Digital-O-Mat: Compare your views on Internet policies with the parties for the German federal election 2017

Although digital issues are becoming increasingly important, general election coverage often miss them out. That is why the "Koalition Freies Wissen" ("Free Knowledge Coalition") created the "Digital-O-Mat", an online tool for voter information for the German federal election of 2017. The FSFE asked the participating parties about their positions on Free Software. CDU/CSU, SPD and FDP avoid clear statements and thus confirm the status quo, the Greens and the Left in contrast present themselves as supporters of Free Software.

What is the Digital-O-Mat?

The Digital-O-Mat highlights the parties' positions on Internet policy relevant topics and helps voters to find their matching party for the election to the German parliament. Its design resembles the well-known Wahl-O-Mat, a popular online voter information tool by the German Federal Agency for Civic Education . Users of the Digital-O-Mat are able to answer twelve questions and then compare their position to the participating parties. The topics of Digital-O-Mat include transparency, surveillance, digital civil rights and, of course, Free Software. We asked AfD, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, CDU/CSU, FDP, Die Linke and the SPD. We received replies from everyone except AfD. Digital-O-Mat is Free Software and had its debut in 2017 for the state parliament elections in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany).

The parties' positions on Free Software

For Digital-O-Mat, the Free Software Floundation Europe asked the participating parties the following questions:

If software is financed or co-financed by the public sector, should there be no regulation regarding its licensing, e.g. a Free Software licence? Should public administrations gradually migrate their IT systems to Free and Open Source software?

CDU/CSU (conservatives) and FDP (liberals) marked their position as "neutral" and answered in a very similar fashion. Unfortunately, these parties avoid making a clear stance and ultimately confirm the status quo. On one hand, they do consider the use of Free Software, on the other hand, so they say, there are multiple other aspects to consider weigh in. However, they list functionality and usability for example, even though they have no relation to the licence in use. When asked about the migration of existing IT systems, CDU/CSU prefer decision making on a case-by-case basis, while FDP dodged our question.

Although the SPD (labour) also marked their answer as "neutral", they support the deployment and development of Free Software in public administrations and educational institutions, "to foster the creation of innovative businesses in the local market". Die Linke (lefts) and Bündnis 90/Die Grünen (greens) position themselves as supporters of deployment and public funding of Free Software. The greens consider Free Software to be a "cornerstone for secure and future-proof IT systems", and the lefts also fully support it, as long as there are no concerns regarding security or operation.

Infographic: The parties' positions on Free Software

About the "Koalition Freies Wissen"

The Koalition Freies Wissen ("Free Knowledge Coalition") is an association of multiple civic organisations, namely Bündnis Freie Bildung, Chaos Computer Club e.V., Digitale Gesellschaft e.V., Freifunk, Open Knowledge Foundation Deutschland e.V., Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. and the Free Software Foundation Europe.

The common goal of the Koalition Freies Wissen is to disseminate knowledge about digital and Internet policy issues as well as to highlight and establish digital civil rights in society and politics. The coalition has sent questions to the participating parties in previous state parliament elections this year and has now created the Digital-O-Mat for the German federal elections 2017.

Digital-O-Mat

Support FSFE, join the Fellowship
Make a one time donation

Open internship position as project assistant

FSFE is a charity dedicated to keeping the power over technology in your hands. We are working to build freedom in a digital society and operate in a lively environment with volunteers from many countries. We are looking for an intern to join our remote team for three to six months, working with us on a project which seek to prepare the organisation for the next 15 years of work.

Please note that the application deadline has been set to the 28th of August 2017 and the position is no longer available for more applicants.

What we can offer is: A challenging and exciting time with a dynamic NGO working internationally A close-up view of organisational and community processes A chance to take the initiative and put your own ideas into practice The opportunity to meet and work with Free Software advocates across Europe

What you'll do: Contribute to FSFE's ongoing projects, working with one or more of our staff and volunteers, with a particular focus on a project which will map out and analyse our organisational identity. Communicate with contacts from the FSFE community, NGO, industry, and public administrations. Coordinate volunteers and others in the work on various projects. Find your own strengths, and do something you care about.

Be sure to read our pages about internships in general before applying!

Basic details

Location: Remote. You'll be welcome to visit our office in Berlin, but you'll be working closely with our executive director based in Stockholm, Sweden, and as such, you will also be working primarily from your own place.

Duration: 3 to 6 months full time at 35 hours per week, starting as agreed.

Compensation: We offer a compensation commensurate with your experience. As a general reference, for our technical internship offered in 2016-2017, we offered a salary of roughly €1,300 per month.

Work responsibility and activities

Together with our executive director, you will work on a project to analyse how the different groups within and outside of the FSFE perceive the organisation's identity, which will work towards understanding how aligned the identity is between the different groups.

The work will take the form of an analysis of existing material, interviews with stakeholders, members and staff, as well as surveys. The whole process will lead towards defining the organisational identity such that it can form the basis for continued work in our organisational development. The work may involve some travel, but it is likely to be limited.

Qualifications

You should have some experience or a considerable interest in Free Software. Your field of study doesn't matter, but you should be able to relate it to our work. Traditionally, a lot of interns in the FSFE have a legal or political science background, but we've also had interns working with us with a more technical or other social science background.

