Municipalities using Free Software +++ PMPC tour in Italy

In this issue, read about nine administrations innovating and saving money with Free Software, a Dutch coalition calling for fair digital education, and how a sustainable telecom sector is attainable with Free Software. Volunteers organise ‘Public Money? Public code!’ tour in Italy.

9 administrations innovate and save money with Free Software

In 2020, the city of Bühl in Germany launched "Palim! Palim!", a video conferencing platform based on the Free Software "Jitsi Meet". The city offered the platform to citizens who needed it, and the initiative was well received. Two years later clubs, citizens, and the city itself use "Palim! Palim!" daily.

Interview with German administrations which use Free Software. May 2022.

Other municipalities have also shown interest in the solution. An association of nine administrations that use 'Palim! Palim!' have jointly modernised the administration, based on Free Software. Re@di – regional.digital is an inter-communal cooperation of nine southern German cities. Their common needs are met through synergy effects in collaborative development. In an interview, Alexander Gabriel and Eduard Itrich shared that the administrations could use their resources cost-efficiently thanks to cooperation and sharing Free Software.

Dutch coalition calls for fair digital education

Students should not have to use proprietary software to participate in the educational process. The FSFE joins the Dutch coalition ‘Fair Digital Education’ supporting privacy-respecting solutions involving Free Software in schools. The coalition signed a manifesto calling for more control and fairness in the digital solutions used for education. Students should be taught skills instead of products. Free Software increases code literacy and shows the value of cooperation.

How to attain a sustainable telecom sector

The right to install any software on any device, Free Software licensing, and Device neutrality serve digital sustainability as well as consumer protection measures. When users can install any software on any device this can make the difference in order to repair the device or reuse it and this way prevent it from becoming e-waste. Users’ right to install any software they want, manufacturers’ obligation to publish the full source code, and Device Neutrality are all necessary to reclaim devices. These principles should guide future policies on product design in the EU. The FSFE made this point answering a public consultation about the impact of the telecommunications sector on the environment.

Save the date!

• On 8 June Alexander Sander, Policy Consultant of the FSFE, will give an online talk on AI and Free Software in the EU as part of the OW2 conference.
• On 9 June Matthias Kirschner, President of the FSFE, will give an author reading of the children’s book Ada & Zangemann (DE) in re:publica 22.
• On 9 June Lucas Lasota, FSFE Legal Project Manager, will give a talk on “Practicing Sovereignty. Interventions for open digital futures” at Weizenbaum Conference in Berlin.
• On 9 June Lucas Lasota will give an online talk on Device Newtrality as part of the OW2 conference.
• On 18 June Lucas Lasota will give a talk about Device Neutrality at OSCAL 2022, in Tirana, Albania.
• On 24 June Alexander Sander will give a talk on "What role did Free Software play during the corona crisis?" at esLibre conference in Vigo, Spain.
• On 24 June Lina Ceballos, FSFE Project Manager, will give a talk on "REUSE" at esLibre conference in Vigo, Spain.
• On 25 June, Lina Ceballos and Alexander Sander will give a ‘Public Money? Public Code!’’ workshop at esLibre conference in Vigo, Spain.
• On 30 June, Lina Ceballos will give a talk on REUSE at OpenExpoEurope2022 conference in Madrid.

Past and ongoing activities

Alexander Sander and Lucas Lasota at the FSFE booth at make-it.saarland in Saarbrücken, Germany, May 2022. Photo credit: Cuvée

• On 3 June Florian Snow, Technical Advisor of the FSFE, gave an Upcycling Android workshop in Cologne.
• On 2 June, Matthias Kirschner offered an author reading of the children’s book Ada & Zangemann in Cologne.
• On 19 May our Policy Consultant Alexander Sander discussed the challenges of ethical AI in the KIDD-Fachkonferenz panel in Berlin.
• On 14-15 May the FSFE had a booth at make-it.saarl and in Saarbrücken, Germany, and Alexander Sander gave a talk "Innovation needs Free Software".

The FSFE participated in the General Assembly of European Digital Rights (EDRi). May 2022.

• As a member of European Digital Rights (EDRi), the FSFE participated in the General Assembly on 13-14 May to exchange ideas with other actors. The EDRi network is a collective of 45+ NGOs’ numerous experts working to defend digital rights. Erik Albers gave a workshop on how to utilise the European Ecodesign to ask for the universal right to install any software on any device.
• On 4 May, Key stakeholders debated the future of Router Freedom in Austria in an online session organised by the FSFE and the Alliance of Telecommunication Terminal Equipment Manufacturers (VTKE). The video (DE) is available.

FSFE groups

Aarhus | A group relaunches after seven years. The FSFE local group Aarhus restarts with the aim to raise awareness of Free Software in Denmark. The first meeting will take place on 9 June.

