Deadline: 21-Sep-23
The European Commission (EC) launches Open Source Observatory (OSOR) Award to honour and showcase the best open source solutions and initiatives created by or for the public administrations in Europe.
As public services become increasingly more digital, OSOR wants to shine some light on the projects that have opened the way to more democratic digitalisation. As the title of the Awards indicates, the Jury will focus on the achievements of Open Source solutions and initiatives, looking at the impact on their communities, the pursuit of ambitious goals, and the determination in overcoming challenges.
This award will reward contributions furthering democracy, transparency, and active participation of citizens in creating digital infrastructures serving constituents and showcasing examples of effective usage of public resources and exceptional response to solving problems.
The Awards will promote and celebrate exceptional, most impactful and innovative Open Source Software (OSS) solutions and initiatives in Europe, advancing the usage of open technologies on the continent, and inspiring public administrations on all levels to use them as a tool towards realising their goals. The contest is open to both solutions and initiatives as the current Open Source landscape includes a variety of stakeholders with a diversity of roles to play, which cannot be contained in one simple definition.
This contest is also organised to celebrate OSOR’s anniversary. After the Observatory’s 15 years of research, studies, and reporting on the work of citizens and public administrations across Europe, these Awards will be an occasion to look back at what the Open Source community has achieved.
The Award Ceremony will take place at the OSOR Anniversary Conference (“Open Source Observatory turns 15: from pioneering to mainstreaming open technologies in public services”) on 21 November in Brussels.
Award Categories
- The best solutions and initiatives will be selected for two Awards:
- EU Public Sector Open Source Achievement Award, chosen by a Jury according to the dedicated selection criteria.
- OSOR Community Award, voted on the Joinup platform by OSOR users and anyone who will log in to the platform.
Why should you participate?
- The awards are European Commission’s official recognition of the most impactful solutions and initiatives that play a pivotal role in supporting public services in carrying out their mission, serving citizens, and advancing digital transformation of public services.
- Awarded teams will be provided with a platform and publicity to present their solutions and initiatives to a wide audience, increasing their potential for further development, scalability, networking, and collaboration opportunities.
- The applicants and winners will be promoted and highlighted on the OSOR website, in newsletters, and at events. Being acknowledged by the European Commission will help the teams behind the projects to connect with their European peers and demonstrate their success and benefits of public sector OSS to the national and local decision-makers. While the Awards are non-monetary, they will highlight the best Open Source solutions and initiatives and aim to support their further development, recognition, and uptake.
- The representatives of the top 6 solutions and initiatives chosen by the Jury and 1 chosen by the public will be invited to come to Brussels to present their solutions and initiatives and participate in the dedicated panel discussion at the OSOR conference on 21 November 2023. Their travel and accommodation will be sponsored by the organisers. Exhibition stands at the conference will also be provided for the shortlisted solutions and initiatives.
Who can participate?
- These Awards are meant for organisations and teams who:
- have successfully implemented an Open Source solution(s) within public administrations
- or developed initiatives using, supporting, and advancing the use of Open Source within public services.
- The submitters can be representatives of public administrations at all levels; public service institutions such as schools, universities, hospitals, and others; third sector organisations crucial for the functioning of public services and working directly with administrations. Businesses developing the solutions can apply only together with a public-sector body they have worked with on their development.
- These Awards are aimed at, but not limited to, solutions and initiatives that enable the use of Open Source in a European public administration, support public services in carrying out their mission and societal goals, have a significant impact on (local) democracy, or bring exceptional benefits to citizens. This Award is not limited to technical solutions or pieces of software but is aimed at recognising the efforts that were made by an administration and its civil servants towards using Open Source to achieve a certain goal.
- Therefore, eligible solutions and initiatives may include: implementation of existing Open Source software; in-house development of a solution; a new or more effective collaboration model for animating an Open Source community; contribution to an Open Source project; and more generally, initiatives that facilitate the use of Open Source in public administrations such as blueprints, community events, and hackathons.
Eligibility Criteria
- A solution or initiative is eligible for the OSOR Awards 2023 if it fulfils the following criteria:
- Must be developed or implemented by a public organisation from an EU Member State, EFTA country associated with the Digital Europe Programme, or an EU candidate country whose Association Agreement with the Digital Europe Programme has entered into force.
- Must have a representative (an organisation/a natural person) to submit the application.
- The solution or software released, used, and implemented by the initiative must be licensed under an Open Source software licence. Open Source software (OSS) is a type of software whose source code is released under a royalty-free licence in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to run, study, modify, enhance, and distribute the software to anyone and for any purpose. An OSS solution is OSS software used as a building block for providing a public service.
- Must be submitted in English via the official submission form on EU Survey. Please note that the description of each submitted and eligible solution will be published on Joinup by the OSOR team.
For more information, visit European Commission (EC).