast majority of artists.
"Is the current copyright system the right and only tool to achieve our objectives? Not really," Kroes said in a speech to the Forum D'Avignon thinktank. "Citizens increasingly hear the word copyright and hate what is behind it."
"Sadly, many see the current system as a tool to punish and withhold, not a tool to recognise and reward," Kroes added.
The commissioner said online distribution and cloud computing offered a "totally new way of purchasing, delivering and consuming cultural works", and suggested that the existing legal framework around copyright was not flexible enough to take advantage of this evolution.
- Googler: Android antivirus software is scareware from 'charlatans' Nov 21, 2011
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CNet - Chris DiBona - Google's open-source software leader has lashed out at companies selling antivirus software for mobile devices including Google's Android operating system, calling them "charlatans and scammers."
Chris DiBona, Google's open-source programs manager, unleashed his tirade after seeing a press report about "inherent" insecurity of open-source software, which is used not just in Android but also Apple's iOS. He argued that Android, iOS, and Research in Motion's BlackBerry OS don't need antivirus software.
"Virus companies are playing on your fears to try to sell you BS protection software for Android, RIM, and, iOS," DiBona said on Google+. "They are charlatans and scammers. If you work for a company selling virus protection for Android, RIM or iOS, you should be ashamed of yourself."
- Radical package unveiled to support business and promote growth Nov 21, 2011
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Cabinet Office - The way the Government does business is about to change radically, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, will announce on Monday.
The Cabinet Office will unveil a package of measures that will revolutionise how the Government buys from the private sector, including:- publishing £50bn of potential business online
- making it 40 percent faster to do business with government
- collaborating with businesses at a much earlier stage in the procurement process so they don’t find themselves excluded from opportunities.
- Oracle: Our cloud to be cheap as open source Nov 21, 2011
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ZDNet - Oracle is making a push as a cloud provider, two years after its chief executive, Larry Ellison, dismissed the concept as mere marketing hype.
"Cloud computing is not only the future of computing, it is the present and the entire past of computing... All it is is a computer attached to a network," Ellison said in a speech in 2009. "Our industry is so bizarre. They change a term and think they've invented a technology."
But as more businesses have adopted the cloud, Oracle has warmed to the approach. It has developed private cloud hardware systems — Exalogic and Exadata — based on Sun technology, and Ellison launched Oracle Cloud Services at Oracle OpenWorld in October, saying, "We need a cloud."
Tyler Jewell, head of strategy for Oracle Cloud Services, talked to ZDNet UK about the company's nascent cloud and how it hopes to attract small businesses that, in the past, have been too "intimidated" by Oracle to use its products. In particular, he described how Oracle expects its services to end up as cheap to run as those based on open-source technology, such as OpenStack.
- Linus Torvalds: Locked Down Technologies Lose in the End Nov 21, 2011
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Mashable - Linux creator Linus Torvalds shared his opinions on Microsoft, Apple, open vs. locked down technologies and the future of Linux, at the LinuxCon Brazil conference this week.
“Technologies that lock things down tend to lose in the end,” said Torvalds when asked about Microsoft’s secure boot feature, which he likened to Apple’s use of DRM technology. “People want freedom and markets want freedom,” he added.
- So what might Digital Sustainability be? Nov 18, 2011
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Freedom Bits - Georg Greve - There is a group of Swiss parliamentarians who are organized in a group for “Digital Sustainability” for which I’ve been asked to participate as part of an expert group that consists of practitioners in a variety of fields, including Free Software and Open Standards. But while German Wikipedia at least has an article about Digital Sustainability, most people simply seem to apply the “I know it when I see it” test, which is somewhat less than satisfactory. What can be said is that most people intuitively seem to agree that Digital Sustainability would include aspects such as Free Software, Open Standards, Open Governmental Data, Privacy and a couple of other aspects. But how to define or describe it in a simple and transferable way?
So I recently found myself in a room with several other people trying to understand what we expect from Digital Sustainability and how to express it. In this discussion, after several other attempts, we narrowed it down to three aspects:
- Net Neutrality Should Be Enshrined in EU Law Says Parliament Nov 18, 2011
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PCW - Net neutrality should be enshrined in European Union law, says the European Parliament.
