Municipalities need Free Software: Recording and new mailing list
Dortmund is opening a new chapter in Free Software Governance and inspiring municipalities all over Germany. The recording of our event on 11 January 2023 is now online. Are you interested in Free Software and working in a municipal administration or in politics? Join our new mailing list to exchange information on Free Software in municipalities!
In December 2022, the City of Dortmund raised its profile as a pioneer of Free Software and decided to set up a “Coordination Office for Digital Sovereignty and Open Source”. On 11 January 2023, more than 160 interested representatives from municipalities all over the country informed themselves in an online event about the developments leading to this step, about the guiding principle “Public Money? Public Code!”, about Free Software Governance as the key to digital sovereignty and about new perspectives for municipalities throughout the country.
The recording of the joint event of the the Do-FOSS initiative, the Offene Kommunen.NRW association, the Kommunale Gemeinschaftsstelle für Verwaltungsmanagement and the Free Software Foundation Europe can now be viewed online.
For further discussion about Free Software in municipalities there is now a new mailing list fs-kommunen (at) lists.fsfe.org. We invite interested parties from municipal administrations, politics and IT companies as well as interested private individuals to use this list for exchange of information and for networking on the topic of municipal Free Software Governance. Also, Free Software related jobs can be shared here.
Free Software and “Public Money? Public Code!”
Free Software gives everyone the right to use, study, share and improve applications for any purpose. These freedoms ensure that similar applications do not have to be programmed from scratch every time and, thanks to transparent processes, others do not have to reinvent the wheel. In large projects, expertise and costs can be shared and applications paid for by the general public are available to all. This promotes innovation and saves tax payers money in the medium to long term. Dependencies on vendors are minimised and security issues can be fixed more easily. The Free Software Foundation Europe, together with over 200 organisations and administrations, is therefore calling for “Public Money? Public Code!” - If it is public money, it should be public code as well. More information on the initiative on the “Public Money? Public Code!” website.