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[File] Free and open source software in France: where do we stand?

Published on 27 January 2022
Update on 26 September 2022
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Summary

Open source software has conquered a large part of the technical infrastructure and is taking an increasingly important place in all information systems up to the terminals.

Several recent studies highlight the economic weight of free and open source software and its contribution to competitiveness. According to a study commissioned by the European Commission, companies in the EU invested about one billion euros in free software in 2018, with an impact on the European economy estimated between 65 and 95 billion euros. In France, it represents 10% of the overall IT market.

A whole series of objectives and motivations underlie the use of this model of software development: autonomy (reducing dependence on suppliers), budgetary, real competition (by purchasing services from companies put on an equal footing by the publication of sources), security (by allowing an audit of the developments and an ongoing correction of the flaws in the source code by a community of active developers)

Free and open source software can also contribute to reducing the environmental footprint of digital technology by extending the life of digital equipment.

Unveiling the government's action plan to support the development of open source software in the administration, Amélie de Montchalin, Minister of Transformation and the Civil Service, saw open source software and the digital commons as levers that "can enable us to progress in these three directions: openness, quality and sovereignty. She reminded the audience that " France is an example in the use of free software and the opening of public source codes.

Références :

5.2 billion euros in revenues in 2019, 10% of the overall IT market in France

A study conducted in 2019 by Teknowlogy for the National Council of Open Source Software (CNLL), Syntec Numérique and Systematic, estimated the revenue in software and services generated by open source at €5.2 billion."The open source sector in France is expected to continue to grow at a very steady rate of nearly 9% per year until 2023, which is higher than the average growth rate of the IT market, which is around 4% in 2019-2020.

According to the authors of this study, the use of open source is expected to increase in the next two years in nearly 80% of companies.

The share of open source in the overall IT market in France, at over 10% (compared to 7% in Germany and 7.4% in the UK), is the highest in Europe.

" It's a very big increase compared to the 2 or 3% of the first studies, it is no longer something fragmented," concluded Marc Palazon, chairman of the Open Source Committee of Syntec Numérique. " With such a dynamic, open source should represent more than 60,000 jobs in 2020 and certainly 70,000 to 80,000 jobs by 2021, which is exceptional ... And we should reach 12% in 2023 thanks to a more sustained growth than the IT market.

Références :

An open source sector, made up of mature companies that are resilient to the crisis and create a lot of jobs

A survey of 140 companies and some 20 key figures in the open source ecosystem, conducted at the initiative of the CNLL (the Union of Free Software and Open Source Companies), the Pôle Systematic Paris-Région, Solibre and Nouvelle Aquitaine Open Source (NAOS), provides an overview of the open source sector in France.

The analysis of the profile of the companies surveyed shows a sector made up mostly (94%) of VSEs/SMEs, with a certain degree of maturity (median age 11.5 years), and with a strong potential for internationalization.

On average, these companies generate 20.5% of their revenues outside France, compared to 16.7% in the digital sector.

Overall, they have weathered the COVID crisis well, with their managers saying they are largely confident in the future of their company and that of the free and open source ecosystem. However, a majority of executives are concerned about the French economy and the long-term viability of B2B customer orders.

The open source sector also continues to be a strong creator of jobs: 61.1% of companies are preparing to recruit this year.

Among the business models present in the open source sector, the publisher model is gaining momentum

Although the service activity remains very present, a majority (57.1%) of companies are software publishers. As a result, business models are naturally evolving towards solutions (pay-per-use invoicing, license sales, etc.). Software publishing is thus increasing its importance as an essential driver of activity for companies in the sector.

While 88.3% of respondents believe that the key principles of open source can contribute to preserving the digital sovereignty of France and Europe, many recognize that explaining the added value of open source in terms of sovereignty may require some pedagogy.

Référence :

The French open source training offer needs to be updated and completed

With a growth rate of 9%, twice that of the digital services market (IT), the adoption of open source is not running out of steam and is now worth over 5 billion euros in France.

" The increase in the number of open source skills available on the job market will therefore be decisive in the coming years to ensure the continuity of job creation and to support the digital transformation. Yet, open source players are already experiencing difficulties in recruiting and are hampered in their growth by this talent shortage."

