 Yeah, I speak, okay, good Okay, yeah, hello Welcome to my talk on what's role and the three software played during the crisis or will Play during the crisis or also for ongoing crisis. You never know and My name is Alexander Sander. I'm FSSE senior policy consultant and we are the Free Software Foundation Europe and This is a charity that empowers users to control technology and we believe that this is done through the help of free software and Part of our work is for example to policy related activities. So lobbying across Europe and For example also in process in order to make sure that free software plays important role in lawmaking and In this regard we also Followed the crisis and have checked out what? their free software can play a role and You might remember especially in the beginning of the corona crisis we kicked it off with closing the borders and That's a huge issue as you know the freedom of movement for people but also for goods is a fundamental right in the European Union and so with this, yeah, we had a huge issue in the union and and so we thought about how can we make sure that we can open the borders again and in the very beginning One of these ideas for example was to introduce tracing apps or other digital solutions and with these tracing apps We were thinking about that the that these apps might help us in order to open borders again but also we had other issues like home working and This was true for us at FSFE So we went into home working but all of you as well and also administrations went into home working like our governments and Especially governments and administrations were using proper tire proper tire software in the beginning something like Microsoft Teams or Zoom was heavily used and this comes with data protection issues and as data protection and the protection of Yeah, our privacy is also fundamental right We've been also working on this issue and in the next 20 minutes. I will tell you a bit Yeah, what happened in the last years on this and how yeah our public bodies reacted on the situation with the tracing apps but also with home office and privacy and so on As that for us free software plays an important role But we've seen also in this crisis that there have been huge debates about the use of free software when it comes to digital Serenity we've heard it I was talk in the morning on this and we know that if you want to be digital So and there's only one way how we can achieve this by using free software Just to bring us all on the same page for this free software free software always comes with for freedoms The freedom to use to study to share and to improve So whenever we have these four freedoms, it's free software also known as free and open source software open source software and and so on and so These four freedoms is so we can use the software for any purpose without any Without any restrictions so we can do whatever we want with the software We can study the code so we have transparent code So we can see what the software is going to do if the code can be analyzed by anyone This is particularly important When we want to see if for example fundamental rights are protected So if we want to see if you give our data to somebody That the data really stay where they are supposed to stay Also, we are free to share the software This is also very important and this is also something we have seen and during the crisis a lot So also here there are no limitations and even if we are talking about free software It doesn't matter that it's free in terms of money So you can earn money with free software You don't have to but you can and it's also done so the price doesn't matter But it's yeah free to share and in the end you are free to we say improve the software But let's say you can modify it so you can also yeah Destroy the software if you want or make it worse But yeah as we want to move forward we say we want to improve the software But also say to modify the software. So as we have this transparent code We can use this code and modify it and then Again, we are sharing the result also again with everybody So whenever we have these four freedoms use study share and improve then it is free software And as you can already see from here it helps a lot If you want to protect fundamental rights and if you want to foster innovation and this is particularly good if you are in a crisis To make it a bit more clear Let's have a look on what problems we have with proprietary software and also here We've heard already something in the talk by Tyler in the morning So for example, we have no interoperability. So it's hard to work together with other systems So you are once and once you are in this window lock in so once you are Yeah owned by a company like Microsoft and it's really hard to get out there and to work together with others So like sharing documents for example or using other programs like I don't know if you have Want to edit a document and then use a mail program and Continue from there on it's really hard to get out of this window lock in because you have no interoperability that's particular a huge issue one if you want to work together across borders and For example, if you are governments together with other governments and this also come with Unpredictable costs first of all for maintenance, but also like for future Software updates or upgrades for example, so you never know how much it will cost you In the future because once you are in this vendor lock in the vendor can say what the price is and Yeah, there are no any no other choices for you on the market because you are in this window lock in and Also, if you as you have to pay for licenses that also means that your Investments are lost. So just to get the software you're paying for licenses and these License fees are yeah, these investments in license fees are just lost and the money goes to Ireland and Then it's over there and we've also seen especially With the tracing apps for example That there's a lower acceptance by citizens because we don't have transparent code and we can't see what the software is going to do so we don't know if our Data for example are protected and in the end we have security issues. So again as we don't have Transparent code it's not that easy to find back doors for example and So the solution on the other hand then is free software because we have this interoperability due to open standards by default So everything Comes with yeah interoperability by default as everything is open as we have these for freedoms And thus we can make sure we can work across systems and then also borders so we have a huge independence through the free licenses and And Thus we can also collaborate and through collaboration. We can not only Yeah, share expertise, but also risks and costs so we can collaborate by saying Especially when it comes to administrations We are putting together our money and invest in one software project and as we are then I'm free to use it and as many workstations as we want for example, we can share costs and Also, if you want to make huge investments in software and you can share risks But this and also you can bring in others So that means you are not only bringing in coders into software development, but also others like during corona, for example experts for diseases and Also, we have seen a lot that whenever Especially governments and administrations invest into and free software It comes to involvement of local partners, so we are not working with the Tech companies from the US, but we are working together with local companies And that also helps us to foster our local IT market, which is yeah good for our economy But also for our knowledge on software It is transparent by default this helps us Yeah, to get the acceptance by citizens we can see what the software is going to do and if it's protecting our rights and by these transparency. We also have these Possibility to fix the security issues a bit easier So free software is not secured by default But due to the transparent code it is possible for everyone to check the code and to see if there