Mr. Melin is closely involved in the development of a Framework Agreement that makes it easier for Sweden's public administrations to purchase IT services based on open source software from any of five pre-selected IT companies and their subcontractors. The Framework Agreement has made it easier for public administrations to procure IT services based on free and open source solutions, says Melin and cites recent numbers derived from edelegationen, a project that wants to make the public sector more accessible.
The numbers showed that free and open source office tools are used on 21% of all public administration desktop PCs. This type of software is even more commonly used for servers (43 %), for databases (39 %), and for operating systems (30 %). The draft legislation prepared by Statens Inköpscentral contains only a few clauses that are radically different from those in standard contracts, Melin said." These aim to create competition between suppliers, minimise risks for buyers and make sure that software developed with taxpayers' money is provided back to the community" he added.
The procurement specialist finds that most public authorities in Sweden don't really care which type of software is used. "Most just want to buy an application and use it. They don't bother with freedom or licenses or sharing or making good use of taxpayer's money. Some even think it increases their status if they buy expensive proprietary software."
Further Information:
- Original news article - Joinup platform - European Commission
- Edelegationen website
- Swedish Central Procurement Agency website
- Free Society and Nordic Summit Conference 2011
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Quelle/Source: epractice, 23.01.2012
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