Berlin | The FSFE local group Berlin decided to have the regular monthly meetings in person again from now on, and also met at Linux Works LUG. The group also had the regular online monthly meeting dedicated to Free Software in Education.

Greece | The FSFE country team Greece translated the FSFE’s answer to the consultation round of the Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission about the position of the Network Termination Point. Join the Greek-speaking FSFE Matrix room to discuss impossible translations of technical terms and other software freedom topics you like.

Hamburg | The FSFE local group Hamburg had its monthly meeting.

André Ockers and Nico Rikken at the FSFE booth in the NLLGG in Utrecht, The Netherlands, May 2022.

The Netherlands | The FSFE country team the Netherlands organised an FSFE booth in the NLLGG meeting in Utrecht, and had its regular online meeting.

Women | The FSFE Women group met for the first time in person in Berlin. They discussed search engines, chats, and password managers that make lives easier.

Zurich | The FSFE local group Zurich organised a hackathon to prepare an initiative supporting federated communication for public authorities.

Get active in Italy!

Volunteers will present the ‘Public Money? Public code!’ campaign in Italy. Meet the people behind the Italian translations of the FSFE and learn how the digitalisation of the Italian public sector can be improved. The events are in Trento on 7 June, in Bologna on 8 June, in Caltanissetta on 18 June.

Contribute to our Newsletter

If you would like to share any thoughts, pictures, or news, please send them to us. As always, the address is newsletter@fsfe.org. We're looking forward to hearing from you! If you also want to support us and our work, join our community and support us with a donation or a monthly contribution. Thanks to our community and all the volunteers, supporters, and donors who make our work possible. And thanks to our translators, who enable you to read this newsletter in your native languages.

Your editor, Fani Partsafyllidou

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German administration is re@di for the use of Free Software

A network of nine cities in Germany shows the benefits of ‚Public Money? Public Code!‘

2020, in the midst of the corona pandemic, the city of Bühl launched a video conferencing platform called "Palim! Palim!", which is based on the Free Software "Jitsi Meet". Based on the need of the municipal music school to be able to continue to offer group lessons in times of pandemic, the city offered the platform.

In the meantime, many clubs, citizens and the city itself use the platform on a daily basis. Other municipalities have also shown interest in the solution. In recent months, a association of nine administrations that use 'Palim! Palim!' and many other Free Software applications, have jointly modernised the administration, based on Free Software. Under the name re@di - regional.digital, the inter-communal cooperation of the South German cities of Baden-Baden, Bretten, Bruchsal, Bühl, Ettlingen, Gaggenau, Rastatt, Rheinstetten and Stutensee is organised.

Through this cooperation, common standards and interfaces are realised. Thus, the wheel does not have to be reinvented over and over again; the common need is met through synergy effects in development but also the continuous exchange of experience and information. They report that they can use their resources more effectively and cost-efficient. Traditional administrative topics such as the electronic administrative file or building applications are dealt with in various project groups of re@di.

However, citizen services are also made available and an engagement platform is developed to support voluntary engagement and associations. In the interview with Alexander and Edaurd, you can learn more about the first steps and the daily work on re@di and what advantages it brings for the administrations but also for the citizens.

A network of nine cities in Germany shows the benefits of ‚Public Money? Public Code!‘

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Volunteers organise ‘Public Money? Public code!’ tour in Italy

Code paid by the people should be available to the people! Volunteers will present the ‘Public Money? Public Code!’ campaign in Trento, Bologna, and Caltanissetta. If you live in Italy, now you have a perfect chance to learn more about the initiative and support it.

We want legislation requiring that publicly financed software developed for the public sector be made publicly available under a Free Software licence. If it is public money, it should be public code as well. More than 30.000 people and 200 organisations adopt this position. Public administrations that use Free Software do not have to reinvent the wheel in programming similar applications, so they can share costs and save taxpayers’ money. The use of Free Software serves the public and promotes innovation too, as users can utilise the code found in the public digital infrastructure. The FSFE explains the benefits of Free Software and shares best practices in the dedicated ‘Public Money? Public Code!’ brochure for public administrations. Volunteers translated the brochure into Italian.

Italian tour

Join the presentation of the ‘Public Money? Public Code!’ brochure. Meet the people behind the Italian translations of the FSFE, talk with people who substantially contribute to software freedom in Italy, and learn how the digitalisation of the Italian public sector can be improved. Find out how you, too, can support ‘Public Money? Public Code!’ in Italy.

Trento

Tuesday, 7 June 2022 at 18.00 Location: Faculty of Sociology - Room 7, Via Verdi 26, Trento For Covid-19 standards, reservation required. Please let us know you are coming.

