freedom

Cities agree on minimal interoperability mechanisms

Over a hundred European cities have agreed on ‘Minimal Interoperability Mechanisms’ defining the communication between software programmes and building blocks to allow co-creation and sharing of services. The MIMs, advocated by the Open & Agile Smart Cities (OASC) initiative, are “simple steps towards using new technology”, OACS chairman Martin Brynskov said on Thursday. “The MIM … Read more

Greece robotics competition targets open source software and hardware

Universities and teachers across Greece are encouraging the country’s young schoolchildren to experiment with open source software and hardware. The Panhellenic Open Robotics Competition also encourages school students and their teachers to work together, and aims to create open educational resources. The competition was launched late last year. At the end of December, the organisers … Read more

In January, the EU starts running Bug Bounties on Free and Open Source Software

FOSSA Bug Bounties In January, the EU is launching bug bounties on Free Software projects to increase the security of the Internet! Tweet this! In January the European Commission is launching 14 out of a total of 15 bug bounties on Free Software projects that the EU institutions rely on. A bug bounty is a … Read more

Data on open collaboration

Figures on availability of scientific APIs, open code policies, citizen science projects as well as case studies. What is open collaboration? Open scientific collaboration refers to the forms of collaboration in the course of the scientific process that do not fit under open data and open publications. It includes different type of outputs such as open code, … Read more

Building the Public Goods of the Twenty-First Century

Digital public goods in the age of the data revolution   History plays tricks on us. Just as we think we’ve got things figured, everything changes. My favourite example is Malthus’s ‘principle of population’ which explained why most people were mired in poverty despite improving technology. As Malthus explained, population growth was exponential and so would eventually outstrip productivity growth and … Read more

“The Competences we need” – Documentary on the Council of Europe Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture

“The Competences we need” – Documentary on the Council of Europe Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture from Council of Europe OP Services. “We were not born as fully informed and active citizens. This is something that we become with time”. This is the opening sentence of the new documentary produced by the Education … Read more

More revenue, new jobs: Basque Country open source ICT sector grows 8%

In the past year, ICT companies in the Basque Country in Spain that specialise in free and open source software report a revenue growth of 8 percent – much higher than the autonomous region’s average – according to a member survey by ESLE, the region’s trade group for these ICT service providers. “This year’s growth … Read more

European cities reuse Madrid’s open source citizen participation solution

Consul, the citizen participation platform shared as open source by the city of Madrid (Spain), is being implemented in 18 countries across the world. In Spain, Consul is used by over 40 villages, towns and cities. In Europe, Consul is also used by Paris and Aude (France), Turin (Italy), and Tirana (Albania), while Madrid has … Read more

Germany funds open source security check for SMEs

Germany’s federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy has been funding a 26-month project to help small and medium-sized companies avoid IT security issues when using open source content management systems. The project started in September 2016 and will end in November this year. The project is now looking for sponsors to continue the online … Read more