The European Commission’s Open Source Observatory (OSOR) has released two new excellent country intelligence reports on Italy and Spain. Read more to learn about those countries’ efforts promoting the adoption and support of FLOSS:
The updated report outlines the evolution of OSS adoption in the Spanish public sector since 2020. The National Agency for Digital Administration, previously known as Secretariat of Digital Administration, is the main actor at national level that ensures the application of Interoperability Framework and addresses the digitalisation of the Spanish public sector. The Technology Transfer Centre (CTT) remains the main reference to access the open source solutions used by the Spanish public sector, at national, regional and local level. One of the key developments in the past year was the update of the Guide on the Publication and Licensing of IT Solutions elaborated by National Agency for Digital Administration. This guide provides a clear explanation on the different types of software licences from ‘strong’ (GPL, Affero) and ‘mixed’ copyleft (EUPL, MPL) to ‘permissive’ licence (Apache, MIT), and instructions to publish and reuse IT solutions in the CTT catalogue. More importantly, the Guide has a dedicated section about managing open source software projects, which focuses on the legal aspects and obligations of public administrations for this type of project.
Spain benefits from a strong ecosystem of OSS stakeholders, especially in Galicia, Catalonia, Valencia and Basque Country; in these regions there are relevant long standing open source initiatives such as the educational project Lliurex, or the dedicated Free Software Office of Galicia (Oficina de Software Libre da Xunta de Galicia). The majority of regions have adopted legislation that established the principle of technological neutrality that imposes the use and promotion of open source software. Additionally, Spain has a very rich citizens platform ecosystem based on open source software provided by two key organisations: Consul Democracy and Decidim..
Overall, Spain has made significant progress in its use of open source software (OSS), despite the absence of a specific national policy to promote its use. The update of national guidelines and the adoption of enabling regional legislation have marked the Spanish public sector’s good progress in promoting open source software.
The updated report outlines the evolution of OSS adoption in the Italian public sector since 2020. The Department for Digital Transformation , the Agency for Digital Italy (AgID) and state-owned company PagoPA S.p.A. have been the most active actors among policymakers in promoting the use of open source software. Developers Italia remains the main platform to access the open source solutions used by the Italian public sector, at national, regional and local level. This platform has included the OSS search filter. One of the key developments in the past year was the adoption of the ‘Three-Year Plan for Information Technology in Public Administration’ that set three open source related targets: 1) by the end of 2024, at least 100 public administrations should be releasing open source software in Developers Italia and at least 2,600 public administration should reuse open source software solutions in Developers Italia; 2) by the end of 2025, at least 125 public administrations should be releasing open source software in Developers Italia and at least 2,800 public administration should reuse open source software solutions in Developers Italia; 3) by the end of 2026, at least 150 public administrations should be releasing open source software solutions in Developers Italia and at least 3,000 public administration should reuse open source software solutions in Developers Italia. In parallel, Italy has updated their key policies and guidelines to promote OSS in the public sector: Guidelines on the acquisition and reuse of software for public administrations and the Digital Administration Code.
*Strategic players like the Competence Centre for Reuse and Open Source (CCROS), Italian Linux Society and PDP Free Software User Group have complemented government efforts by providing enhanced technical support and fostering community engagement. In terms of relevant OSS initiatives, Italy has implemented Designers Italia, OpenCity Italia and IO app. Designers Italia is the main tool that public administration uses to create their digital services. OpenCity Italia is the new platform that ensures citizens access to Italian cities’ public services. Lastly, IO app allows citizens to manage digital signatures and payments to public sector, receive communications and receive communications. *
Overall, Italy has made a huge step forward by including OSS promotion as part of its national policy and has made a significant update process in its use of open source software (OSS). The update of national guidelines and the adoption of the ‘Three-Year Plan for Information Technology in Public Administration’ have marked the Italian public sector’s very good progress in promoting open source software.