About Reusing Open Source in Italian Public Administrations

During the Public Administrations Innovator barcamp I have been interviewed by Cogo Gigi, one of the organizers, to talk about sustainable innovation in software for public administrations.

In Italy innovation is a 21st century buzz-word, but even limiting to properly reuse existing open source software and practices would be great if done right.

CNIPA – the Italian National Centre for ICT in the Public Administrations – in the recent past has made funds available for e-governments projects aimed at software reuse (PDF file, Italian).

If your command of Italian language is good, go through the document and read article 2 (page 2-3). Restrictive entry criteria make difficult to apply, what is worst is that a public administration could join only one reuse project.

Open source procurement could turn reuse and also vendor independence into a reality. Freedom is never for free: public administrations to avoid (open source) service lock-in have to mind their steps while writing tenders, though.