OpenOffice package for public administration published in EU open source portal
The OpenOffice open source package for central and local government agencies published last year by the Ministry of Finance and the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities has released a new software version. The software package is distributed in a new way too. It can be downloaded in the EU open source portal at Osor.eu.
Osor, which stands for Open Source Observatory and Repository, is a project under the EU?s Interoperable Delivery of European eGovernment Services to Public Administrations, Businesses and Citizens (IDABC) programme. The purpose of the project is to enable everyone in Europe to access all software created using public funds. This is the first Finnish project published in Osor.
The Government endorsed a position paper on 6 March 2009 to expedite the development of the IT society and eServices. One step in implementing the Government?s aim is to promote the use of open source code.
The OpenOffice package provides citizens and authorities with a means of transferring documents without having to use commercial software. OpenOffice is an open source software programme that supports the creation of documents according to the international Open Document Format (ODF) standard. OpenOffice includes a portable version, which can be used for example with a memory stick, so that it doesn?t need to be installed in a workstation. The OpenOffice package aims to make it easier for authorities in central and local government to receive and handle documents in ODF format, making it easier for citizens to communicate with authorities, as stipulated in the legislation on electronic services and communication.
Electronic Services and Communication (ODF, ISOC/IEC 26300) is an open document format standard used to store office application documents, such as documents in text, spreadsheet, diagram and graphic format.
The package includes a ready-to-use software programme in Finnish and a wide range of additional elements, instructions issued by the Ministry of Justice and manuals on the use of the programme as well as document templates based on SFS document standards.
The OpenOffice 3.0.1 package can be downloaded from the Osor.eu portal at:
http://forge.osor.eu/projects/oopfin/
Further information on the package is available in the web portal of the Local Government IT Management Unit of the Ministry of Finance:
http://wiki.kuntait.fi/tiki-index.php?page=Sovellukset
Inquiries:
Mr Antti Holmroos, IT Director, Ministry of Finance, tel. 358 9 160 34950, e-mail: [email protected], and Mr Tommi Karttaavi, Senior Advisor, Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, tel. 358 9 771 2136, e-mail: [email protected].
Ministry of Finance
Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities