EC Attacks Wasteful Proprietary Technology

The European Commission has called on governments to embrace open standards, after criticising the waste and lock-in associated with some proprietary technologies.

In a speech late last week at the Open Forum Europe 2010 Summit in Brussels, Neelie Kroes European Commission vice-president for the Digital Agenda reinforced the Commission’s commitment to promoting open standards across the public sector.

Decades Of Lock-In

In particular Kroes said that the costs associated with some proprietary software were no longer sustainable, given the ongoing financial crisis. “Many authorities have found themselves unintentionally locked into proprietary technology for decades,” she said. “After a certain point that original choice becomes so ingrained that alternatives risk being systematically ignored, no matter what the potential benefits. This is a waste of public money that most public bodies can no longer afford.”

In what could be seen as a pointed side-swipe at Microsoft’s dominance in word processing and web browsers, Kroes referred to how the technology choices of governments directly affected what technologies were adopted by citizens. “It is even worse when such decisions result in the waste of private money on top,” she said. “That happens where the public authorities’ decisions force citizens to buy specific products (rather than any product compliant with an applicable standard) in order to make use of a public service. This could be your kid’s school insisting on the use of a specific word processing system or your tax department’s online forms requiring a specific web browser.”

In a wide-ranging speech, Kroes referred to the re-drafting of the European Interoperability Framework, which governs how the public and private sectors communicate across Europe. The second draft of the framework is currently being debated by European authorities.

“Commission Vice-president Šefčovič and I want to put in place a new European Interoperability Framework,” said Kroes. “To be sure, the existing version of the EIF is not bad. It even sets out a list of characteristics of “open standards” within the context of cross-border eGovernment services. However, our work with Member States through the ISA programme and its predecessors has made clear that there is an opportunity to further enhance interoperability between public administrations,” she said.

The ISA Programme has a similar focus to the interoperability framework but is focused purely on the public sector.

Kroes added that governments across Europe had a responsibility to spend citizens taxes on technology that was as open as possible. “For me, it is a fundamental tenet that public administrations spending tax-payers’ money should opt for the least constraining solution that meets the requirements for a given need,” she said. “Such a rule, as the default, would shield public authorities from the dangers of long-term lock-in.”

Open Smart Meters

As well as pointing out the importance of open standards in established public services, Kroes also said that emerging technologies such as smart merters and e-health systems also required open platforms. “We want to achieve interoperability for cross-border eHealth applications and for smart energy meters,” she said. “The benefits of these actions will not only be economic, they will also fundamentally shape our future quality of life.”

Groups which represent the interests of proprietary players have reacted to some of the EC’s recent rhetoric around open standards. Commenting on the publication of the EC’s Digital Agenda strategy late last month, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) picked up on the absence of any call for stronger measures to protect intellectual property (IP) rights. Francisco Mingorance, BSA senior director of government affairs, said: “Incentivising innovation and investment in technology requires commitments to safeguard IP. We would have expected to see more recognition for the essential protections provided by patents and copyright.”