The European Commission is to open a new web portal to
facilitate the use of shared open source software across the public
sector.
The EC said that the sharing and reuse of applications can have
a significant economic impact, as public administrations can save
on investments and rely on each other's expertise.
The commission has selected a consortium led by Unisys Belgium
to create and manage the Open Source Observatory and Repository
(OSOR).
The consortium consists of Unisys Belgium, the Maastricht
Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology, GOPA
Cartermill and the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos.
The internet portal will allow European administrations to store
centrally and share the software code of their open source
applications and exchange open source knowledge.
The aim is to enable the European member states’administrations
to improve the return on their IT investments and make their
applications more interoperable.
OSOR is a common repository where, in addition to the source and
object code, information is available regarding the use of
applications, different software versions, open source licences or
contract material.
On the OSOR web portal, member states’ administrations will also
be able to share know-how about their different open source
applications.
The European Commission anticipates that OSOR will encourage
European administrations to use each other's software and develop
common projects – for example, in public e-procurement,
interoperability between government applications or mutual
recognition of the various e-ID card formats.
The format of the OSOR will be determined this year, and the
service is expected to be operational in late 2007.
Unisys will promote the OSOR service and will look for relevant
open source applications to add to the OSOR and support
collaboration between different European open source projects.