The use of Open Source Software (OSS) – next developments by Leonhard Maqua European Commission, Eurostat Unit B3

OSS and Administrations Experience with OSS in Eurostat: CIRCA, GENEDI, STIPES Studies on OSS by IDA OSS is feasible. Use of OSS is beneficial to Eurostat and other public administrations A specific advantage of OSS for public administrations is that it enables non-discriminatory public procurement.

Legal Issues of OSS Lots of slightly different OSS licence agreements on the market All based on American law, in certain points not consistent with European jurisdiction “Limited” OSS CIRCA license avoiding this problem and possible infringements due to unfair competition

OSS Action Plan under IDAbc Extension of the existing ad hoc repository of raw data collection software under the CORD Task Force; Decision to release Eurostat software as OSS (subject to a Commission decision): STIPES, GENEDI, IDEP/CN8, etc. Inventory of products developed within the ESS for which release as OSS could be envisaged; Investigation of suitable OSS licences, and of the willingness of Member States to release software under such licences; Establishing guidelines for packaging source code and making available documentation for developers and end users

Questions Can Member States agree on a single OSS licensing scheme? Do we need a special European one or a limited one like with CIRCA? Could already existing software be published as OSS? Could new software be commonly developed as OSS; and if yes, how to handle co-ordination, localisation, support, funding ? Should there be a central repository on statistical OSS as proposed? Who should maintain this? What would Member States expect from such a project?