A new Austrian association for open source business will begin to keep track of how Austrian public administrations are using open source, hoping this will lead to an increase in the use of this type of software.
The Open Source Business Foundation Austria (OSBF Austria) will officially start next month. The network organised its first meeting in February.
In an interview at that time with ORF, the Austrian public broadcaster, one the founding members of the association, Michael Kalaus, of the Austrian branch of the German IT company IT-Novum, explained the business network wants to lobby both local administrations and the European administration.
Asked to provide some more details, Kalaus this Monday said that the group will likely start gathering information on how Austrian public bodies are using open source. One way to find out what types of open source applications are used, he said, is to study procurement documents.
However, Kalaus cautioned that the network is still in its early stages, and that decisions on priorities have not been made. "I expect our main aim to be to increase the use of open source software by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)."
The association will form the Austrian chapter of the Open Source Business Foundation, founded in Germany in 2006. According to Futurezone, the IT news site of ORF, eight open source companies have already signed up for membership. Kalaus: "Following that meeting, we have been contacted by a number of other Austrian companies who expressed interested in the network."
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