On Thursday the Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the European Commission to do more to guarantee an open Internet and net neutrality. Parliamentarians want to see E.U. telecom rules properly and consistently enforced and want internet traffic management practices to be monitored closely in order to "preserve the open and neutral character of Internet."
In April, the European Commission was criticized for not going far enough in its report on net neutrality. Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes stopped short of advocating legislation to ensure an open Internet, instead adopting a wait-and-see approach.
There is no set definition of "net neutrality" in the European Union, although the recent Telecoms Package requires that "open and neutral Internet principles are respected in practice." But, as evidenced by Thursday's vote, most members of the European Parliament (MEPs) do not believe this goes far enough.
"Net neutrality and open Internet -- a core principle on which the internet was founded -- is increasingly coming under threat, both in E.U. member states and beyond. The Greens are calling on the European Commission to enshrine net neutrality and the rights of internet users in European legislation, and on Commissioner Kroes to end her ambiguous stance on this vital issue," said Green MEP Philippe Lamberts.
- Government issues invitation to tender for free software support Nov 18, 2011
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Bristol Wireless - Yes, you did read the headline correctly.
However, the government in question is not Her Majesty’s but that of la belle France, which has just issued an invitation to tender for free and open source software support to the amount of €2 million, according to Le Monde Informatique.
The Information Systems and Communication Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior, Territorial Authorities and Immigration has just published an invitation to tender to find a contractor to provide support for the free and open source software used by the State. The public contract will be a framework contract covering three years, with a possible 1 year extension.
Bids must be submitted by 9th January 2012, with the announcement of the award being planned for 30th March 2012.
The scope of the contract covers some 10 fields:
- Government calls for public data app developers Nov 17, 2011
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ComputerWorldUK - The UK government is urging entrepreneurs to make use of open public data by developing applications that can help benefit consumers and the society.
Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude made the call at an event at Downing Street today where Prime Minister David Cameron was awarding prizes to eight groups of university students who have won a competition to design consumer applications using open public information.
As part of the Silicon Valley Comes to UK programme’s ‘appathon’ competition, students designed applications using health, education and environment data available on the government’s website data.gov.uk.
The winning tools included ones that enabled people to find local vocational skills training providers, find the local hospital with the shortest accident and emergency waiting times, and to choose schools. These were called Coursehorse, A&Express and SchoolHunt, respectively.
- Clouds open up, benefit clients Nov 17, 2011
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Sydney Morning Herald - Open standards will make moving cloud providers easier.
The cloud industry is poised to enter a new era of transparency and competition courtesy of the open source movement and the help of large players such as RackSpace, Dell and Citrix.
After some jostling over which standard is best, the OpenStack foundation has recently emerged as the pre-eminent open source cloud, which freely provides the code for the major products that sit on top of the physical layer: compute, storage and image service.
- Still Crippled By "Free" Nov 16, 2011
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ComputerWorldUK - Simon Phipps - Open source procurement by the government is still hobbled by a fixation on getting licenses for free instead of recognising the value of protecting procurement liberties.
The recent release of the Open Source Procurement Toolkit by the Cabinet Office has been interesting and encouraging, even if it did stir in me a certain scepticism that things will be different this time round. Under both Labour and Conservative administrations, the Cabinet Office has been tasked with increasing the adoption of open source by government departments, and each time a fine statement has been made that has resulted in very little change.
- Joomla! Named Top Open Source Content Management System Nov 16, 2011
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MarketWatch - Joomla, one of the world's most popular open source content management systems (CMS) used for everything from websites to blogs to Intranets, today announced Joomla has won the Packt Publishing award for the top open source CMS. Now in its sixth year, many consider the Packt Open Source Award as a top honor for an open source project. Joomla won the award based on a combination of public voting and input by a panel of judges consisting of open source luminaries.
- Libraries face a digital future Nov 15, 2011
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The Guardian - It's a time of radical change for libraries. During the summer they were told by the Museums, Libraries & Archives Council and the Local Government Group to exploit digital technologies to survive the spending cuts. In a report on the government's Future Libraries Programme the two bodies also argued that the latest IT developments present a huge opportunity for libraries to deliver more efficient and effective services.
Allen Weiner, Gartner's research vice president in the US, took a similar line when he shared his thoughts about the role of technology in libraries at the Re-Thinking Libraries event in London this November.
