= IEA: EU Parliament advances in stengthenting the role of Free Software, yet needs more to improve =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230629-02.fi.html ]
The two EP Committees for opinion, IMCO and LIBE, have today adopted
their texts on the Interoperable Europe Act. While both recognise the
importance of Free Software for this regulation, the inclusion of the
Free Software community in the Board remains uncertain. The wording on
proper monitoring and evaluation goes in the right direction.
The Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and
the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) have
today adopted by a large majority their opinions on the Interoperable
Europe Act.
The IMCO Committee, following some of our demands [1] has highlighted
the need for public bodies and institutions to prioritise the use of
Free Software in order to support the creation of reusable solutions.
Furthermore, it has also recognised our demand for clearer objectives
and indicators to measure its achievement. Moreover, it has included
measures to report and monitor the number of Free Software solutions
developed and adopted by the public sector within the scope of the
Regulation.
Unfortunately, no amendments to include more stakeholders in the
Interoperable Europe Board were adopted, apart from the proposal to
include the European Parliament as an observer. Therefore it is now up
to the lead Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) to take
further steps forward in the direction of enriching the Board.
On the other hand, the LIBE Committee has briefly included the wording
to encourage Free Software solutions when it comes to enhancing
transparency in the processing of personal data within the scope of this
regulation. However, this wording still needs to be improved by more
firmly prioritising the use of Free Software for such purpose.
/Lina Ceballos, FSFE Project Manager states:/ “We welcome that the
European Parliament has taken notice of some of our demands, especially
when it comes to proper monitoring and evaluation. However, there is yet
the need to include more stakeholders in the governance. Thus we urge
decision makers to recognise the role that the Free Software community
could play in the Interoperable Board" /./ In the coming weeks, the
Committee on Industry, Research and Energiy (ITRE) will agree on its
text, which will most likely be voted in plenary after the summer break,
and then enter into the inter-institutional negotiations. We call upon
the decision makers to not only anchor the progress that IMCO and LIBE
have achieved with its opinion but also to undertake the actions needed
for a more inclusive governance approach by including the Free Software
community as part of the Interoperable Europe Board. This is also true
for the Council, that wants to exclude relevant stakeholders from
contributing to an Interoperable Europe [2].
1: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230323-02.fi.html
2: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230623-01.fi.html
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency and self-determination. We
enhance users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software adoption,
encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and provide resources
to enable everyone to further promote Free Software in Europe.
https://fsfe.org
= Cyber Resilience Act: First committee backs FSFE demand to protect Free Software =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230629-01.fi.html ]
The Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) today
launched a landmark decision to protect Free Software developers in the
Cyber Resilience Act (CRA).
The Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) today
launched a landmark decision to protect Free Software developers in the
Cyber Resilience Act (CRA). In September last year, the EU Commission
presented the CRA. The proposal to exclude Free Software “outside the
course of a commercial activity” would fail to address a large part of
software that will not be covered but is deployed. Furthermore, smaller
and non-profit projects would be harmed as they would have to bear major
costs. We, therefore, proposed a solution [1] that will lead to more
security while safeguarding the Free Software ecosystem:
1. Liability should be shifted to those deploying Free Software instead
of those developing Free Software and
2. Those who significantly financially benefit from this deployment
should make sure the software becomes CE-compliant
/Alexander Sander, FSFE Senior Policy Consultant explains:/ "The
Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, a committee for
opinion in CRA, has backed our demand and voted for the protection of
Free Software developers in the Cyber Resilience Act. We are
particularly delighted with the transfer of those protections into an
article and the precise description of how Free Software should be
protected in the future. The lead committee is now called upon to follow
this vote" /./ Shortly, the leading committee, Committee on Industry,
Research and Energy (ITRE), will define its position and submit it to
the plenary for a vote. After that, the trialogue with Parliament,
Council and Commission will begin in order to reach a final agreement.
At the same time, similar rules are being negotiated in the Product
Liability Directive (PLD). Here, too, FSFE is calling for the protection
of developers of Free Software [2]. We thank all those organisations and
individuals contributing to this position and making sure to safeguard
Free Software in those files.
