The “Decentralized data catalogs of the administration in Austria”, Data.gv.at, is expanding from open data to include an open source software search function. With this update, users can now access almost a hundred of open source applications of public interest. 

Data.gv.at launched in 2012 and has since been providing centralised access to open data resources related to all levels of government in Austria. The 2022 amendment of the Federal Law on the Reuse of Public Sector Information further established the platform as the major point of access for government data, and the platform now hosts 55,665 datasets and 765 applications from 1356 organisations. 

Increasing the transparency of public sector data across their lifecycle, Data.gv.at launched in December 2024 a new search filter to make it easier for users to find online applications that are based on open data, are open source  Encouraging cooperation and netizens’ inputs, most of the projects listed also offer users the possibility to share data to enhance the amount and accuracy of information accessible. Projects listed can be further categorised through search filters on topics, licence, application type, and publishing entity. The information provided about each project is also meant to encourage transparency, and includes contact information, link to the source code, which public dataset was used, and the API link to the Metadata.  

This new feature, designed to encourage transparency and cooperation, highlights a number of values core to open source technologies: traceability, reusability, and community participation. The first element of traceability is particularly interesting in this crossover of open data and open source, offering users with a full overview of how public data is used to create new online services of public interest. The variety of open source projects accessible through the Data.gv.at's open source search filter demonstrates the multiple societal issues that open source can facilitate, from public transport, to public art, and environmental trackers. Examples of projects accessible through the repository include: 

• A number of different applications related to public transport information in Vienna but also globally 
• A climate dashboard providing access to data and facts about the environmental crisis in Austria
• An app to get real-time information on the water temperature in Austria 
• Different apps tracking information related to Austria's political life, including information about the financing of political parties or a tracker to follow Parliament’s work
• An online toolbox to submit design proposals for parking spaces in Vienna 
• An Anthropological and Archeological database of medieval sepultures, a collaborative project between Austrian and Czech archaeological institutes 
• An app to map public works of art, a media art installation showing real-time information about public transport in Vienna, and another app to map Rainboad Roads in Austria 
• An app to locate the nearest Christmas and Advent markets, in a country famous for its Christmas markets. 

Itself hosted on an open source platform, Data.gv.at with this new search feature provides an extensive overview of how open data and open source can serve the various interests and daily challenges of netizens.