The French Observatory for Digital, Engineering, Consulting and Event Professions (OPIIEC) provides an update on Open Source training and skills in France.

60,000 people are currently employed in full-time equivalent in open source companies. Additional job openings in 2020 were estimated in 2019 at 10,000 to 20,000.

The OPIIEC analyzes the training skill needs of service companies and publishers in the "open source" sector, private companies that use open source software, and public organizations, and outlines a series of projections for 2025 (assuming an annual growth rate of around 7% for 2019-22)

At that date, open source could represent 90,900 FTEs. In addition, between 270,000 and 450,000 IT engineers and technicians would be involved in mastering open source skills.

(Read more)

Référence :

An action plan for open source software and digital commons in the administration

In a circular dated April 27, 2021, the Prime Minister reminded us that administrations "must constantly seek the best circulation of data, algorithms and codes, in open formats that can be used by third parties. This renewed ambition implies, in addition, a reinforcement of the opening of source codes and public algorithms, as well as the use of free and open software, and the extinction, by 2023, of the fees charged for the reuse of data.

Following this circular, 15 ministries have developed roadmaps for the opening, circulation and use of public data, which were published on September 27.

The Open Source Software and Digital Commons Action Plan launched in November 2021, contributes to the digital transformation of public service with three objectives:

  • to better understand and use open source software and the digital commons in the administration;
  • develop and support the opening of public sector source codes;
  • Rely on free and open source software to make the State-employer more attractive to digital talent.
In particular, it provides for:
  • reference free and open source solutions in the GouvTech catalog;
  • reference the open source software and digital commons significantly used by the administration in the interdepartmental open source software base - SILL ;
  • highlighting significantly used free and open source libraries;
  • Reuse source code developed by other administrations;
  • Supporting administrations in the creation of digital commons for the conduct of public policies.
In order to develop the opening and the release of source codes, a new platform code.gouv.fr is set up, in order to
  • reference codes and libraries published by administrations;
  • Enhance the value of source codes with a high reuse potential;
  • build an inventory of unpublished source code that can be reused;
  • And to highlight the contributions of the administration to the ecosystem of free software (solutions and libraries) and digital commons.

Références :

220 softwares referenced in the Socle Interministériel de Logiciels Libres  

TheSocleInterministériel de Logiciels Libres is a list of open source software significantly used in public organizations attached to the State or hospital civil service and which form a reference catalog for the administration.

It is based on Article 16 of the Law for a Digital Republic (2016), which states that administrations "shall ensure that they preserve the control, sustainability and independence of their information systems. They shall encourage the use of free software and open formats when developing, purchasing or using, in whole or in part, these information systems."

The number of referenced software programs has grown from 129 in 2018 to 220, in early 2022.

Of the 220 software products listed, 105 are office software, 60 are production software and 53 are development tools.

Références :

A policy of support for free software in France among the most proactive in Europe

The European Commission published on September 6, 2021 a study on the impact of open source software on the European economy, conducted by Fraunhofer ISI and OpenForum Europe.

The report devotes a chapter to examining government policies on open source software in a number of EU member states (Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain) and other countries in Europe (the United Kingdom), the Americas (the United States and Brazil) and Asia (China, Japan, India and South Korea).

According to the report, " Open Source tends to receive more political attention in France than has been observed in other Member States, where it is often viewed from a more technical perspective (...). Historically, France has been very involved in Open Source and it shows no signs of reducing its involvement.

The report traces the various stages of the inclusion of open source software in digital transformation strategies:

While the French government is exceptionally involved in sharing open source knowledge and resources within the public sector," the report's authors observe, " it is not to the same degree in terms of industrial policy to encourage the private sector to adopt open source. Although there are no explicit public policies regarding the private sector, the promotion of open source software within the public administration in France has some impact on its adoption and on educating the public about the opportunities and features of open source software.

"The notion of "digital sovereignty" seems to be present in the public debate and Open Source tends to be easily associated with this term, which is not always the case in other member states. While in Germany there seems to be a strong link between digital sovereignty and Open Source, in other countries like Poland this link does not seem to have been developed yet." "All the efforts of the public sector in France do not seem to be in vain, as a growing number of organizations and communities are implementing new programs and activities and sharing their resources. (...) Although the private sector does not have much support for adopting Open Source, the strong involvement of the Government in animating communities and sharing practices in the public space seems to have a positive impact on the private sector.