1: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230323-01.fi.html
2: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230323-01.html)
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency and self-determination. We
enhance users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software adoption,
encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and provide resources
to enable everyone to further promote Free Software in Europe.
https://fsfe.org
= EU: Majority for AI Act – and safeguards for Free Software =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230614-01.fi.html ]
The European Parliament today voted in favour of the AI Act with 499
votes in favour, 28 against, and 93 abstentions. Free Software is given
safeguards, these rules must now be defended in the trilogue and
transferred to the Cyber Resilience Act and the Product Liability
Directive.
With a large majority, the plenary of the EU Parliament today confirmed
the compromises [1] of the lead committees from May. The AI Act contains
a far-reaching exemption from this regulation for non-profit
organisations as well as small Free Software projects up to the size of
micro-enterprises. The position of the EU Parliament must now be
defended in the upcoming trilogue, in which the final text will be
negotiated together with the Council and the Commission.
/"With today's decision, the EU Parliament has demonstrated how Free
Software can be regulated in a meaningful way. Developers must be
protected, but at the same time those who significantly benefit on the
market with the use of Free Software must also be responsible. This
principle must now also be anchored in the Cyber Resilience Act and the
Product Liability Directive", explains Alexander Sander, Senior Policy
Consultant of the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE)/
More information on the negotiations on the Cyber Resilience Act and the
Product Liability Directive can be found here [2].
1: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230511-01.fi.html
2: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230323-01.fi.html
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency and self-determination. We
enhance users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software adoption,
encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and provide resources
to enable everyone to further promote Free Software in Europe.
https://fsfe.org
= Interoperable Europe Act: Committee of the Regions fails to substantially promote Free Software =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230524-01.fi.html ]
The Committee of the Regions approved its opinion on the Interoperable
Europe Act. The EU representative body has failed to recognise the
importance that Free Software has for interoperability and thus for
digitalisation and innovation. This underlines the relevance of Free
Software Community's participation in the planned Interoperable Board.
With the EU's objective of establishing a legal framework on
interoperability through the Interoperable Europe Act, today the
Committee of the Regions has adopted its opinion in plenary. While the
opinion has feebly mentioned the role of Free Software in achieving
cross-border interoperability and avoiding vendor lock-in in its policy
recommendations, the Committee of the Regions has failed in
substantially improving the original text and bringing up more solid and
necessary measures. It lacks to introduce a “Free Software first”
approach and the involvement of stakeholders in the Interoperable Europe
Board, an intended body that shall decide on upcoming steps arising from
this legislation.
/““It is incomprehensible that the institution who has the
responsibility to bring up the demands of thousands of local and
regional administrations fails in featuring the importance of Free
Software for interoperability. Hence, this decision only reaffirms the
importance of the involvement of stakeholder, who have actual
competence, in this decision making processes . We, therefore, urge the
European Parliament to include the Free Software community in the
Interoperable Europe Board to guarantee sustainability and innovation in
digitalisation. Furthermore a 'Free Software first' approach still needs
to be introduced", explains Lina Ceballos, FSFE Policy Project Manager./
The role that Free Software plays in the digitalisation of local and
regional administrations has shown to be of the great importance,
especially during the corona pandemic. Among other, it strengthens
digital sovereignty allowing administrations to have control over the
software they are using, while it enables that public funds are spent in
the most efficient way. For these reasons, over the last years the FSFE
has been demanding with its 'Public Money? Public Code!' initiative [1]
that publicly financed software should be made publicly available under
a Free Software licence. It is now up to the European Parliament to
ensure interoperability is introduced by a “Free Software first”
approach while including the Free Software community on the path to
digitalise European public administrations. First Amendments in this
direction have been introduced already, however, the position has to be
further improved. Further read [2].
1: https://publiccode.eu/
2: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230323-02.fi.html
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency and self-determination. We
enhance users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software adoption,
encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and provide resources
to enable everyone to further promote Free Software in Europe.
https://fsfe.org
= European citizens demand Router Freedom =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230515-01.fi.html ]
A pan-European survey, run by the Free Software Foundation Europe, has
collected information from more than 1600 end-users and highlighted
several obstacles to Router Freedom, such as lack of freedom of choice,
provider lock-in and promotion of equipment running exclusively
proprietary software.
