Free as in Independent: Norway's Progressive Stance on Free Software and Open Source
In a few hours Heidi Grande Røys, the surprising Norwegian Minister of Government Administration and Reform, will be in the city of Drammen to launch the first of what will be several national centres of expertise for Free Software and Open Source.
This first centre is meant to provide public bodies - especially Norwegian municipalities - with the resources that they need to be able to effectively use, develop and deploy Free Software solutions and to use Open Source collaboration methods. What's more, the innovation centres aren't isolated efforts - instead, they are part of a more comprehensive plan that recognizes Free Software and Open Source as a key part of Norway's information and communication technology strategy.
While I am no longer surprised by governments actively adopting Free and Open solutions, I am surprised by how very progressive Norway's position on both adopting and supporting Free Software and Open Source is. For countries, Free Software provides a powerful tool to regain control of their IT infrastructure - no longer will they need to ship millions of dollars worth of software licensing fees out of their economy - instead, they can spend that money locally on building their own competence in IT.
The early strategy (which Minister Grande Røys a outlined in a simple and direct speech at the 2007 eZ Conference) covers issues like open standards, open licensing for software works produced by the government and developing competence around Free Software and Open Source in the programs offered by Norwegian schools.
I'm really looking forward to what comes next (and to working with eZ and other companies, organizations and schools in Grenland on developing a Free Software/Open Source Centre for Expertise in eZ's home town of Skien.)
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Posted on Wednesday, August 15th, 2007 at 0:25
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October 3rd, 2007 at 5:33
[...] work is just a part of the exciting wave of things happening in the Nordic region, that range from Norway's progressive view on Free Software and Open Source to the new Norwegian Free Software National Competence Center to ventures like COSS (the Finnish [...]