Selecting between open source and proprietary software: The public administrators' case

TitleSelecting between open source and proprietary software: The public administrators' case
Publication TypeConference Paper
Year of Publication2012
AuthorsBouras, C, Kokkinos, V, Tseliou, G
Conference NameIADIS International Conference e-Society 2012, Berlin, Germany
Date Published10-13 March
Abstract

The necessity for the public sector to change over to communicating digitally is imminent. From the economic
perspective, the changeover poses great challenges, as huge investments will have to be made in Information Technology
(IT) in the public sector. It is therefore natural, in connection with these investments, for detailed assessment to be made
of what forms of technology it is anticipated to be used, and who controls the development and ownership of this
technology. This work constitutes a review of literature on pre-existing comparative studies regarding the technical,
social, economic and organizational factors on Free Open Source Software (FOSS) usage. Furthermore, this work
includes guidelines that Public Administrations (PAs) should follow for the selection between open source and
proprietary software. Main goal of this paper is to add to knowledge resources that can help public stakeholders
understand the technical / social / economic / organizational environment and reach informed decisions when selecting
the appropriate software. The paper can also be useful for FOSS developers, users and communities who are either
directly or indirectly involved in the software market.