More than a thousand consumers from across Europe have shared their
experience of the commercial practices of Internet Service Providers
(ISPs) in the most comprehensive end-user survey regarding freedom of
terminal equipment to date [1], resulting in a call for Router Freedom.
The responses from end-users all over Europe demonstrate how network
operators still hamper consumer freedom of choice, exercise lock-in over
internet equipment and promote proprietary devices, negatively affecting
consumer welfare, security, privacy and data protection.
Router Freedom is the right that customers of any internet service
provider have to be able to choose and use a private modem and router
instead of equipment provided by the ISP. Freedom of choice for routers
and modems has been regulated in the EU since 2015 (Net Neutrality
Regulation) but national implementation has led to fragmentation of the
digital markets, negatively impacting end-users’ rights. The survey
demonstrated that Router Freedom is not only a technical issue, but also
a policy demand [2]. More than 90% of the survey participants agreed
that freedom of terminal equipment is key for net neutrality and open
internet, security and data protection, fair competition and digital
sustainability.
/“The outcome of this survey serves as key insight for policy makers
regulating Router Freedom and consumer organisations protecting and
promoting the rights of end-users. Critically important are the reported
practices that could be considered infringements against Router Freedom.
Limitation to freedom of choice, ISP’s lock-in, provision of proprietary
devices, security issues and unlawful practices are some of the threats
reported against end-users”, states Lucas Lasota, FSFE’s senior project
manager./
1: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230515-02.fi.html
2: https://download.fsfe.org/routers/rf-survey-report-2023.pdf
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency and self-determination. We
enhance users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software adoption,
encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and provide resources
to enable everyone to further promote Free Software in Europe.
https://fsfe.org
= EU Parliament wants to protect Free Software in AI regulation =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2023/news-20230511-01.fi.html ]
Today the European Parliament's responsible committees voted by a large
majority to protect Free Software in the AI regulation. The plenary is
called upon to uphold the idea. Likewise, this principle must be
anchored in the ongoing Cyber Resilience Act and Product Liability
Directive and their upcoming votes.
The two lead committees for the AI legislation, the Committee on
Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and the Committee on
Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), today voted by a large
majority in favour of protecting Free Software in this legislation. Non-
profit organisations and small Free Software projects up to the size of
micro-enterprises, are largely to be exempted from this regulation.
/Alexander Sander, FSFE's Senior Policy Consultant, explains: "Instead
of putting the responsibility on the Free Software developers, it should
be put on the companies that profit from it on the market. Smaller
organisations and non-profit activities, for example by foundations,
must be excluded. With this vote, the Members of the European Parliament
are thus recognising the reality of Free Software development and trying
to protect it. The principle of transferring responsibility and
liability to those who profit on the market instead of focusing on
developers must also be anchored in the Cyber Resilience Act and the
Product Liability Directive. This is the only way to not only protect
Free Software and its contributors but also consumers and customers"./
The final vote on the AI Act is expected in the coming weeks, after
which the trilogue with Parliament, Council and Commission on the final
text will take place. With regard to the Cyber Resilience Act and the
Product Liability Directive, the EU Parliament is currently discussing
the recently submitted amendments. Further information [1].
1: https://fsfe.org/news-20230323-01.fi.html
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency and self-determination. We
enhance users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software adoption,
encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and provide resources
to enable everyone to further promote Free Software in Europe.
https://fsfe.org
= EU Declaration of Digital Rights and Principles falls short of its ambitions =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20221206-01.fi.html ]
Member states, the European Parliament, and the Commission have reached
a consensus on the Declaration of Digital Rights and Principles.
Although it aims to serve as a reference point for the digital
transformation of Europe, it instead descends into murky waters, causing
ambiguity. Its wording is unclear and it overlooks existing good
proposals.
Whereas the EU institutions claim that digital sovereignty and openness
are crucial for the digital transformation of Europe, the declaration
lacks clear definition of such values. The text of the declaration makes
reference to promoting interoperability, open technologies and
standards. However, it is not clear what exactly the signatory
institutions mean with such wording. By contrast, the European
Parliament proposal had a clear reference to Free Software as a way to
ensure transparency in the use of algorithms and artificial
intelligence, as well as the importance of Open Standards.