Using a set of indicators that distinguish between incentives to use open source software in the public sector and in the private sector, the authors draw up a comparison of public dynamics within the EU. In terms of public policies targeting the public sector (existence of such a policy and implementation of public orders, open source skills), France scores 65%, ahead of Italy (63%), Spain (57%) and the United Kingdom (51%).

Références :

Choosing open source platforms or solutions based on community development modes remains an obstacle course

In the "Cahier des soutenabilités" that France Stratégie has devoted to digital technology (" How to build a sustainable digital economy?" ), which summarizes the work of workshops held throughout 2020, France Stratégie questions the State's ability to "conduct its digital transition in a sustainable manner"."While there are already many initiatives to integrate environmental criteria into public purchasing procedures, public administrations and project managers are often prevented from making choices and implementing strategies. For example, moving away from proprietary solutions and choosing open source platforms or solutions based on community development methods is an obstacle course. "When we want to finance common projects or projects that are outside the box, we are completely helpless on these subjects," summarizes one of the contributors to the workshops.

According to France Stratégie, "public procurement procedures should favor the acquisition of free and open source solutions or at least allow for the purchase of European or French solutions.

"A more sustainable approach would be to justify why a project cannot be made open source, rather than the other way around. But public people are still ill-equipped to make these projects exploitable, to make them visible, to develop a business model (...). This is a limiting element in the development of commons and open source."

France Stratégie links the theme of open source software with that of sustainable digital technology, which underpins the development of the Référentiel général d'écoconception de services numériques (RGESN), co-piloted by the Direction interministérielle du numérique (DINUM), the Ministère de la Transition Écologique, ADEME and the Institut du Numérique Responsable.

"The development of new applications, which require higher bandwidths and more energy, means that hardware fleets must be replaced by more powerful equipment. This is why, at both the State and local government levels, "we need to offer digital public services that are more sober, accessible (...) even on old smartphones and computers (...) we need to work within public services on applications that consume fewer resources.

Références :

Sources

[File] Free and open source software in France: where do we stand?

Open source software has conquered a large part of the technical infrastructure and is taking an increasingly important place in all information systems up to the terminals.

Several recent studies highlight the economic weight of free and open source software and its contribution to competitiveness. According to a study commissioned by the European Commission, companies in the EU invested about one billion euros in free software in 2018, with an impact on the European economy estimated between 65 and 95 billion euros. In France, it represents 10% of the overall IT market.

A whole series of objectives and motivations underlie the use of this model of software development: autonomy (reducing dependence on suppliers), budgetary, real competition (by purchasing services from companies put on an equal footing by the publication of sources), security (by allowing an audit of the developments and an ongoing correction of the flaws in the source code by a community of active developers)

Free and open source software can also contribute to reducing the environmental footprint of digital technology by extending the life of digital equipment.

Unveiling the government's action plan to support the development of open source software in the administration, Amélie de Montchalin, Minister of Transformation and the Civil Service, saw open source software and the digital commons as levers that "can enable us to progress in these three directions: openness, quality and sovereignty. She reminded the audience that " France is an example in the use of free software and the opening of public source codes.

Références :

5.2 billion euros in revenues in 2019, 10% of the overall IT market in France

A study conducted in 2019 by Teknowlogy for the National Council of Open Source Software (CNLL), Syntec Numérique and Systematic, estimated the revenue in software and services generated by open source at €5.2 billion."The open source sector in France is expected to continue to grow at a very steady rate of nearly 9% per year until 2023, which is higher than the average growth rate of the IT market, which is around 4% in 2019-2020.

According to the authors of this study, the use of open source is expected to increase in the next two years in nearly 80% of companies.

The share of open source in the overall IT market in France, at over 10% (compared to 7% in Germany and 7.4% in the UK), is the highest in Europe.

" It's a very big increase compared to the 2 or 3% of the first studies, it is no longer something fragmented," concluded Marc Palazon, chairman of the Open Source Committee of Syntec Numérique. " With such a dynamic, open source should represent more than 60,000 jobs in 2020 and certainly 70,000 to 80,000 jobs by 2021, which is exceptional ... And we should reach 12% in 2023 thanks to a more sustained growth than the IT market.

