On January 21, 2003 ARC Fund, the Free Software Association and Dnevnik Online – the online edition of Dnevnik daily, jointly organized a round table discussion on the use of open source software in public administration. The event was held under the umbrella of Bulgaria Development Gateway which seeks to provide an open, neutral, not-partisan, policy-level platform for discussing alternatives to open source use in public administration and business, the benefits, risks and associated costs.
The discussion brought together a total of 46 representatives of government IT departments, IT companies and business associations, media and NGOs. Participants were introduced to the current EU policy thinking regarding open source software, and learnt about the international best practice in applying OSS in public administrations in EU member states and elsewhere (e.g. Germany, Spain, UK, Finland, Peru, etc.)
This event was conceived to be a part of broader efforts aimed at educating people from government agencies, businesses, NGOs and academia about the pro’s and con’s of open source software, and generating a stronger debate for the use of OSS in implementing e-government initiatives in Bulgaria. It was the first in a series of related activities dedicated to open source alternatives.
Download event materials here (in Bulgarian):
Invitation
Background document
Theses
Visit the OSS topic page on Bulgaria Development Gateway:
http://www.bgrazvitie.net/bg/84/ (in Bulgarian), and
http://www.bgrazvitie.net/en/92/ (in English)
