In 2019, as the Free Software Officer at the French Ministry of Digital Affairs (hereafter referred to as "DINUM" for "Direction du numérique"), I focused mainly on three tasks: publishing code.etalab.gouv.fr, maintaining a list of recommended free software for the public sector, and building the BlueHats community.

Using free software and releasing source code is a good first step.

We could do more in both directions: (1) not only use free software, but participate in the maintenance of existing open source solutions, and (2) not only publish our source codes, but identify public sector projects with the potential to be used and financed/developed by multiple public agencies - or even: identify projects that would benefit from mixed governance, open to non-public stakeholders.

France does not have a small business law at the national level, and the Digital Republic Act of 2016 only "encourages" public institutions to buy free software. Because the French open source ecosystem is mainly composed of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and because our public procurement processes still favor large companies and traditional software licensing schemes, the French open source ecosystem as a whole does not do as much business with public authorities as it could.

The French open source ecosystem is very dynamic, with many companies covering the whole spectrum of new technologies. Reaching the right companies should be easier for public agencies: as a public buyer, when I am convinced that I want to buy an open source solution, I need a single entry point to find companies that can compete to make the best offer. I need to search for "technology X" and see which French company offers expertise in "technology X". The French open source ecosystem could create such a registry.

In addition, French open source SMEs and public authorities are both competing with large IT companies for skilled people and lucrative jobs. But they also have something else in common: they both offer meaningful career paths for people looking for an ethical commitment, either by contributing to the free software ecosystem or by building better digital services for their fellow citizens. In the same way that the Public Interest Entrepreneurs and beta.gouv.fr programs have built relationships with the "tech for good" movement to tap into this resource of "young talent", French open source companies could get closer to this movement to find human resources - and later build more bridges between what they do and what the public sector is looking for, perhaps by participating in the BlueHats community.

Europe is already doing a lot through the EU FOSSA 2 initiative, the ISA² program or the Joinup platform. The recent Open Source beyond 2020 conference in Brussels was a good opportunity to see that Europe is moving forward with its Open Source efforts in the public sector.

Here are some ideas on what to do next:

code.europa.eu

Each European country can list free software published by the public sector, as France does with code.etalab.gouv.fr. Once several countries have such a list, Europe could publish a search engine that indexes every repository published by all European countries.

BlueHats Summer of Code

Following the example of the Google Summer of Code or the Open Summer of Code, Europe could start a program that allows IT students to do paid internships with public agencies that meet their needs for free software maintenance and development, while being mentored by maintainers of that free software from European open source companies.

The European Public Code Foundation

Joinup publishes a catalog of 122 reusable solutions. Italy publishes a catalog of open source software created by its administration and collaborates with the Foundation for Public Code to define a common ]​]standard for public code. France will use this standard to help identify reusable free software by and for government. There's an emerging pattern here: open source comes with the implicit promise of reducing costs by allowing reusability, let's make it real. And to promote important European open source solutions for the public sector, let's build a common shelter to market, develop and maintain these solutions.

European grants to support open source libraries

Free Software is the key to any IT infrastructure. Because open source is mostly free, we don't pay enough attention to the hidden parts of it. In the same way that EU FOSSA 2 helps raise our level of awareness about the security of open source software, Europe should raise its commitment to the maintenance of open source libraries. There is a long tail of open source libraries: instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, let's give open source maintainers the opportunity to apply for grants. For inspiration, check out the funding.communitybridge.org and clojuriststogether.org initiatives.

As a postamble: I do not like the motto "As open as possible, as closed as necessary", I feel it paves the way for less open source. I would rather use "Open on purpose", which deliberately contrasts with "Open by default".

I hope these few remarks above make it clear that the use of free software and the release of public sector source codes are goals that both have value per se and should also be aligned with a global strategy on how to let Europe gain sovereignty over its IT infrastructure and components.