At least EUR 113 million was spent by the state for the acquisition of software to be used in public administration, between 2008 and 2013, a figure that, according to a study revealed on Tuesday, could have been avoided in the accounts of the country’s public institutions have opted software free to “virtually zero cost.”
“Raft of GIS in the Portuguese Public Administration” investigation, conducted by a team from the University of Coimbra (UC), under the Master of Geographic Information Technologies, concluded that in five years the state has spent more than 24 million euros in the acquisition of software to Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The value could have stayed in the vaults of the State if he had opted for “alternative solutions software free [open source or] the cost (almost) zero”, underlines the UC.
In the same period were paid a total of almost € 113 million, if this account were also included software productivity / office, indicates the study coordinated by José Gomes dos Santos, professor in the Department of Geography, Faculty of Letters of the University of Coimbra.
Gomes dos Santos explains that the findings result from “inventory and analysis of contract data made available on public platforms of free access, such as base.gov , relating to dealing with higher education institutions and the institutions whose registered frame fits in the public administrative structure of the State . “
Based on the data analyzed, six contracts between the state and supply companies were found software , five GIS and productivity / office.
The UC faculty that emphasizes the importance that the software has now taken over the last decade has been manifested “in a pluralistic supply of high-quality interoperable applications and can enable better manage the money from all of us. “
When PUBLIC considered that, at a time that goes by economic constraints, the” State wants to cut the fat, one of the fat to be cut would be to use the software owner “. The teacher points out that although “there are solutions available, which theoretically are zero cost”, they may compel, for example, spending on training of civil servants in case you opt for a migration process software owner for free.
“A good example to follow is that of Brazil, where the use of software / code open is practically mandatory in public bodies – including higher education, “he said Gomes dos Santos
The Office of the Secretary of State for Administrative Modernisation does not comment on the study by the University of Coimbra not knowing. the work. Stresses, however, that “although there is still a way to go when it comes to the adoption of free software by the Public Administration, much of the path is already covered.”
Guardianship says the Global Strategic Plan for Information Technology and Communication (PGETIC) in Public Administration already provides for the adoption of open source software in information systems and the state that have been already made savings amounting to millions of euros.
The cabinet Joaquim Pedro Cardoso da Costa recalls that with the state budgets for 2013 and 2014 became “mandatory adoption of open source software by the Central Government, except where, through the study of the total cost of ownership to four years, is shown rising public spending on such an option. “
It also defined a list of software to acquire free state available on the site software public, which indicates also the solutions that have been successful in Public Administration.
The Government also emphasizes the pilot tests that have been done with the application of software free, giving as an example held in the General Inspection of Cultural Activities (IGAC), which allowed a higher saving 50%, at least about 169 000 euros in total spending.
Along the public and public officials and private entities was initiated a “process of communication and change management in relation to the software open.”
All in all the initiatives taken by various ministries to apply the PGETIC, the Government indicates that by June this year was made a saving in Information Technologies and Communication of approximately EUR 3.1 million, compared to 2011.
