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Several European countries are betting on adopting open source software for their national technology. The same cannot be said for the United States. In breaking news from across the Atlantic, Switzerland has taken a major step forward with the Federal Act on the Use of Electronic Means to Accomplish Government Tasks (EMBAG). This landmark law mandates the use of open source software (OSS) in the public sector.
This new law requires all public agencies to disclose the source code of software developed by or for them, unless third-party rights or security concerns prevent it. This “public money, public code” approach aims to increase the transparency, security, and efficiency of government operations.
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The move wasn’t easy. It began in 2011, when the Swiss Federal Supreme Court released a court application, Open Justitia, under an OSS license. Proprietary legal software company Weblaw was not happy. More than a decade of intense political and legal battles ensued. Finally, EMBAG was passed in 2023. Now, the law not only allows the release of OSS by the Swiss government or its contractors, but also requires that the code be released under an open source license “unless third-party rights or security-related reasons preclude or restrict this.”
Professor Matthias Stürmer, director of the Institute for Public Sector Transformation at the Bern University of Applied Sciences, led the fight for the law, praising it as “an exciting opportunity for government, the IT industry, and society.” Professor Stürmer believes everyone will benefit from the regulation, as it reduces vendor lock-in in the public sector and allows companies to scale digital business solutions, potentially leading to lower IT costs and better services for taxpayers.
In addition to mandating OSS, EMBAG also requires that non-personally identifiable and non-security sensitive government data be made available as Open Government Data (OGD). This dual “open by default” approach represents an important paradigm shift toward greater openness and practical reuse of software and data.
The introduction of EMBAG is expected to serve as a model for other countries considering similar measures, aiming to promote digital sovereignty and encourage innovation and collaboration within the public sector.
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The Swiss Federal Statistical Office (BFS) is leading the implementation of the law, however the organizational and financial aspects of the OSS release have yet to be clarified.
Other European countries have long supported open source: in 2023, French President Macron said, “We love open source,” and the French Gendarmerie (think FBI if you’re American) uses Linux on their PCs. The European Union (EU) has long been committed to securing OSS through the EU Free and Open Source Software Audit (FOSSA) project.
It’s not all smooth sailing in the EU, where some fear the European Commission may cut funding to the NGI Zero Commons Fund, a key source of funding for OSS projects.
In the United States, there is some support for open source, but not as much as in Europe. For example, the Federal Source Code Policy requires federal agencies to release at least 20% of new custom-developed code as open source software, but does not mandate the use of open source.
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Similarly, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has an OSS policy that requires GSA organizations to manage and release open source code, and promotes an “open first” approach to the development of new custom code.
This legislation therefore puts Switzerland at the forefront of the global open source movement, but more work needs to be done both in Europe and the US.
