EU institution aims to lead by example and boost innovation by making code openly available
The European Commission has moved to openly share more of the software over which it has intellectual property rights, saying it wants to lead by example and boost innovation by enabling others to use and improve its computing resources.
Some of the software the Commission uses in its role as the EU’s executive body was already made openly available, but the institution said on 8 December that new rules it had adopted will enable its departments “to publish the software source code they own in much shorter time and with less paperwork”.
Mariya Gabriel, the research and innovation commissioner, signed off the new rules, which will apply both to software developed in-house and procured code over which the Commission has rights.
“The Commission aims to lead Europe’s digital transition by example,” she said. “With the new rules, the Commission will bring significant value to companies, startups, innovators, citizens and public administrations.”
The software will be made available via a single repository, the Commission said.
It added that software developed before the new rules were adopted will be reviewed, implying that some of this software will also be openly released.
“Open source offers great advantages,” said budget commissioner Johannes Hahn. “Pooling of efforts to improve the software and the co-creation of new features lowers costs for society, as we also benefit from the improvements made by other developers.
“This can also enhance security as external and independent specialists check software for bugs and security flaws.”