Weiner urged libraries to adopt open standards rather than cater for any one type of reader. "The iPad is the world according to Apple, it is not an open standard," he said. "If you think of the democracy a library represents, it should be built on open standards."
- Net neutrality is good for business Nov 15, 2011
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TechWorld - The US communiations regulator, the FCC, wants to set rules that protect consumers from having their web traffic unfairly throttled, and prevent Internet providers from unreasonably blocking or limiting access to websites. The rules are good for small and medium-sized business, if not for the large telecommunications companies that want them repealed. Net neutrality for an open Internet is always better for both consumers and small business.
President Obama threatened to veto a bill this week that overturns rules stating that Internet providers cannot limit lawful network traffic. On Thursday, the Senate voted the same bill down. Under the new FCC rules put into force last December, mobile broadband providers can't block applications that compete with their services. The administration's position on the rules and the bill introduced to overturn them is clearly stated here.
- German Court Rules That Free Software Can Be Modified as Users Wish Nov 14, 2011
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PCW - A major challenge to the principles of free software was thrown out of a German district court on Tuesday.
German DSL router vendor AVM had attempted to stop Cybits, which produces children's Web-filtering software, from modifying any part of the firmware used in its routers, including a key piece of Linux-based free software.
Both companies use the Linux kernel, which is licensed under the General Public License (GPL). In order for the Cybits filtering program to work, it needs to alter certain parts of this kernel (removing some updates that were added by AVM). AVM claimed that changing the kernel infringed AVM's copyright.
However, in its ruling the court apparently sided with Cybits, saying that users of embedded devices with pre-installed free software have the legal freedom to make, install, run and distribute modifications to this free software.
- €27bn public data opportunity highlighted Nov 11, 2011
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Irish Times - THE OBAMA administration, the British cabinet office and four Dublin local authorities are the “poster children” of a growing worldwide movement to unlock public data, according to researchers at NUI Galway.
Public data, or basic information collected by government and other bodies, is valued at €27 billion across the EU.
However, more State bodies need to realise the potential benefits of making such basic information not only available, but also accessible, an open data conference run by NUI Galway’s Digital Enterprise Research Institute (Deri) heard this week.
- CESG asserts security of open source software Nov 09, 2011
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The Guardian - It is wrong to believe that open source software is implicity insecure, according to the government's main official on the subject.
Qamar Yunus of CESG, the National Technical Authority for Information Assurance, made the assertion in outlining the guidance the organisation has produced on the subject at the EHI Live event in Birmingham.
"There was a myth being circulated around the SIs, saying you can't use open source software in government as it's not secure," Yunus told the conference, referring to the systems integrators that account for large amounts of government ICT spending.
To counter this, the Cabinet Office asked CESG, which works within GCHQ, to produce guidance on the subject. The result is already available to users of the Government Secure intranet, and will be published on the Cabinet Office website in the next couple of weeks.
"That document clearly states there is no difference between open source and proprietary software. That's one myth busted," Yunus said.
- Monmouthshire council uses open government licence Nov 08, 2011
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The Guardian - Monmouthshire council has opened up data on its website to allow the public to create "useful apps" and re-use its information freely.
The council has decided to adopt the UK government's open government licence, which provides for the re-use of public sector information with a number of conditions attached. Monmouthshire said that it was the first council in Wales to do this. Under the new terms, people are free to:
• Copy, publish, distribute and transmit the information.
• Adapt the information.
• And exploit the information commercially for example, by combining it with other information, or by including it in your own product or application.
Monmouthshire said that developers and other interested parties will be able to use data available on the council's website and build applications that may benefit people living locally.
- Samsung patent use in Apple lawsuit investigated by EU Nov 08, 2011
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ComputerWorldUK - Samsung's use of patents to block sales of Apple products is being investigated by the EU's top antitrust authority.
The news is a big boost to Apple in the ongoing legal battles between the two companies.
Samsung has sued Apple in five EU countries alleging infringement of its patents on 3G mobile technology. The European Commission will now consider whether the South Korean company is abusing the principle of fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing in these cases.
- Open-source Proponents Blast Proprietary Software in Dutch Schools Nov 08, 2011
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PCW - Dutch education authorities have decided to throw out their government's open standards policy and instead lock in to Microsoft proprietary software for years to come, according to open-source advocates.
