Regional governments in Spain embrace open source

The government of the autonomous Basque Country in Spain decreed earlier this month that all software applications written by or for public authorities and public organizations will be made available to others as open-source by default, according to a post on Joinup, an European Commission platform to share knowledge and experiences on e-Government topics among public administration employees.

The region of Galicia also recently announced plans to invest €915,000 to promote the use of free and open source software to enterprises, public administrations and public organizations, according to a separate post on Joinup. Galicia, also an autonomous region, will in addition undertake a feasibility study on the use of free office tools for all of its staff.

Since it first designed an open government strategy in 2010 and started a free software project for schools that combines Drupal, Moodle and Coppermine, the regional government has saved 2.5 million euros in 2010 and 2011, while the use of free and open source software by the region's public administrations has increased from 46 per cent in 2009 to 94 percent now, according to Joinup. Galicia also plans to institute a policy requiring public administrations to first consider the use of such tools before procuring proprietary alternatives.