The French administration is still a large enabler of Free Software in France. According to a survey published by Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC , CXP group), a French consulting company, the public sector is seen as an opportunity for Free Software for 71% of the more than 100 companies surveyed in this study, mostly members of the Conseil National du Logiciel Libre and Syntec Numérique, an association of IT companies.
The French administration has been “a fertile ground” for Free Software for a long time, Mathieu Poujol, principal consultant at Pierre Audoin Consultants said.
It has also always been largely represented in the French administration. Free Software counts for 10% of the French IT sector. This ratio is larger in the public sector, Mathieu Poujol said.
EUR 4.1 billion in 2015
“The Free Software market is growing on a linear trend”, he said. It is still strongly linked to IT infrastructure (for example, the Cloud) in the public sector. By 2015, the Free Software market is expected to reach EUR 4.1 billion, and will grow by 9% annually until 2020. In 2020, Open Software will count for 14% of the French IT market, the survey stated.
Mathieu Poujol explained that most systems in the French public sector are based on specific developments and Free Software is usually the foundation for these – because the code is easily accessible. But, it is also a political choice to avoid vendor dependence.
According to him, the French administration is also trying to build ecosystems around Free Software and help start-ups based on Free Software to emerge, thereby strengthening the market in France.
Source: https://joinup.ec.europa.eu