Marja Bijsterveldt, the Netherlands' secretary of education, said that she was unwilling to force open standards on educational institutions, sparking an outcry from open-source advocates who say that Dutch students using free software or devices without Silverlight-support will find themselves locked out of schools' online systems.
The open standards policy was approved by the Dutch Parliament in 2007, but has not been fully implemented. Now, free software advocates are starting a new battle to make the use of open standards mandatory for all publicly funded institutions.
- Open data 'new way of operating', says Francis Maude Nov 07, 2011
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The Guardian - Transparency is a new way of operating and the public sector is now more accountable to the public, aided by the release of more than 7,500 datasets, including 800 plus geographical linked datasets via data.gov.uk, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude has said.
In a parliamentary written answer he said that the government's consultation and forthcoming white paper on open data represent the next phase in its transparency agenda.
According to Maude, the government is moving away from a "simple accountability model", towards embedding openness and transparency as core operating principles of public services.
"The white paper will contain a full impact assessment of policy proposals and the benefits of open data," he said.
- Dipping Into the UK Government's Open Source Procurement Toolkit Nov 04, 2011
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CompterWorldUK - Glyn Moody - The UK Government has published what it calls its "Open Source Procurement Toolkit". It's a sad reflection of how long the open source in government non-story has been going on that at the top of the home page for those documents you find: "The Government first set out its policy on the use of open source in 2004. This was restated in both 2009 and 2010." And still nothing has happened....
However, trying to look on the bright side, let's welcome the documents offered here - not least because they come in two versions: as PDFs and - drumroll - as ODFs. That might seem a small thing, but that alone shows that somebody gets it - that open source in government isn't just about talking, but about doing. Making document files routinely available in ODF format is an excellent example - so kudos for that, at least.
The first is entitled "All About Open Source." Now, obviously, anyone reading this column probably knows a fair deal about the subject, but this document still has considerable value, in two ways.
- Exploring The Strategic Implementation Plan for the government ICT strategy Nov 04, 2011
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eGov - Intellect's Director for Public Sector explores the new ICT strategy implementation plan and concludes this is a road map that could truly transform and improve public service delivery.
- Cabinet Office publishes open source procurement toolkit Nov 04, 2011
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The Register - The Cabinet Office has published an open source procurement toolkit for the public sector on its website.
It said the purpose is to ensure that there is a level playing field for open source and proprietary software and that some of the myths associated with open source are dispelled.
The toolkit includes six documents:
- All About Open Source – including FAQs;
- ICT Advice Note - Procurement of Open Source;
- Procurement Policy Note on Open Source;
- OSS Options; Total Cost of Ownership;
- and CESG Guidance on Open Source (this site will only open for users who have previously registered with a .gsi.gov.uk email address).
- The first five papers are all available on the Cabinet Office website as PDFs.
- Cabinet Office publishes open source procurement toolkit Nov 03, 2011
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The Guardian - Department hopes to dispel myths around open source with new online toolkit.
The Cabinet Office has published an open source procurement toolkit for the public sector on its website.
It said the purpose is to ensure that there is a level playing field for open source and proprietary software and that some of the myths associated with open source are dispelled.
The toolkit includes six documents: All About Open Source – including FAQs; ICT Advice Note - Procurement of Open Source; Procurement Policy Note on Open Source; OSS Options; CESG Guidance on Open Source (this site will only open for users who have previously registered with a .gsi.gov.uk email address); and Total Cost of Ownership.
The options document contains details of different IT functions such as servers, databases, application development, networks and business applications.
- Governments must not censor internet, says William Hague Nov 02, 2011
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The Guardian - Foreign secretary, in challenge to China and Russia, tells cyber summit global treaties to police web would be counter-productive.
The UK has issued a direct challenge to China and Russia over regulation of the internet, with William Hague insisting that cyberspace must not be "stifled by government control or censorship".
In a strongly worded opening address to an international conference hosted in London, the foreign secretary told delegates that the internet "must remain open and not become ghettoised" – rebuffing the notion that new international treaties were needed to police online activity.
"Nothing would be more fatal or self-defeating than the heavy hand of state control on the internet, which only thrives because of the talent of individuals and of industry within an open market for ideas and innovation," he said.
