FSFE Newsletter - April 2017

on 2017-04

Free Software in the German OGP action plan

Last December, Germany joined the Open Government Partnership and now has until June 2017 to develop and decide on an action plan. Increased transparency and continuous reporting, governmental effectiveness and citizen-friendly administration are all part of the goals of Open Government.

The FSFE has worked together with other organisations and the "working group OGP" Germany to summarise the topic of Free Software in the Open Government context and provide concrete action items, along with a short but illuminating introduction into the topic and a vision for 2030. The recommendations were submitted to the German government in March.

The proposal was the outcome of a workshop, held by the German Government in February, with the contribution of numerous civil society representatives, including the FSFE. By publishing our suggestions, we hope to enable civil society actors worldwide to learn about the OGP discussion in Germany and use these suggestions in other countries.

Help us grow and make a difference in 2017 https://fsfe.org/join

What else have we done? Inside and Outside the FSFE

In the Dutch elections, Freedomvote.nl, initiated by the Dutch FSFE group, compared party positions on digital freedom and not only helped voters to make up their minds, but also gave a taste of what to expect by the newly elected parties' digital policies.
Last month, we welcomed as an associated organisation, Dyne.org - a non-profit think/do tank with more than 10 years of expertise in developing Free Software tools and narratives for community empowerment.
On March 7, Matthias Kirschner put the spotlight on LiMux at the talk he gave at the 58. Netzpolitischer Abend in Berlin, and on March 28, he shared his views with the audience at the ISCTE–University Institute of Lisbon in Portugal concerning ways to empower people to use technology. Matthias also participated in a longer podcast in German about LiMux.
On March 11-12, the FSFE returned to Chemnitzer Linux-Tage, Germany's biggest Free Software conference, held in the University of Chemnitz. We arranged an information booth and Max Mehl spoke about the developments around the EU Radio "Lockdown" Directive.
On March 20, Olga Gkotsopoulou, Polina Malaja and Lusy Vaseva presented the FSFE's Position Paper for the endorsement of Free Software and Open Standards in Horizon 2020 and all publicly-funded research and facilitated a discussion about the role of Free Software in Open Science at the Open Science Barcamp in Berlin.
The winners of the 2016 Free Software Awards were announced by the Free Software Foundation during the LibrePlanet 2017 conference. The Award for Projects of Social Benefit was given to SecureDrop, an anonymous whistleblowing platform, maintained by Freedom of the Press Foundation, while the Award for the Advancement of Free Software went to Alexandre Oliva, an advocate of Free Software and the GNU Project.
The Vienna FSFE group held an information booth at Veganmania indoor festival 2017.
Jonas Öberg wrote about the the need to work more with governments and local municipalities in order to encourage uptake of Free Software friendly policies in procurement and development of IT systems. The FSFE policy team has intensified its efforts in this direction and asks for everyone's support.
If you're interested in discussions about Free Software on Android, you can join FSFE's android mailing list, which Matthias Kirschner highlighted in his introduction to installing Signal without a Google account or Google Play.
In February, we celebrated the "I Love Free Software day" for the 8th consecutive year. People all over the world used the occasion to declare their love and affection not only towards their significant other, but to the whole Free Software community. This year's celebrations had everything: a FOSDEM photobooth in Brussels, letters and flowers for the German Parliament, light projections in the streets of Berlin and Frankfurt, creative artworks, a bright program of IloveFS events, funny memes, songs, microblogging as well as longer blogposts from individuals, politicians and supporting organisations.
Are you currently a student? Is an internship a compulsory part of your studies curriculum? Are you fluent in German and English and interested in the politics around Free Software? Then, check our new intern vacancy announcement, for a position in our office in Berlin, from June till October 2017. And don't forget, that we're still able to accept additional student interns for 2017. Apply now and don't miss the opportunity to become part of a great international and diverse team, based in Berlin!

Get active

Fellowship elections 2017: According to our constitution, two seats in the General Assembly are reserved for elected representatives of our Fellows. They serve two-year terms and one seat is up for re-election every year. The electoral process 2017 covers the period from April 10 till April 24. Eight candidates are running for office in the FSFE's General Assembly. You can find the list of candidates, along with their manifestos and background as well as the election schedule and voting procedure, in our dedicated Fellowship Election 2017 page. All Fellows eligible to vote will automatically receive an email with all necessary information.

If you see some news you think should be included, forward it to us. If you'd like to share any thoughts, send them to us. The address is as always newsletter@fsfe.org. We're looking forward to hearing from you!

Thanks to all volunteers, supporters and donors who make our work possible.

your editors Jonas Öberg, Olga Gkotsopoulou, Lusy Vaseva FSFE