Experience from your studies or similar from conducting and analysing interviews and surveys, together with appropriate methods for doing so (for example grounded theory), will be greatly beneficial.

Formal requirements

You must be fluent in English, and ideally in at least one other language. You must have some experience from working with Free Software previously.

Application deadline

The last date to apply is the 28th of August 2017.

How to apply

Send your application containing a letter of motivation, a CV by e-mail to contact@fsfe.org. Please make sure to write clearly you apply for the internship position with reference PA-2017. We prefer to receive your documents in PDF format.

Contact persons

If you have any questions about the position or any administrative details in connection with it, you're welcome to contact:

Jonas Öberg about the positions themselves, and the work involved Ulrike Sliwinski for any administrative questions

Both will be reading and responding if you send your question to the contact@fsfe.org address. We look forward to reading your application!

Support FSFE, join the Fellowship
Make a one time donation

Open internship position as project assistant

FSFE is a charity dedicated to keeping the power over technology in your hands. We are working to build freedom in a digital society and operate in a lively environment with volunteers from many countries. We are looking for an intern to join our remote team for three to six months, working with us on a project which seek to prepare the organisation for the next 15 years of work.

What we can offer is: A challenging and exciting time with a dynamic NGO working internationally A close-up view of organisational and community processes A chance to take the initiative and put your own ideas into practice The opportunity to meet and work with Free Software advocates across Europe

What you'll do: Contribute to FSFE's ongoing projects, working with one or more of our staff and volunteers, with a particular focus on a project which will map out and analyse our organisational identity. Communicate with contacts from the FSFE community, NGO, industry, and public administrations. Coordinate volunteers and others in the work on various projects. Find your own strengths, and do something you care about.

Be sure to read our pages about internships in general before applying!

Basic details

Location: Remote. You'll be welcome to visit our office in Berlin, but you'll be working closely with our executive director based in Stockholm, Sweden, and as such, you will also be working primarily from your own place.

Duration: 3 to 6 months full time at 35 hours per week, starting as agreed.

Compensation: We offer a compensation commensurate with your experience. As a general reference, for our technical internship offered in 2016-2017, we offered a salary of roughly €1,300 per month.

Work responsibility and activities

Together with our executive director, you will work on a project to analyse how the different groups within and outside of the FSFE perceive the organisation's identity, which will work towards understanding how aligned the identity is between the different groups.

The work will take the form of an analysis of existing material, interviews with stakeholders, members and staff, as well as surveys. The whole process will lead towards defining the organisational identity such that it can form the basis for continued work in our organisational development. The work may involve some travel, but it is likely to be limited.

Qualifications

You should have some experience or a considerable interest in Free Software. Your field of study doesn't matter, but you should be able to relate it to our work. Traditionally, a lot of interns in the FSFE have a legal or political science background, but we've also had interns working with us with a more technical or other social science background.

Experience from your studies or similar from conducting and analysing interviews and surveys, together with appropriate methods for doing so (for example grounded theory), will be greatly beneficial.

Formal requirements

You must be fluent in English, and ideally in at least one other language. You must have some experience from working with Free Software previously.

Application deadline

There is no fixed application deadline for this positions, but we will conduct interviews and hiring starting the 14th of August, and as such, your application should be sent soonest.

How to apply

Send your application containing a letter of motivation, a CV by e-mail to contact@fsfe.org. Please make sure to write clearly you apply for the internship position with reference PA-2017. We prefer to receive your documents in PDF format.

Contact persons

If you have any questions about the position or any administrative details in connection with it, you're welcome to contact:

Jonas Öberg about the positions themselves, and the work involved Ulrike Sliwinski for any administrative questions

Both will be reading and responding if you send your question to the contact@fsfe.org address. We look forward to reading your application!

Support FSFE, join the Fellowship
Make a one time donation

Désormais disponible dans notre boutique en ligne : la bavette rose non-binaire parfaite pour tous les genres !

Consultez notre nouveau produit pour les tout jeunes soutiens de la Free Software Fondation Europe dans notre boutique en ligne : une bavette en matières 100% biologiques et équitables. L'expression « I am a fork » (je suis un embranchement) est cousue sur la bavette et restera ainsi intact même après plusieurs lavages.

C'est le cadeau parfait pour votre famille, vos connaissances et vos collègues, le cadeau inévitable si vous avez vos propres "forks" à la maison. Obtenez votre bavette grâce à notre boutique en ligne, ou bien achetez la lors de l'un de nos évènements !

Support FSFE, join the Fellowship
Make a one time donation

Désormais disponible dans notre boutique en ligne : la bavette rose non-binaire parfaite pour tous les genres !

Consultez notre nouveau produit pour les tout jeunes soutiens de la Free Software Fondation dans notre boutique en ligne : une bavette en matières 100% biologiques et équitables. L'expression « I am a fork » (je suis un embranchement) est cousue sur la bavette et restera ainsi intact même après plusieurs lavages.

C'est le cadeau parfait pour votre famille, vos connaissances et vos collègues et qui est inévitable si vous avez vos propres "forks" à la maison. Obtenez votre bavette grâce à notre boutique en ligne, ou bien achetez la lors de l'un de nos évènements !

Support FSFE, join the Fellowship
Make a one time donation