Références :

An open source sector, made up of mature companies that are resilient to the crisis and create a lot of jobs

A survey of 140 companies and some 20 key figures in the open source ecosystem, conducted at the initiative of the CNLL (the Union of Free Software and Open Source Companies), the Pôle Systematic Paris-Région, Solibre and Nouvelle Aquitaine Open Source (NAOS), provides an overview of the open source sector in France.

The analysis of the profile of the companies surveyed shows a sector made up mostly (94%) of VSEs/SMEs, with a certain degree of maturity (median age 11.5 years), and with a strong potential for internationalization.

On average, these companies generate 20.5% of their revenues outside France, compared to 16.7% in the digital sector.

Overall, they have weathered the COVID crisis well, with their managers saying they are largely confident in the future of their company and that of the free and open source ecosystem. However, a majority of executives are concerned about the French economy and the long-term viability of B2B customer orders.

The open source sector also continues to be a strong creator of jobs: 61.1% of companies are preparing to recruit this year.

Among the business models present in the open source sector, the publisher model is gaining momentum

Although the service activity remains very present, a majority (57.1%) of companies are software publishers. As a result, business models are naturally evolving towards solutions (pay-per-use invoicing, license sales, etc.). Software publishing is thus increasing its importance as an essential driver of activity for companies in the sector.

While 88.3% of respondents believe that the key principles of open source can contribute to preserving the digital sovereignty of France and Europe, many recognize that explaining the added value of open source in terms of sovereignty may require some pedagogy.

Référence :

The French open source training offer needs to be updated and completed

With a growth rate of 9%, twice that of the digital services market (IT), the adoption of open source is not running out of steam and is now worth over 5 billion euros in France.

" The increase in the number of open source skills available on the job market will therefore be decisive in the coming years to ensure the continuity of job creation and to support the digital transformation. Yet, open source players are already experiencing difficulties in recruiting and are hampered in their growth by this talent shortage."

The French Observatory for Digital, Engineering, Consulting and Event Professions (OPIIEC) provides an update on Open Source training and skills in France.

60,000 people are currently employed in full-time equivalent in open source companies. Additional job openings in 2020 were estimated in 2019 at 10,000 to 20,000.

The OPIIEC analyzes the training skill needs of service companies and publishers in the "open source" sector, private companies that use open source software, and public organizations, and outlines a series of projections for 2025 (assuming an annual growth rate of around 7% for 2019-22)

At that date, open source could represent 90,900 FTEs. In addition, between 270,000 and 450,000 IT engineers and technicians would be involved in mastering open source skills.

(Read more)

Référence :

An action plan for open source software and digital commons in the administration

In a circular dated April 27, 2021, the Prime Minister reminded us that administrations "must constantly seek the best circulation of data, algorithms and codes, in open formats that can be used by third parties. This renewed ambition implies, in addition, a reinforcement of the opening of source codes and public algorithms, as well as the use of free and open software, and the extinction, by 2023, of the fees charged for the reuse of data.

Following this circular, 15 ministries have developed roadmaps for the opening, circulation and use of public data, which were published on September 27.

The Open Source Software and Digital Commons Action Plan launched in November 2021, contributes to the digital transformation of public service with three objectives:

  • to better understand and use open source software and the digital commons in the administration;
  • develop and support the opening of public sector source codes;
  • Rely on free and open source software to make the State-employer more attractive to digital talent.
In particular, it provides for:
  • reference free and open source solutions in the GouvTech catalog;
  • reference the open source software and digital commons significantly used by the administration in the interdepartmental open source software base - SILL ;
  • highlighting significantly used free and open source libraries;
  • Reuse source code developed by other administrations;
  • Supporting administrations in the creation of digital commons for the conduct of public policies.
In order to develop the opening and the release of source codes, a new platform code.gouv.fr is set up, in order to
  • reference codes and libraries published by administrations;
  • Enhance the value of source codes with a high reuse potential;
  • build an inventory of unpublished source code that can be reused;
  • And to highlight the contributions of the administration to the ecosystem of free software (solutions and libraries) and digital commons.