Unfortunately, this wording failed to be upheld during the inter-
institutional negotiations, and the final text ended up being rather
unclear.
/“In a fast-pace digitalised society, the importance of such declaration
of digital rights is crucial. This text will serve as a benchmark for
decision makers in the journey of shaping our digital sphere. It is
problematic for our software freedom that such declaration lacks clear
definitions and that solid existing frameworks are not being taken into
consideration”,/ explains Lina Ceballos, FSFE Policy Project Manager.
It is also not clear if the declaration is consistent with existing
frameworks. According to its text, it is built upon previous initiatives
such as the Berlin and Tallinn [1] declarations. These aforementioned
frameworks already refer to Free Software when it comes to digital
sovereignty and interoperability, while they also require more use of
Free Software, and strengthening the requirement for its use. However,
when it comes to interoperability, Free Software is not explicitly
mentioned in the Declaration of Digital Rights and Principles.
Last but not least, /“the declaration misses to name reusability of
software and hardware through Free Software licenses as an important
step towards a more sustainable digital society. Having said this, the
current negotiations about the Ecodesign Directive will have to do it
right where the declaration falls short”/ says Erik Albers, FSFE's
Digital Sustainability Program Manager.
1: https://fsfe.org/news/2017/news-20170710-01.fi.html
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency and self-determination. We
enhance users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software adoption,
encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and provide resources
to enable everyone to further promote Free Software in Europe.
https://fsfe.org
= The coding contest Youth Hacking 4 Freedom launches its second edition =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20221104-01.fi.html ]
The registration for the second edition of “Youth Hacking 4 Freedom ",
the FSFE’s hacking competition for teenagers from all over Europe, has
started. This contest offers young people aged between 14 and 18 the
opportunity to challenge themselves, meet like-minded people and win
cash prizes.
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), a European charity that
empowers users to control technology, is launching the second edition of
its coding competition ‘Youth Hacking 4 Freedom' (YH4F). Registration is
open [1] until 31 December, after which the six-month coding phase will
start and last until the end of June 2023.
YH4F [2] aims to inspire the younger generation by giving them the
chance to hack on a software project in a fair and fun way while meeting
other young developers from all around Europe. The winners will receive
a cash prize and a two-day trip to Brussels with other hackers for the
award ceremony.
The first edition of the competition was a huge success with wide
participation and well-coded winning projects. Over a hundred people
coming from 25 different countries registered for the competition and,
after a five-month coding phase, 35 projects were submitted. The six
winning projects [3] offer sign language transcription [4] , a smart
table robot [5], a personal assistant [6], a music tutorial [7], a file
sharing program [8], and a homework manager [9]. All programs are
licensed under Free Software licenses, which grants everybody the right
to use, understand, share, and improve them.
“Taking part in this competition was personally a big step as before it
I have never ever programmed something and I did not have knowledge to
do so. During the project I learned a lot more about programming
concepts, how can I implement the modules and generally the programming
language Python", explains Ekaterina, one of the winners of the first
edition of the YH4F competition.
To join the second edition of the YH4F competition, participants must be
between 14 and 18 years old and live in a European country. The YH4F
competition includes an online kick-off event in which the FSFE team
will present the competition and answer questions about it. Participants
may bring all their imagination to the competition as any type of
software can be coded as long as it is Free Software. Therefore, the
software project can be a stand-alone program written from scratch, or a
modification and combination of existing programs. Everything is
welcome! Moreover, the participants will have the chance to follow each
other’s work and exchange ideas.
After six months of coding, from the beginning of January until the end
of June, the participants will submit their projects to be evaluated by
an independent experts jury [10].
- In brief: Participants must be *14-18 years* old and should register
at yh4f.org [11]
- Registration will be open until *31 December 2022*
- The coding period will be from *1 January 2023 to 30 June 2023*.
- Six winners will be awarded *cash prizes* (4096€, 2048€, and 1024€)
and a trip to Brussels.
- The competition will take place online. The Award Ceremony will be in
Brussels.
The YH4F is made possible thanks to the kind financial support of
Reinhard Wiesemann, Linuxhotel, and Vielrespektzentrum.
At the website yh4f.org [12] you can find all related information, such
as the process, the eligibility criteria, and FAQs [13]. You can also
use the illustrations in our dedicated media package when sharing the
news of the competition.
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
The Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives, and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, improve, and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press, and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations to understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency, and self-determination.
It enhances users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software
adoption, encouraging people to use and develop Free Software, and
providing resources to enable everyone to further promote Free Software
in Europe.
1: https://fsfe.org/activities/yh4f/index.fi.html
2: https://fsfe.org/activities/yh4f/index.fi.html
3: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20221004-01.fi.html
4: https://edugit.org/Piperakis/SignTrack
5: https://github.com/puuiixx/SmartTableAssistant
6: https://github.com/aspinwall-ui/aspinwall
7: https://edugit.org/ateraeva/musiccompanion%20
8: https://github.com/marchellodev/sharik
9: https://edugit.org/HGEpro/LibreHomework
10: https://fsfe.org/activities/yh4f/jury.fi.html
11: https://yh4f.org
12: https://fsfe.org/activities/yh4f/index.fi.html
13: https://fsfe.org/activities/yh4f/faq.fi.html
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency and self-determination. We
enhance users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software adoption,
encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and provide resources
to enable everyone to further promote Free Software in Europe.
https://fsfe.org
= FSFE wins the transparency challenge of the EU Datathon 2022 =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20221026-01.fi.html ]
The sixth edition of EU Datathon [1], the EU’s open data competition,
came to a close last week with the awards ceremony. The Free Software
Foundation Europe (FSFE) won the first prize in the challenge
‘transparency in public procurement’ with a program that helps analyse
how public administrations in the European Union spend their money.
At the EU Datathon finals, that took place in Brussels as part of the
European Year of Youth [2], TEDective, the project submitted by the
FSFE, ended up winning one of the four proposed challenges, that Europe
is currently facing: the achievement of transparency in public
procurement.
Using open data this Free Software program empowers citizens by making
EU tendering data accesible to everyone who wants to consult and use it.
For example, it will allow a journalist to find out how much money the
government spends on Microsoft licenses and products, but also to
compare that spending with other regions in similar cases or even in
comparison with other countries.
“Although it might seem boring at first sight, TED data reveals crucial
information about the economic activity of business and state
organisations alike. As, there was no Free Software solution making this
data accessible to non-experts, this is what we’re trying to do with
TEDective”, explains Linus Sehn, system administrator at FSFE and one of
the members of the TEDective team. This first prize, which comes with a
cash reward of 25,000 euros, willl contribute to raise awareness to the
need of making tendering data accesible and easy to analyze.
=== Available for using, understanding sharing and improving ===
Developed with the help of Michael Weimann [3], and released as a REUSE-
compliant [4] project under a Free Software (also known as Open Source)
license, TEDective improves access to the data published by Tenders
Electronic Daily [5] (TED), fullfilling all of the following
requirements with regards to the provision of TED data: it is available
without costs for commercial as well as non-commercial use; it is up-to-
date (updates at least on a monthly basis), cleaned and both buyers and
suppliers are adequately deduplicated; and it can be downloaded in bulk,
making it available as Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) to allow
interoperability. Besides, it will be designed, maintained and monitored
transparently and in close co-operation with all relevant stakeholders
and user groups.
Sustainably providing long-term access to European tendering data in a
way that fulfils these requirements could enable numerous applications
that are of interest to civil society, business, the press, and beyond
which could greatly enhance the transparency of business activity in
Europe. There are a range of interesting questions that can be answered
with this data if it was available in a well-documented and easy-to-
understand format that is interoperable with tendering data published
elsewhere.
If you want to find out more about TEDective, feel free to check out the
git repository software [6]. The team is also looking for data experts,
who want to help, so if you are interested, please contact the team by
emailing tedective(a)fsfe.org [7].
