Manual on open standards and open source
software in the procurement process
Bart Knubben, consultant on Open Source Software [email protected], +31.70.8887821
Overview
Background OSOSS and Dutch policy Background manual
Principles within procurement regulation Open source software and procurement Open standards and procurement
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
Dutch policy on OS & OSS
Widely supported motion in the Parliament (end of
2002)
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
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?”
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Manual on open standards and open source software in the procurement process
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”
Principles of procurement law
Transparency Objectivity
Justification of choices Non-discriminatory
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
Starting point of the manual
What is open source software? What is an open standard?
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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
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
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;
How to provide good justification?
Substantiate the need per element of the definition
in (internal) tender documents;
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.
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.”
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
“...or the equivalent thereof.”
It is recommended to use the phrase “...or the
equivalent thereof.” This follows from the non-discriminatory 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.
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