Références :

220 softwares referenced in the Socle Interministériel de Logiciels Libres  

TheSocleInterministériel de Logiciels Libres is a list of open source software significantly used in public organizations attached to the State or hospital civil service and which form a reference catalog for the administration.

It is based on Article 16 of the Law for a Digital Republic (2016), which states that administrations "shall ensure that they preserve the control, sustainability and independence of their information systems. They shall encourage the use of free software and open formats when developing, purchasing or using, in whole or in part, these information systems."

The number of referenced software programs has grown from 129 in 2018 to 220, in early 2022.

Of the 220 software products listed, 105 are office software, 60 are production software and 53 are development tools.

Références :

A policy of support for free software in France among the most proactive in Europe

The European Commission published on September 6, 2021 a study on the impact of open source software on the European economy, conducted by Fraunhofer ISI and OpenForum Europe.

The report devotes a chapter to examining government policies on open source software in a number of EU member states (Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain) and other countries in Europe (the United Kingdom), the Americas (the United States and Brazil) and Asia (China, Japan, India and South Korea).

According to the report, " Open Source tends to receive more political attention in France than has been observed in other Member States, where it is often viewed from a more technical perspective (...). Historically, France has been very involved in Open Source and it shows no signs of reducing its involvement.

The report traces the various stages of the inclusion of open source software in digital transformation strategies:

While the French government is exceptionally involved in sharing open source knowledge and resources within the public sector," the report's authors observe, " it is not to the same degree in terms of industrial policy to encourage the private sector to adopt open source. Although there are no explicit public policies regarding the private sector, the promotion of open source software within the public administration in France has some impact on its adoption and on educating the public about the opportunities and features of open source software.

"The notion of "digital sovereignty" seems to be present in the public debate and Open Source tends to be easily associated with this term, which is not always the case in other member states. While in Germany there seems to be a strong link between digital sovereignty and Open Source, in other countries like Poland this link does not seem to have been developed yet." "All the efforts of the public sector in France do not seem to be in vain, as a growing number of organizations and communities are implementing new programs and activities and sharing their resources. (...) Although the private sector does not have much support for adopting Open Source, the strong involvement of the Government in animating communities and sharing practices in the public space seems to have a positive impact on the private sector.

Using a set of indicators that distinguish between incentives to use open source software in the public sector and in the private sector, the authors draw up a comparison of public dynamics within the EU. In terms of public policies targeting the public sector (existence of such a policy and implementation of public orders, open source skills), France scores 65%, ahead of Italy (63%), Spain (57%) and the United Kingdom (51%).

Références :

Choosing open source platforms or solutions based on community development modes remains an obstacle course

In the "Cahier des soutenabilités" that France Stratégie has devoted to digital technology (" How to build a sustainable digital economy?" ), which summarizes the work of workshops held throughout 2020, France Stratégie questions the State's ability to "conduct its digital transition in a sustainable manner"."While there are already many initiatives to integrate environmental criteria into public purchasing procedures, public administrations and project managers are often prevented from making choices and implementing strategies. For example, moving away from proprietary solutions and choosing open source platforms or solutions based on community development methods is an obstacle course. "When we want to finance common projects or projects that are outside the box, we are completely helpless on these subjects," summarizes one of the contributors to the workshops.

According to France Stratégie, "public procurement procedures should favor the acquisition of free and open source solutions or at least allow for the purchase of European or French solutions.

"A more sustainable approach would be to justify why a project cannot be made open source, rather than the other way around. But public people are still ill-equipped to make these projects exploitable, to make them visible, to develop a business model (...). This is a limiting element in the development of commons and open source."

France Stratégie links the theme of open source software with that of sustainable digital technology, which underpins the development of the Référentiel général d'écoconception de services numériques (RGESN), co-piloted by the Direction interministérielle du numérique (DINUM), the Ministère de la Transition Écologique, ADEME and the Institut du Numérique Responsable.

"The development of new applications, which require higher bandwidths and more energy, means that hardware fleets must be replaced by more powerful equipment. This is why, at both the State and local government levels, "we need to offer digital public services that are more sober, accessible (...) even on old smartphones and computers (...) we need to work within public services on applications that consume fewer resources.

Références :

Sources

Labo Société Numérique

Labo République Française Agence nationale de cohésion des territoires
[File] Free and open source software in France: where do we stand?