OSOR has published an update to the Cyprus Country Intelligence report, highlighting recent trends and developments in the use of open source software (OSS) in the country and following up on the 2020 report. You can find the report here and the factsheet here. 

This updated report outlines the evolution in the use of OSS by the Cypriot public sector, reflecting the country's ongoing efforts to digitalise its public services and align with the EU's principles of openness, particularly in terms of access to information. The report identifies the Cypriot Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy (DMRID), the country’s three public universities, and an active community of OS advocates as the main actors that encouragethe adoption of open science practices including distributing OSS and monitoring its adoption. 

The use and development of OSS in Cyprus’ public administration has slightly matured and this can be proved, by the efforts of the KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence (KIOS CoE), part of the University of Cyprus, which has emerged as a key player regarding the promotion of open science and has worked on OSS initiatives in conjunction with the Cypriot public sector. For example, KIOS CoE releases the code of the software needed to validate its public research results to its own Github Repository and has in the past collaborated with the Ministry of Interior for the usage of disaster management OSS. 

Although many of the Cypriot digital strategy reports do not explicitly address the use of OSS, there remains a fundamental recognition of its importance through the National Policy on Open Science Practices. The National Policy, through its contributions, indicates that the country's emphasis on open data, open science, and other initiatives by various stakeholders could significantly drive the future adoption of OSS.