- Government seeks to harmonise IT device strategy Nov 02, 2011
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ZDNet - A team in the Cabinet Office is to create a set of common standards and define a set of "workstyle families" in an effort to commodify the government market for IT devices.
The plan is at the centre of the newly published Government End User Device Strategy, one of the sub-strategies within the broader Government ICT Strategy, and is aimed at providing savings and increasing the re-use and interoperability of PCs, laptops, thin clients and smartphones.
It involves the creation of a minimum set of standards for devices, to include characteristics and definitions, taking into account service management and security requirements. They will separate business applications from hardware, with the intention of removing vendor "lock-in" and creating more competition in the market.
Implementation of the strategy is being devolved to six workstreams: technical design; security design; market development; procurement and change opportunity (which will lead the work on quick wins); communications and marketing; and overall design governance. It is overseen by the Devices and Design Authority, which is accountable to the Chief Information Officers' Delivery Board.
- Apple open sources its ALAC lossless audio codec Nov 01, 2011
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The H Open - Apple has announced the release of its ALAC lossless audio codec as open source. The Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) is used to compress the size of digital audio files without losing any of the original information, making a decoded ALAC stream "bit-for-bit identical to the original uncompressed audio file".
Similar to other lossless codecs like FLAC, files are typically reduced to approximately 50 per cent of their original size. File formats such as MP3 and AAC are considered to be "lossy", in that converting to them results in the loss of some fidelity while providing much better compression.
- Open Source Software: The Silent Threat at the Heart of the Cyber Security Crisis Nov 01, 2011
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Huffington Post - Today, the government launches its cyber security conference following the 'disturbing' number of attacks suffered by government systems. It's good that they recognise there is a serious problem here - though I suspect it's because they know the average voter might suddenly start to care about tech issues following the recent revelations. As soon as the papers get wind of stories about 'hacking', people are bound to ignore the bland reality in favour of an imaginary thriller movie, possibly starring William Hague in a full-length leather trench coat.
Indeed, according to the ICO annual track, protecting personal information ranks as the joint-first public social concern, equal to crime prevention. This is something which is extremely important to a lot of people, and the government are aware that they need to do more.
However, for all that this signals a step in the right direction, the conference - and discussions about online security in general - need to recognise a deep-seated issue in the way we do business and store information online. I'm referring to the popularity of open source software, currently favoured by a range of e-commerce business and governmental services thanks to low associated costs and apparent convenience.
- EU Calls for Digitization of Cultural Heritage Oct 31, 2011
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WSJ - The European Commission told the European Union's 27 member states to step up efforts to transfer cultural works into digital formats to preserve them for the future, as film stock, old books and vinyl records risk disappearing with the passage of time.
"Europe has probably the world's greatest cultural heritage," said Neelie Kroes, EU Commissioner for the Digital Agenda. "It cannot afford to miss the opportunities offered by digitization and hence face cultural decline."
- Royal Society makes historical journal archives open access Oct 31, 2011
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The Guardian - Beginning today, the historical archives of the peer-reviewed journal, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, are permanently free to online access from anywhere in the world, according to an announcement by The Royal Society.
The Royal Society, established in 1660, began publishing the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society -- world's first scientific journal -- in March 1665. In 1886, it was divided into two journals, Philosophical Transactions A (mathematics, physics and engineering) and Philosophical Transactions B (biological sciences), both of which are published to this day. Its historical archives are defined as all scientific papers published 70 years or longer ago. These historical archives include more than 60,000 scientific papers.
- Government sets up G Cloud board Oct 28, 2011
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The Guardian - A G Cloud Delivery Board is to take the lead role in implementing the government's programme for cloud computing, while a G Cloud Authority will oversee the longer term take-up and assurance of commodity services.
The plan is outlined in the Government Cloud Strategy, one of the sub-documents of its broader ICT strategy, newly published by the Cabinet Office. It outlines a number of policies devised to support the goverment's plan to set up a G Cloud to provide services to public authorities and for half of Whitehall's new ICT spending to be in cloud services by 2015.
The delivery board will govern the programme, with responsibilities that include establishing and testing the standard service metrics for commodity services to be obtained through the G Cloud. These will cover performance, quality and price and be published in a comparable form. It will also set the timetable for delivering the Government Apps store - a collection of cloud based services - and data centre consolidation.