Presenters:

• Patrick Ohnewein - Italian FSFE vice-coordinator
• Marco Ciampa - FSFE translator and Free Software activist
• Raul Masu - FSFE translator, Nova University of Lisbon
• Lorenzo Angeli - UNITN researcher

Moderators:

• Maurizio Marchese
• Vincenzo D'Andrea - UNITN

Bologna

Wednesday, 8 June 2022 at 18.30 Location: Sala fondazione 2000, piazza dell'Unità 4, Bologna

Presenters:

• Massimo Bugani - Digital Agenda Bologna - M5S
• Pina Civitella - UI Application and Data Manager of Bologna Municipality
• Leda Guidi - Fondazione Innovazione Urbana (Urban Innovation Lab. )
• Raul Masu - FSFE translator, Nova University of Lisbon
• Marco Trotta - Bologna Civic Coalition

Moderator:

• Simone Jacca - Innovation and Digital Transition Manager - PD Bologna

Keep in touch

The FSFE volunteers plan to organise presentations of the ‘Public Money? Public Code!’ campaign in other cities too. As the tour is organised by volunteers, we encourage you to directly get the news from them by subscribing to the mailing lists and chat rooms of Italian local groups Milano and Sicily. The next event is in Caltanissetta on June 18th.

Get the brochure

Download the brochure from here.

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FSFE signs Dutch manifesto calling for education improvements

Students should not have to use proprietary software to participate in the educational process. The FSFE joins the Dutch coalition ‘Fair Digital Education’ supporting privacy-respecting solutions involving Free Software in schools.

The Dutch education system increasingly relies on digital systems for teaching. Currently most of these tools are proprietary software. As a result, students, parents, and teachers have lost control over their sovereignty and privacy. The strongly integrated solutions for online collaboration, school management, computer hardware, and educational content is a stranglehold that is nearly impossible to escape. It has become a precondition for education to get a user account at a big-tech company where you are being tracked and having to use proprietary software.

Concerned parents, teachers, computer engineers, and defenders of digital rights joined forces to improve the situation. In a Manifesto Bevrijd kinderen uit de digitale wurggreep (NL) the "Coalition Fair Digital Education" describes the situation and calls for changes on multiple fronts. Privacy of students should be guaranteed, sovereignty of schools should be restored, students should be thaught skills instead of products, and systems should be privacy-by-design and Free Software.

Education is an area of concern for the Free Software Foundation Europe; the situation in the Netherlands is not unique. The FSFE supports ‘Free Software in Education’ and the FSFE local group Zurich runs an awareness campaign, ‘Learning like the pros’ that tackled similar problems in the Swiss educational system.

The FSFE is one of the initial signees of the manifesto. The manifesto is the starting point of this coalition. Through contacts with teachers, schools, policymakers and IT vendors, the group aims to enact practical improvements within the Dutch educational system. The FSFE will continue supporting this new Dutch effort to lead a change that will benefit future generations. You, too, can give your support by signing the manifesto.

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Key stakeholders debated the future of Router Freedom in Austria

Together with the Alliance of Telecommunication Terminal Equipment Manufacturers (VTKE), the FSFE organised the online event "The Future of Router Freedom in Austria" where decision makers could debate with industry and civil society stakeholders on the future developments regarding the free choice of terminal equipment in Austria.

The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) and the Alliance of Telecommunication Terminal Equipment Manufacturers (VTKE) organised an online session about the future of Router Freedom in Austria. In this session, key stakeholders had the opportunity to debate and raise arguments supporting free choice of terminal equipment for internet connection.

The event occurred in the context of the introduction of the reform for telecommunications law in Austria, where the national regulator RTR is tasked with the regulatory framework for defining the boundaries between the internet service providers' networks and home networks of end-users. In this process, the new rules have the potential to negatively affect end-users' freedom to choose and use private routers and modems. Depending on the regulatory position adopted, either ISPs will continue to be allowed to impose their own routers/modems on customers or internet users will be able to choose their preferred router/modem for broadband connection. The panelists, therefore, had the opportunity to point out why Router Freedom is fundamental not only for consumer rights but also for a functional and competitive router and modem market.

The journalist Barbara Steinbrenner moderated the panel and it consisted of decision makers, industry representatives and civil society stakeholders. The panelists were: Dr. Natalie Ségur-Cabanac, Head of Regulatory and Data Protection Officer, Hutchison Drei Austria GmbH; Mag. Christian Drobits, Parliament Member (SPÖ) and spokesperson for Data Privacy and Consumer Protection; Kira Terstappen-Richter, MSc, VTKE Coordinator and Max Mehl, FSFE Programme Manager. You can check the recording of the debate below (video in German).

The Router Freedom initiative

Router Freedom is the right that consumers of any ISP have to be able to choose and use a private modem and router instead of equipment that the ISP provides. Since 2013, the Free Software Foundation Europe has been successfully engaged with Router Freedom, promoting end-users' freedom in many European countries. Join us and learn more about the several ways to get involved. Please consider becoming a FSFE donor; you help make possible our long-term engagement and professional commitment in defending people's rights to control technology.

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