OpenSourceProcurement.org is an online initiative who aims to promote the use of Open Source Software (OSS) in public procurements by creating awareness around the subject and striving to create a community that can influence the public sector into OSS adoption. It provides resources, links and information related to the procurement process which will benefit all those interested in submitting proposals for an Open Source solution.
We believe ...
Open Source Software is superior socially and ethically.
Free access to source code allows collaboration, innovation and knowledge sharing and hence better problem solving. Open Source doesn’t differentiate among the users i.e. users can come from any background, can be from any continent of the world and can have any kind of intention (including to use the software for commercial purposes, and respecting the license in the process). It is all-inclusive and therefore fosters a community of collaboration, open sharing of ideas, and progressive technology in a true scientific, educational and socially responsible spirit. Given it defines itself as "free", this specific type of software surely embodies more than financial interests.
Proprietary software can be exponentially expensive and it encumbers institutions.
When it comes to the public sector, the application of Open Source software vendors becomes all the more important. Since its public money those should be invested in a way that brings best results, most value, and avoid ethical pitfalls. These public projects or tenders are huge, in value easily hitting hundreds of thousands of dollars/euros. That’s why big corporations spend money in lobbying and vendor lock-in tactics. Once a proprietary software gets accepted into a government agency it becomes increasingly difficult for them to switch to Open Source. Public servants are apprehensive to change the system or learn new technology and hence are trapped with the expensive proprietary software for long time.
An integral part public procurement is transparency.
Open Source software has the source code and the documentation all in the open. The users can easily see for themselves what their respective government agency is using in their systems and for how much value. How the software is built and what the code contains. How data is processed, what are the results, where it comes from and where it is going. On the other hand, proprietary software is all shrouded in mystery, features are artificially pay-walled and it is intentionally built unnecessarily complicated. Even more so, we consider the practice of security through obscurity very dangerous as the two concepts are hardly equivalent. The public availability of the OSS code, coupled with the empowerment to be freely audited, changed and customized offers the only kind of security and future proof solutions our governments should use.
Open Source software is "free".
We all know open software is ‘free’ which means there is no license fee, only support and maintenance fees if one chooses to acquire such services. This makes open software more cost efficient in comparison to proprietary software. Huge savings are made when the code is open, and more than one vendor is specialized in the software; it makes switching from one vendor to another one easy. However, if the agency is using a proprietary software let's say Microsoft, then they are anecdotally stuck with Microsoft till the end of times, or else the software bought will quickly become unusable. If there any doubts here, besides support, let's reflect on the updates and the upgrades in the enterprise solutions, which are not free, require a license and are vendor dependent.
The other aspect is the freedom itself, because sometimes not everything is about the money. There is an ethical side and OSS is the only type of software that even mentions this aspect, let alone put it into practice.
These are the main reasons we started this platform, in the hope that it will become a place where Open Source software stakeholders can join hands with us to foster Open Source software in all public projects.
Our Objectives
All members of the team dedicated a significant part of their life to Open Source Software, one way or the other. So it is only fitting that promoting Open Source is one of the main goals, but more specifically we aim to:
- Provide worldwide resources related to Open Source software in Public Sector
- Make available all public tender opportunities under one platform
- Discover the jurisdictions that actively procure Open Source software
New to public tender and don’t know where to start? See our guides on evaluating projects and preparing winning proposals or join the forums.
Our Content
The content published on our website consists of generic material like history of OS, public procurement procedures, understanding of the markets and the occasional news and interviews. Our team has worked on dozens of such proposals and therefore is apt to pass on the information necessary to ace in such proposals. The team takes care in making sure that content is factual, correct and without any error. The content is regularly checked for updates every six months. All content on the website is published under Creative Commons License.
Who are we?
The opensourceprocurment.org is EvoluData Solutions Inc. project. See
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