The EU Open Source Solutions Catalogue (EU OSS Catalogue) is a cloud-based repository of open source solutions developed by or for, or which are useful for public sector bodies across the European Union (EU). Led by the European Commission, the Catalogue is funded by the Free and Open Source Software for European Public Services (FOSSEPS) Pilot Project and the FOSSEPS 2 Preparatory Action.
The EU OSS Catalogue is a federated platform that aggregates OSS from national, regional and local catalogues across EU Member States using public APIs. Beyond these, the EU OSS Catalogue also features exceptional standalone open source software and notable third-party tools. This diverse collection expands the range of options available to users, fostering greater opportunities for the reuse of OSS. By ensuring decentralisation, interoperability and seamless synchronisation with source catalogues, the EU OSS Catalogue helps build a trusted and transparent ecosystem of OSS for diverse user needs.
What are the goals and benefits of the EU OSS Catalogue?
How can I contribute to the EU OSS Catalogue?
To integrate OSS from a national, regional or local catalogue, standalone open source software, or a noteworthy third-party open source solution into the EU OSS Catalogue, the following conditions must be met:
- Scope: The source catalogue must contain complete and standalone OSS developed by or for, or which are useful for EU public sector bodies. In the case of standalone or third-party solutions, the same conditions apply.
- git repository: The source catalogue or solution must have a public git repository. Examples include GitHub or GitLab.
- Metadata specification: The solution repository must contain a publiccode.yml metadata file. More information on publiccode.yml can be found below.
- API exposure: The source catalogue or solution must expose its data through a public API, enabling automated federation and synchronisation.
What is the publiccode.yml metadata specification?
The EU OSS Catalogue uses publiccode.yml as its principal metadata specification.
More information about publiccode.yml:
About publiccode.yml: publiccode.yml
publiccode.yml Github repository: GitHub - publiccodeyml/publiccode.yml
publiccode.yml editor: publiccode.yml editor
What is the current state of EU OSS Catalogue Federation?
The EU OSS Catalogue contains solutions from Member State catalogues as well as selected individual or third-party solutions, as outlined under the “Other” category in the following table:
| Catalogue | Type | Country | Description | Weblinks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARTE | National | Portugal | ARTE (AGÊNCIA PARA A REFORMA TECNOLÓGICA DO ESTADO) promotes administrative modernisation and simplification, ensuring the interoperability of systems and data, implementing cybersecurity and data policies, integrating emerging technologies, coordinating the omnichannel and face-to-face service network, and strengthening the digital empowerment of Portuguese society, acting in close coordination with all entities of the Public Administration . |
https://www.arte.gov.pt |
| Avoinkoodi.fi | National | Finland | Avoinkoodi.fi catalogue lists together software used in Finnish government, education and the local government sector, whose source code has been published openly. |
http://avoinkoodi.fi |
| Awesome CodeGouvFr | National | France | CodeGouvFr, the French National Catalogue with mission to use and contribute to free software and digital commons provides. Awesome Open Source projects actively maintained and funded by Public Administrations and Public Sector organizations. |
https://code.gouv.fr/sources/#/awesome |
| City of Ghent | Local | Belgium | The City of Ghent's open-source software catalogue showcases digital solutions developed and used by the local administration to promote transparency, innovation, and interoperability. |
Digitaal gedreven door Gent | District09 |
| Code Europa EU | European | Code development platform for Open Source projects shared by the institutions of the European Union, for which EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies hold the intellectual property rights. |
https://code.europa.eu | |
| Dept. of IT Services | National | Cyprus | The Department of Information Technology Services promotes open-source solutions for public sector IT. |
https://www.gov.cy/dmrid-dits |
| Developer Overheid | National | Netherlands | Developer Overheid is the Dutch National Catalogue, one central location for OSS Solutions developed by and for Dutch government organizations. |
https://developer.overheid.nl |
| Developers Italia | National | Italy | Developers Italia is a community of developers who design and code Italian digital public services, and provide the Italian National Catalogue for the acquisition and reuse of software by and for the Public Administration, as envisaged and required by national legislation. |
https://developers.italia.it/en/software |
| OGCIO Building Blocks | National | Ireland | The OGCIO Building Blocks programme delivers reusable open source digital components for Irish public services, developed under the direction of the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer. Current solutions include a unified design system for consistent citizen-facing service experiences (Government of Ireland Design System) |
https://www.gov.ie/en/govie-team/campaigns/building-blocks/ |
| Offentligkod.se | National | Sweden | Offentlig Kod Swedish National Catalogue advocates open-source solutions for public sector IT, sharing reusable code and fostering collaboration & transparency in government projects. |
https://offentligkod.se |
| Open Code | National | Germany | Open Code is the German National Catalogue, an official, certified and secure central platform for providing direct access to validated open-source-solutions successfully used in other Public Administrations. |
https://opencode.de/en/software |
| Open Code Belgium | National | Belgium | Catalogue of open source projects developed by/for federal, regional and local public administrations in Belgium. |
https://www.imio.be |
| Other | European | Open Source solutions that are not part of any national, regional or local catalogues but are present in EU OS Solutions Catalogue. |
How will the EU OSS Catalogue develop in the future?
The EU OSS Catalogue is continuously expanding and improving, with new solutions and functionalities. The current priorities of the EU OSS Catalogue team are as follows:
- Integration of additional Member State catalogues.
- Enhancements to front-end and back-end components.
- Promotion of publiccode.yml adoption and governance improvements.
- Continuous data quality improvements and feature enhancements.