Policy recommendations for public administrators on free and open source software usage

Abstract Free and open source software, holding a strategic position in knowledge economy, reaffirms the critical role of governments and regional authorities in establishing strategies for integrating effective and sustainable Information Technology solutions in the public sector towards economic growth and social welfare. Moreover, public services, organisations and territorial administrations collectively represent a major software user with great impact on the software market. In this sense, software selection in the public sector is a highly political and strategic process; various collateral implications and policy aspects should be considered in order to reach the best possible decisions. Within this context, this manuscript provides policy recommendations on issues and challenges pertaining to the use of free and open source software by European public administrations. The recommended policy actions are mainly based on review of the current policy framework. The main goal of this manuscript is to contribute in providing policy orientations and proposing actions that can help governments, public administrations and European institutions fully harvest the benefits of open source.