- Is Microsoft Firefox's last, great hope? Oct 28, 2011
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ComputerWorld - Mozilla has faced considerable criticism for its decision to release a customized version of Firefox in which the default search engine and home page is Microsoft's Bing. But if Mozilla is going to survive, that's exactly what it needs to do, because with declining market share and a potential rift with Google, Microsoft may be Mozilla's last, best hope.
The version of Firefox, called Firefox with Bing is based on Firefox 7.1. Neither Microsoft nor Mozillas is commenting on the financial terms of the deal, but you can be sure that Microsoft is paying Mozilla a pretty penny.
The non-profit Mozilla Foundation receives almost all of its revenue from contracts with search providers --- 98% of all of its revenue in 2010 came that way, according to Computerworld. And most of that money comes from Google. Computerworld says that in 2008, 88% of search provider revenue for Mozilla came from Google.
- Socitm slams plan for Public Data Corporation Oct 28, 2011
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The Guardian - Socitm has come out against the government's plan to create a Public Data Corporation, claiming that it will do more for existing institutions than the public's right to data.
The organisation for public service IT professionals has made the criticism in its response to the government's consultation on open data, which closes today.
It said the plan for a Public Data Corporation appears to be driven by the interests of institutions such as HM Land Registry, Ordnance Survey and the Meteorological Office and potential private investors, all of which have an interest in controlling and charging for public data. When announcing the plan, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said the corporation would make public data freely available and charge when appropriate, and that it could attract investment.
- European software shows good growth in delicate economic circumstances Oct 28, 2011
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Science Business - Despite difficult times, Europe’s software industry grew by 14 per cent in 2010, according to European private equity firm Truffle Capital’s sixth edition of its Truffle 100 ranking. The league table of the top 100 European software companies was drawn up with the support of Neelie Kroes, European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda.
But even though the industry is still managing to grow - with a 14 per cent year-on-year increase, it faces more challenges than ever. Cloud computing, Software as a Service and mobile computing are revolutionising the business models in the industry and competitive pressure from US companies with larger financial resources has never been greater.
- Mozilla, Microsoft debut Bing-ed Firefox Oct 27, 2011
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ComputerWorld - Just weeks before Mozilla's lucrative contract with Google comes up for renewal, the open-source developer launched a customized version of Firefox that uses rival Microsoft's Bing search engine.
Microsoft also touted the new Firefox, saying that it had teamed with Mozilla because users "told us to make it even easier to use Bing in Firefox."
- Open standards: UK dithers over royalty question Oct 26, 2011
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Computer Weekly - UK and Portugal are both about to decree a list of open standards that must be used in all public computer systems. But while the UK is still trying to decide what an open standard is, Portugal has already passed a definition into law.
The UK has been paralysed by disagreement over the matter. The crux has been whether an open standard should permit royalty payments - whether an open standard should be both free as in speech and free as in beer.
Portugal answered the question by fudging it. The British Standards Institution, backed by the International Standards Organisation (ISO), has been pressing the UK to do the same. If it gets its way it would force the coalition government into a damaging reversal.
BSI has been in a face-off with Cabinet Office over its definition of open standards since May. They met last Tuesday. But neither twitched. The problem remains unresolved, even after the publication Friday of a progress report on Cabinet Office's ICT Strategy.
Cabinet Office can't back down without either conceding defeat or admitting it made a dreadful mistake. It made the UK definition of an open standard official in February. Open standards became the keystone of its ICT Strategy in March. They have long been the fulcrum of Prime Minister David Cameron's rhetoric on government IT failures and the Big Society.
- Open data: beware the empire striking back, insiders warn Oct 25, 2011
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UKAuthorITy - Two central figures of the UK government's initiative to open its data for re-use have warned of the risk of ministers being thwarted by reluctant or apathetic bureaucrats. "There is a real risk of the empire striking back," Andrew Stott, the government's first director of digital engagement and a former deputy chief information officer, said last week.
Stott said that, despite the government's promise to introduce a new "right to data", the campaign for open data is not over yet.
He told the Open Government Data Camp, an event in Warsaw hosted by the Open Knowledge Foundation, that the civil service has a wealth of tricks for diluting the coalition government's pledge to make data available. "We're seeing a move from Bureaucrat 1.0 - the straight 'No Minister' - to Bureaucrat 2.0. That's the one who says 'Yes Minister' but then quietly fails to execute the plan."
