01908nas a2200181   4500008004100000245009200041210006900133260001500202300001000217520120500227100002101432700002401453700002101477700002401498700002701522700002701549856015001576       2012                        eng d00aPolicy recommendations for free and open source software usage by public administrators0 aPolicy recommendations for free and open source software usage b  c21-23 July  a90-973 aFree and open source software, holding a strategic position in knowledge economy, reaffirms the critical role of governments and regional authorities in establishing strategies for integrating effective and sustainable Information Technology solutions in the public sector towards economic growth and social welfare. Moreover, public services, organisations and territorial administrations collectively represent a major software user with great impact on the software market. In this sense, software selection in the public sector is not a neutral process but highly political and strategic one; various collateral implications and policy aspects should be considered in order to reach the best possible decisions. Within this context, this paper provides policy recommendations on issues and challenges pertaining to the use of free and open source software by European public administrations. The recommended policy actions are mainly based on review of the current policy framework. Main goal of this paper is to contribute in providing policy orientations and proposed actions that can help governments, public administrations and European institutions fully harvest the benefits of open source.1 aBouras, Christos1 aKokkinos, Vasileios1 aTseliou, Georgia1 aFilopoulos, Anestis1 aMichalopoulos, Sotiris1 aPapadopoulos, Dimitris  uhttp://telematics.upatras.gr/telematics/publications/policy-recommendations-free-and-open-source-software-usage-public-administrators?language=en