Successful launch for the Open Source General Assembly at Bercy
For the first time, the entire Open Source and Free Software ecosystem came together to reflect and exchange views on the major challenges it faces. While the debates were rich and reflected the diversity of this ecosystem, the work has only just begun.
Indeed, all the players in the Open Source and free software sector will be taking part in working groups that will extend the day’s events. A date has also been set for the major national convention to be held next autumn.
Opening the conference, Fleur Pellerin, French Minister for SMEs, Innovation and the Digital Economy, reiterated the vision she and the government have for Open Source and Free Software:
Fleur Pellerin
Minister for SMEs, Innovation and the Digital Economy
This is an opportunity for France, as we benefit from a particularly dynamic ecosystem in this sector. But much remains to be done. If Open Source is to make an effective contribution to the modernization of public action and the competitiveness of our economy, we need to work hard to structure the industry.
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While welcoming the fact that Syntec Numérique and the two co-presidents of its Open Source Committee, Michel Isnard and Alexandre Zapolsky, had taken the initiative to convene these general meetings, the Minister detailed the reasons why the industry needed to be strengthened:
Fleur Pellerin
Minister for SMEs, Innovation and the Digital Economy
Open source software is first and foremost a vehicle for a virtuous, open and participative model of society, in which all data is first and foremost considered as an asset accessible to the greatest number.
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Anyone can now use, copy, modify and redistribute any software. The great virtue of free software is that it allows the whole community to benefit from a veritable heritage of knowledge and code, never finished and always to be enriched.
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In this way, free software has helped to raise awareness of the importance of open formats; at the same time, the spirit of “free” has fortunately spread to other fields: I’m thinking of open innovation and open data. In short, free software is helping to change the way we think, while promoting the modernization of public action.
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As well as creating jobs, open source is also a major factor in productivity and competitiveness for companies, enabling them to better control their application assets and concentrate their efforts on what represents a source of added value for them.
Today, France is a leader in the sector. The question is how it can maintain this role. The main objective is to multiply the number of reference, industrialized players, benefiting from more mature technologies and more structured offerings. Most specialized players are small, and their economic situation remains fragile. The adoption of open-source software by large companies and the need to pool certain services to achieve economies of scale have led to the emergence of new specialist players. However, these companies remain modest in size.
We must therefore encourage the emergence of major companies in the open source software sector. The sustained growth of the market is an opportunity for French companies to become truly international benchmark players.
In response, Guy Mamou-Mani, Chairman of Syntec Numérique, emphasized that it was natural for Syntec Numérique to take the initiative, under the impetus of its Open Source Committee, to convene the first Etats Généraux de l’Open Source.
Although the Open Source ecosystem began to take shape several years ago, it is still very scattered, and much remains to be done to consolidate the sector. It’s worth noting that issues relating to initial and continuing training, as well as recruitment, will have occupied a large part of the discussions.