The Isère department in France's Rhône-Alpes region is encouraging its public administrations to use free and open source software. In October, the Secretary-General of the prefecture sent a letter to all local authorities. The letter included a warning to make sure procurement requests do not include discriminatory requirements.

The prefect informs the department's public administrations that free software provide credible and safe solutions for managing databases, computer operating systems, office suites and email. The development and support of free software has created some 30,000 jobs in France, the prefect writes. "The annual turnover in this sector is around 2,5 billion euro, which is almost entirely benefiting the local and national economy."

"It should be noted that free software solutions offers the freedom to use, modify and distribute the solutions." This type of software can also be tailored to the needs and requirements of public administrations, the prefect added, and support can be gotten from software firms and the free software community.

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With the letter, the department responds to criticism from Ploss Rhône Alpes, a regional free software advocacy group, that many public administration tenders, make illegal references to specific brands and products. The prefect: "It is necessary to stress the importance of public procurement principles, treating candidates equally and avoiding unjustified obstacles."

The prefect refers the department's public administrations to the government guidelines on the use of free software - known as the Circulaire Ayrault. "I invite you to make yourself and your services aware of these issues, in order to respect regulations and to encourage you to consider the solutions offered by free software."

Perfect example

Earlier this week a joint-statement was published by April, a French free software advocacy group, CNLL (Conseil National du Logiciel Libre), a trade group representing over three hundred ICT firms, and Ploss Rhône Alpes. The groups see the letter as proof that their advocacy work is paying off. "We encourage all other prefect to follow this example."

More information:

Department of Isère (in French)
Ploss Rhône Alpes
Letter by the Prefect (PDF, in French)
Comments by April (in French)