Keuzes maken met Open Source en Open Standaarden

Manual on open standards and open source
software in the procurement process
Bart Knubben, consultant on Open Source Software
[email protected], +31.70.8887821
Open Source as an integrated part of the Software Strategy
Overview
 Background
OSOSS and Dutch policy
 Background manual
 Principles within procurement regulation
 Open source software and procurement
 Open standards and procurement
programma Open Source als Onderdeel van de Software Strategie
Programme OSOSS
 Past
(2003-2005): OSOSS = “informing Dutch
government organisations on open standards and
open source software”
 2006-2007:
OSOSS = open source software
integrated within the ICT-strategy of governments
(ICTU)
 2006-
and further: OVOS = structural attention for
open standards (GBO.OVERHEID)
Maintaining the Dutch EGovernment
Developing the Dutch EGovernment
programma Open Source als Onderdeel van de Software Strategie
Dutch policy on OS & OSS
 Widely
2002)
supported motion in the Parliament (end of
 Minister
of the Interior and Minister of Economy:
- Open standards:
* Apply in case new software is built
* Open up government standards
* Create new open standards on a European level
- Open source software:
* Equal chance (“freedom of choice”)
* Start up pilots
* Promote the reuse of government software
programma Open Source als Onderdeel van de Software Strategie
Policy and procurement law?
 OSOSS
received many questions from government
organisations;
 Questions from the parliament to the Minister (2003).
“What is possible within the boundaries of
Dutch and European procurement regulations?”
--->
Manual on open standards and open source software in
the procurement process
developed by law firm “Duthler” on request of OSOSS
programma Open Source als Onderdeel van de Software Strategie
Pivotal question
 To
what extent may a government organisation
calling for tender state in the tender documents
that:
 Open
source solution is a requirement;
 Open source solution is a preference / wish;
 A specific open standard is required;
 A specific open standard is a preference / wish ?
Requirement = “must”
Preference = “should/could”
programma Open Source als Onderdeel van de Software Strategie
Principles of procurement law
 Transparency
 Objectivity
 Justification
of choices
 Non-discriminatory
programma Open Source als Onderdeel van de Software Strategie
When does procurement law apply?
 Tender
by a government organisation;
 Exceeding franchise value / limit:
For supplies and services > EUR 162.000,=
 So,
in case open source software per se is acquired
(“downloaded”) and implemented by the
organisation itself (without a service or support
contract) procurement law does not seem to apply.
 The manual regards software solutions, i.e. software
with a service and support contract.
programma Open Source als Onderdeel van de Software Strategie
Starting point of the manual
 What
is open source software?
 What is an open standard?
--->
Definitions?
programma Open Source als Onderdeel van de Software Strategie
Open source definition (OSI)
Used for approving licenses (www.opensource.org):
1. Free distribution
2. Availability of the source code
3. Permitting adaptation (derive works)
4. Integrity of the author's source code
5. No discrimination against persons or groups
6. No discrimination against fields of endeavour
7. Distribution of license
8. License must not be specific to a product
9. License must not restrict other software
10. License must be technology-neutral
programma Open Source als Onderdeel van de Software Strategie
Definition for open standards
1. Maintained by a not-for-profit organisation, open
decision-making procedure;
2. Publication of specification;
3. Intellectual property on a royalty free basis;
4. No constraints on the re-use of the standard.
Source: European Interoperability Framework
developed by IDABC.
Dutch catalogue of open standards:
CANOS, www.canos.nl
programma Open Source als Onderdeel van de Software Strategie
Open source or open standards as a
requirement or preference
 Open
source software or open standards may be
required when all specific features/elements are of
importance;
 Open
source software or open standards may be
preferred (wish) when some specific
features/elements are of importance;
programma Open Source als Onderdeel van de Software Strategie
How to provide good justification?
 Substantiate
the need per element of the definition
in (internal) tender documents;
 Make
use of existing regulations.
programma Open Source als Onderdeel van de Software Strategie
Open source example
 VIR-BI
(Dutch Regulation on Security of Special
Government Information) states that “modifications
to hardware, software or procedures must be
checkable”.
This can be used to justify the requirement of
feature “2. Availability of the source “
A
government organisation foresees that certain,
additional functionality has to be created.
“3. Permitting adaptation (derive works)” is a crucial
element for this organisation.
programma Open Source als Onderdeel van de Software Strategie
Open standard example
 The
Dutch law on archiving explicitly requires that
government organisations use a.o. XML.
This can be used to require XML which is considered
to be an open standard.
 The
European directive on the re-use of public
sector information states: “To facilitate re-use,
public sector bodies should make their own
documents available in a format which, as far as
possible and appropriate, is not dependent on the
use of specific software.”
programma Open Source als Onderdeel van de Software Strategie
Is referring to a specific open standard (i.e
“ODF”) allowed?
 “Yes”,
if it is a European norm, a European technical
approval or common technical specification. This
means bottomline: standards from ISO, CEN and
NEN, or standards prescribed by law.
 Oherwise
“No”, except when it is not possible to
indicate the required technical specifications in any
other way than referring to the specific open
standard.
programma Open Source als Onderdeel van de Software Strategie
“...or the equivalent thereof.”
 It
is recommended to use the phrase “...or the
equivalent thereof.” This follows from the nondiscriminatory principle.
 Example:
“The provided solution must be available
under an open source license or the equivalent
thereof.”
 This
is not free of obligation. The government
organisation has to demonstrate afterwards that
there were no equivalent tenders that met the
specifications.
programma Open Source als Onderdeel van de Software Strategie
Suggestions for future steps
 Collect
and publish best and worst practices;
 Create example tender documents, i.e.
“procurement of a CMS”;
 Address this on a European level, because
procurement law is mainly of European origin.
programma Open Source als Onderdeel van de Software Strategie
Questions and discussion
?
programma Open Source als Onderdeel van de Software Strategie