Free software, a step forward in the future … the Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol

 BOLZANO. Free software, a step forward: from now the Province of Bolzano will consider open source solutions.

With an agenda to the budget law of the M5S approved today in the courtroom, the Government is committed to assessed for the future purchase of computer programs for the adoption of equivalent products available in open source or free re-use by other public administration (here the text of the document).

To adopt solutions that provide for the implementation of free software, open source, or publicly owned in reuse, it has a number of advantages which require an administrator careful consideration of the public good.

 

 In fact, the use of free software allows, writes the M5S, to create and develop skills and capacity in our province, without creating dependence on specific suppliers (usually large foreign corporations) and in particular not bound to proprietary solutions with licensing fees often considerable and as a rule annual, with a series of negative consequences: on the one hand the increase of the running costs which limit the resources available for new investment, on the other hand the risk of creating a monoculture computer from which it will then be difficult to get out, at least not without costly and lengthy migration.

The free software allows developers instead of adapting software to their local needs, your language, and then decide whether to deploy what created them for free or for a fee, with great flexibility then. All valid reasons to prefer open source to proprietary solutions.

According grillini more generally is to be considered dangerous, in the digital age, outsourcing excessively-skills of our province, in health care, in e-procurement (iFaber portal) and also in the governance of the public transport sector, to name only a few.

 

 Finally, it is considered important that the province is able to govern

and dominate the digital development of key areas with their own powers, possibly in synergy with other provinces and regions close to us, both in Italy and abroad. “We therefore welcomed the acceptance of the agenda of the M5S pushing in this direction.”