Open source software and open data standards in public administration

A European joint project (COSPA) with the participation of eight countries from all parts of Europe studies the application advantages (and drawbacks) of open source software (OS) and of open data standards (ODS) in public administration (PA). PAs are among the biggest computer- and software consumers world-wide, thus they should be very careful what to use, how to use. PAs spend every year a considerable amount of money for commercial off-the-shelf software licenses. By using appropriate technologies, such expenses might be either dramatically reduced, or re-routed to further develop local business ecosystems. This project aims at introducing, analyzing, and supporting the use of ODS and OS software for personal productivity and document management in European PAs