At the same meeting, Professor Nigel Shadbolt of Southampton University and a member of the UK Transparency Board said the campaign still had a long way to go. He singled out the Meteorological Office for failing to embrace the new Open Government Licence for re-use of data.. "You can't get primary weather data in the UK."
He urged anyone with an interest in the subject to respond to the Cabinet Office's two current consultations, on making open data real and the policies of the new Public Data Corporation. Both close this week.
"The value of data is in its use, not its sale," Shadbolt said.
- Whitehall to aim for half of ICT spend on cloud Oct 24, 2011
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The Guardian - Strategy implementation plan includes targets for cloud computing, the use of agile techniques and spending on the Public Service Network.
Cloud computing should account for half of central government's new ICT spending by the end of 2015, according to a new strategy document published by the Cabinet Office.
Other long term goals include the opening of the Government Application Store by the end of next year, the implementation of a strategy for end user devices by January 2013, the use of agile techniques in half of ICT programmes by April 2013 and 80% of government telecommunications to be spent on systems compliant with the Public Service Network (PSN) by March 2014.
The ambitions are outlined in the Government ICT Strategy - Strategic Implementation Plan, which provides the detail to follow up the wider strategy document that was published in March of this year.
- Business gives open source thumbs-up Oct 24, 2011
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ITWeb - Around 50% of surveyed companies claim that vendor-supported open source software provides either the same or better features and benefits than proprietary software.
This is the key finding in this year's ITWeb open source survey, administered in conjunction with Linux Warehouse, which attracted more business management respondents than last year's survey.
The majority of respondents voted overwhelmingly that open source is either the same or better than proprietary in terms of features, speed performance, ease of use, tools and utilities, documentation, technical support, cost of ownership, scalability and ease of change
- Coalition Government Unveils Roadmap To Implement Its Cloud Intensive ICT Strategy Oct 24, 2011
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eGov monitor - Cloud computing would be a key pillar in the government’s aim to implement its ICT strategy and receive 50% of Whitehall spending in ICT over the next four years, according to the Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) published by the cabinet office.
The Government Cloud Authority is expected to unveil its strategy to achieve the 50% spending objective laid out in the SIP. A new group, Cloud Services Group, has been set up in Whitehall to engage with suppliers on implementing cloud computing.
The SIP details out the plans to achieve the objectives laid out in the government’s ICT strategy in March this year. The ICT strategy is expected to deliver £1.4 Billion in savings over the course of this parliament while making public services “digital by default”.
- UK gov publishes IT action plan to back up previous IT plan Oct 21, 2011
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The Register - The Cabinet Office has published an action plan that details deadlines for when it hopes to implement the IT strategy it announced in March this year.
By the end of this month Francis Maude's department will release strategies for "End User Devices, Cloud, ICT Capability, and Greening Government ICT".
The minister said that the Cabinet Office could make a saving of more than £1bn by 2015 – with the help of suppliers and central government departments – if the deadlines are achieved.
- Portugal opening up public sector IT contracts Oct 20, 2011
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PublicService Europe - Paul Meller OFE - For too long, large contractors have dominated the public sector IT landscape – things could be about change
As Portugal puts the final touches to a set of rules designed to help its public sector break free from IT vendor lock-in, Openforum Europe congratulates the Portuguese government for shaping one of the most enlightened laws of its kind in Europe. An Open Standards Law adopted with cross-party support, in April, requires an accompanying regulation and a list of approved rules to take practical effect. These texts are currently the subject of a public consultation.
Once finalised, this legal framework will help ensure that ministries and public agencies in Portugal always select IT systems built on open standards. Like many countries in Europe, Portugal's public sector has remained largely locked into expensive, proprietary computer systems until now. The only way to ensure that the country's public sector gets the best value for money from its computer systems is by insisting that suppliers adhere to open standards. That way - they will be able to choose from the widest selection of suppliers, including ones that build systems around open source and free software infrastructures.
- Head of Brussels Office
OFE is looking for an experienced individual to act as its Head of Office with significant responsibility for external and internal communication. The Head of Office will be OFE's main contact in Brussels. All the day to day activities of the secretariat will also be the responsibility of the Head of Office.
