The European Commission recently announced that it has approved new rules on open source software , according to which software solutions developed at the behest of the European Commission, which represent potential benefits for residents, businesses and government institutions, will be made available to all under open licenses.
The rules also make it easier to open up existing software products owned by the European Commission and reduce the paperwork associated with this process.
Examples of open-source solutions developed for the European Commission include eSignature , a set of royalty-free standards, utilities, and services for creating and verifying electronic signatures accepted across all European Union countries. Another example is the Legislation Editing Open Software (LEOS) package, designed to prepare editable templates for legal documents and legislation in a structured format suitable for automated processing in various information systems.
It is planned that all open products from the European Commission will be placed in a repository to facilitate access and code sharing. Before publishing the source code, a security audit will be conducted , checks will be performed for potential leaks of confidential data within the code, and potential overlaps with other intellectual property will be analyzed.
Budget and Administration Commissioner Johannes Hahn said:
“Open source offers great advantages in an area where the EU can play a leading role. The new rules will increase transparency and help the Commission, as well as citizens, businesses and public services across Europe, to benefit from open source software development. Pooling efforts to improve software and co-creating new features reduces costs to society, as we also benefit from improvements made by other developers. This can also improve security, as external and independent specialists check the software for errors and security flaws.
Unlike the European Commission's previously existing open source processes, the new regulations allow for bypassing the European Commission's approval process for open source code , and also allow programmers working for the European Commission who are involved in the development of any open source project, without additional approvals, to transfer improvements created in the course of their main work to open source projects.
In addition, the software, developed before the adoption of the new rules, will be gradually reviewed in order to assess the feasibility of its opening, if the programs can be useful not only for the European Commission.
The announcement also mentions the results of a European Commission study on the impact of open-source software and hardware on technological independence, competitiveness, and innovation in the EU economy. The research has shown that investments in open-source software generate, on average, four times the return.
The report claimed that open source contributes between €65 billion and €95 billion to the European Union's GDP. It also projected that a 10% increase in the EU's share of open source development would lead to a 0,4-0,6% increase in GDP, which in absolute terms amounts to approximately €100.000 billion.
Among the benefits of developing European Commission products as open-source software is the reduction of costs for society , thanks to collaboration with other developers and the joint development of new features. Furthermore, there is an increase in program security, as external and independent experts have the opportunity to participate in verifying the code for errors and vulnerabilities.
The availability of the European Commission's program code will also bring significant added value to businesses, startups, citizens and government agencies, and will stimulate innovation.
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/