=== The EU Datathon 2022 ===
Empowering young people in the job market, reducing greenhouse
emissions, and bringing European cultural heritage closer to citizens:
these were some of the ambitions put forward by the 12 finalist teams of
this year’s EU Datathon, [8] The teams were shortlisted from an initial
156 entries from 38 countries, the highest participation in the
competition’s history, and competed in four categories, all highly
relevant to the challenges Europe faces today: the European Green Deal,
transparency in public procurement, EU public procurement opportunities
for young people, and a Europe fit for the digital age.
Prior to the finals, the finalists had the opportunity to present their
ideas for apps built on EU open data in a series of videos [9] while, on
the final day, they pitched their polished apps to the jury of 14 open
data experts and the online audience. In his opening speech,
Commissioner Johannes Hahn praised the teams’ innovative approaches
underlining that “There is also a strong positive impact on
accountability, transparency, participation, inclusion and democracy,
supporting core European values” while Ms Hilde Hardeman, Director
General of the Publications Office of the EU, highlighted that “The
European Union is well aware of the immense opportunities data offer. We
are truly determined to make the most out of these, for our citizens,
economies, societies”.
The EU Datathon competition is organised annually by the Publications
Office of the European Union, [10] in support of the European Strategy
for Data [11]. [12] The 2022 edition had the active support of over 20
partners, representing open data stakeholders from both inside and
outside the EU institutions.
1: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eudatathon
2: https://youth.europa.eu/year-of-youth_en
3: https://weimann.digital/
4: https://reuse.software/
5: https://ted.europa.eu/TED/browse/browseByMap.do
6: https://git.fsfe.org/fsfe-system-hackers/tedective
7: https://fsfe.org/mailto:tedective@fsfe.org
8: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eudatathon
9: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYiuDfq64-Y&list=PLT5rARDev_rnik8jF6E8k5AjN…
10: https://op.europa.eu/
11: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/strategy-data
12: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/strategy-data
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency and self-determination. We
enhance users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software adoption,
encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and provide resources
to enable everyone to further promote Free Software in Europe.
https://fsfe.org
= European Parliament votes for Free Software in AI resolution – This position must now be included in the AI regulation =
[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220503-01.fi.html ]
Today the European Parliament passed a resolution on Artificial
Intelligence (AI) with a huge majority of 495 votes in favor, 34 against
and 102 abstentions. There are many references to the advantages of Free
Software included in the text - the FSFE now urges the Parliament to
transfer its own position into the AI regulation.
The resolution states that in public procurement Free Software should be
mandated, where appropriate, with the goal to encourage cross border
collaboration. The parliament also highlights the importance of Free
Software as a way to enhance investments and boost innovation in AI
technologies in the EU.
/"We welcome the assessment and the demands of the European Parliament.
With this resolution, the Parliament recognises the importance and
relevance of Free Software for AI." explains Lina Ceballos, FSFE Project
Manager./ The FSFE demands with its "Public Money? Public Code!"
Initiative that publicly financed software made publicly available under
a Free Software licence. It is also important to rely on Free Software
in AI as it helps to foster innovation, boosts local economy, ensures
transparency and thus helps to protect fundamental rights.
/“We ask Members of the European Parliament to take into account their
position they voted on today and make sure this important position on
Free Software and AI will be also included in regulation.” demands
Alexander Sander, FSFE Policy Consultant./ In the upcoming weeks the
European Parliament will get closer to its position on the AI
regulation, until end of May members can table amendments to the
commission text from which the position of the Parliament is formed. The
FSFE recently shared a dedicated document for decision-makers [1], with
elaborated arguments on the use of Free Software in AI technologies,
which highlights the benefits that Free Software can offer to this
crucial regulation.
1: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20220330-01.fi.html
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology. Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our
lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather than
restricts us. Free Software gives everybody the rights to use,
understand, adapt and share software. These rights help support other
fundamental freedoms like freedom of speech, press and privacy.
The FSFE helps individuals and organisations understand how Free
Software contributes to freedom, transparency and self-determination. We
enhance users' rights by abolishing barriers to Free Software adoption,
encourage people to use and develop Free Software, and provide resources
to enable everyone to further promote Free Software in Europe.
https://fsfe.org