To apply for this position please send a CV and cover letter to recruitment@openforumeurope.org by 27 January 2012..
OpenForum Academy is an independent programme established by OpenForum Europe. It has created a link with academia in order to provide new input and insight into the key issues which impact the openness of the IT market.
To Select or Not? - Dealing with Competing Standards in Public IT Procurement
Following the successful OFA round Table discussion held in Brussels on 12th December the full research report had now been published by its author Tineke M. Egyedi of Delft University of Technology.
The study has been funded with research grants from the Dutch
Standardisation Forum, a forum involved in drawing up lists of selected
ICT-standards for government organisations, and OpenForum Academy. This
report addresses the problem how governments should deal with competing
standards, that is, two or more functionally equivalent standards, in
the context of public IT-procurement. The focus is on (open) committee
standards. The research questions were in the context of public IT procurement, should governments choose
between standards that have the same functionality? If so, what factors
should be taken into consideration?
Read more:- PDF Format
OpenForum Academy - Open Innovation Breakfast Debate - 1st December 2011
OpenForum Academy hosted a stimulating breakfast debate about open innovation on December 1st, the day after the European Commission unveiled its plans for the next round of EU-funded research, dubbed Horizon 2020. Guest speakers Rt. Hon. Professor Sir Robin Jacob (inset above), Maria da Graça Carvalho MEP and Dr John Temple Lang led the discussion, which focused mainly on one contentious issue contained in the Horizon 2020 proposal: forcing some patents generated from EU-funded research to be exploited in Europe before anywhere else.
The general consensus from the three panelists as well as from many
of the 40 or so attendees who joined in the discussion was that
attaching strings to intellectual property in this way is a bad idea
because it will put off inventors from participating in EU-funded
research.
The full report prepared by Dr Roger
Burt .
"To select or not - Dealing with competing standards in public IT procurement"
Monday,
12 December 2011 - Brussels, Belgium
As part of the OpenForum Academy INSIGHTS programme, we are pleased to announce an evening Round Table Discussion on how to deal with competing standards in public IT procurement. The debate will be informed by the presentation of a new research brief on this topic by Dr Tineke Egyedi, Senior Researcher at Delft University of Technology. The Round Table will be moderated Dr Jochen Friedrich, a standards expert with IBM and an OFA Fellow with interventions given by Linda Humphries, Assistant director, ICT Futures, UK Cabinet Office, and Joris Gresnigt from the Dutch Standardisation Forum.
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Supporting a new Oxford free speech initiative
European Public Policy — Jan 28, 2012 06:48 AM
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Reigniting the global economy
European Public Policy — Jan 28, 2012 06:48 AM
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Adventures in Self-Publishing, Chap. 8: Designing the Interior of your Book
Andy Updegrove — Jan 28, 2012 06:48 AM
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Daily links for 01/26/2012
Bob Sutor — Jan 28, 2012 06:48 AM
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First release of the Apache ODF Toolkit
Rob Weir — Jan 28, 2012 06:48 AM
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Ruby on rails
European Commission Joinup News — Jan 20, 2012 06:51 AM
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'Hosting makes open source easier for public administrations'
European Commission Joinup News — Jan 20, 2012 06:51 AM
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My experience integrating peppol to E-Invoice system
European Commission Joinup News — Jan 20, 2012 06:51 AM
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Cenatic: developing software in communities of public administrations
European Commission Joinup News — Jan 20, 2012 06:51 AM
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Welcome to the MPLv2!
European Commission Joinup News — Jan 20, 2012 06:51 AM
2007-2012
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UK Cabinet Office Publish LSE Research on TCO of Open Source
The Cabinet Office and London School of Economics (LSE) have published research into the Total Cost of Ownership of Open Source Software. The report has been jointly financed by the Cabinet Office and OpenForum Academy, together with some of its supporters, including Alfresco, Deloitte, IBM and Red Hat.
Report - Total cost of ownership of open source software: a report for the UK Cabinet Office supported by OpenForum Europe
Read more:-
ODF FormatPDF Format
Further commentary:
http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/open-enterprise/2011/12/open-source-total-cost-of-ownership-20/index.htm
Joint Submission of Articles 9 and 10 of EU draft Regulation on European Standardisation
December 22 2011
OpenForum Europe are a co-signatory of a letter on ICT Standardisation Read more...