are backdoors Or if there are any security issues and for example, it's easy to run a hackathons or back Backbound is for example in order to find security issues and Also, you don't have to go to the vendor afterwards and ask them to fix the security issue You can fix the security issue by your own or together with the help of others Directly and give it back to the community, which is also a major win so if you for example look at the known bugs at Corporate area software which are still not fixed because of economy reasons Then you see why it is a very good idea to go to free software projects because they are and you can fix the security issues by yourself or others can do this and Yeah, it could be just done and everybody can see What has been done and this is why it helps you to have a more secure software product in the end So let's see Concretely what happened during the corona crisis. So first of all We can say that it was all it's still a global crisis and this global crisis comes with similar demands So more or less all governments in the world have the same issues in order to tackle the crisis and Especially when it came to software and solutions had to be more or less the same So it was clear that we need specific hardware, but it was also clear that we need needed specific software and This was true for home office remote working just think about like conference tools Collaboration tools and so on so this was needed everywhere and even if it was private public or business and Especially when we are talking about these tracing or certificate apps which are around so this is also true for these apps that they Had to be Somewhere accepted everywhere So because else this cross-border checking and cross-border tracking wouldn't have been possible But also if you want to show your certificate not only in Spain But if you go to I don't know Germany for example, I want to show it there. It must be Sure that there is for example a translation in place and that people across the border understand what they are seeing here So the solution first of all is that we needed interoperability Yeah, because without any interoperability we couldn't do cross-border tracking So and we need the independence through free license to make sure that across borders We could work together and see For example, yeah, only through a translation, but that the back end is more or less the same That we can yeah independently Accept what's coming from another country and also what we have seen with the Developing of these tracing apps for example that collaboration is needed not only again Only on code but also for translations for example, but also expertise on Yeah, how corona spread in general So we also needed to reach out to other groups of people and scientists who told us How to design a software and what should it do the software so and here a collaboration not only on code Happened but also a broader discussion on how the design of these apps for example should look like How we handle Certificates and for example then also how do we protect our data? So there was for example a huge discussion if we want to have a centralized storage of our data or decentralized storage of our data and This is also part of the software project and this discussion was only possible because we had open standards And we had transparent code and thus we could see How our data are stored and by thus we could go out and say to the people You can use this and not only the government said it but also for example NGOs who checked the code then and said You can use the software because we had a transparent code and see what happens here so and this transparency had for acceptance by citizens and because Yeah, if only two people for example use these tracing apps then it's useless It only makes sense if a lot of people use it and therefore we needed a lot of acceptance and this acceptance came due to use of free software again We could involve a lot of stakeholders and so let's have a concrete look at the very beginning we had these tracing apps and After a few days after the discussion about these tracing apps started We came out with a press release and reached out to decision makers and had three demands for them So first of all all of these apps need to be used Voluntarily they need to respect fundamental rights and therefore they need to be free software in order to make sure that So okay voluntary use that's not a free software issue But in order to see if we can say it's respect fundamental rights Therefore it need to be free software and there's this demand. We yeah reach out to the media but also to decision makers and this quickly led to the Conclusion first of all by the World Health Organization That was in May 2020 where they said first of all these tracing apps need to be full transparent and Thus they need to be open source. So free software So even the world has a health organization quickly recognized and said further. Yeah, well that it's a very good idea to do these tracing apps or Contact tracing apps for COVID-19 as open source because as We will run into issues and won't have this acceptance by citizens and will have problems and also We need this interoperability to do cross-border tracking, right? and same is true for the e-health network of the European Union the e-health network is the European Commission the European Parliament and all member states of the European Union. So this is a huge network Which be where we can say in the end. It's the European Union and they also Yeah, wrote a paper on a common toolbox for member states how to do these tracing and That was also in the beginning of April 2020 and also there they recommended That it should be openly published. So first of all the technical specifications but also the source code and That's very important. They said for to maximize reuse interoperability Otherability and security. Yeah, so they fully followed our arguments here So and that's very interesting that they not only talked about interoperability because so far whenever we talked to the European Union It was a lot about interoperability, but they never ever talked about reuse They rarely talked about or the code and never about security So and that was completely new so that due to these Covid tracing apps they started to use all the other arguments as well. So and it's a This this argument stays alone, right? So it's not only about tracing apps So they figured out that when we talk about free software open source, it's good to reuse it So as we are several member states and then it's good for security and so on so that was a very important paper and we are still using this paper today for doing lobbying in the European Union because Yeah, as they or what what they said back in 2020 is also still true today Not only for covert trade tracing, but for all applications public bodies used Most of the European member states followed in Spain. For example, we had this other covert app Which was released under MPL license in German We had the corona tracing app also released on their free software license a few member states didn't follow France For example, they choose their own solution and they did a central storage not a decentralized one But in the end we have seen that the huge debate About data protection privacy helped a lot in Europe to firstly release these tools under a free software license and No matter if these tools are in the end very useful or not So this is not the discussion. We had a discussion about if such a software could help us then it need to be free software And that's the most important part here. So and this is what still helps us today and Also again, we had these after the tracing apps We had the certificate apps so now where we can all run around and show that we are Got our vaccination note that we are tested They are again released under a free software license and here the interesting part is that for example You see some differences again, so but in Germany, for example, these we call it cough pass app was only released on the Apple and the the Google Play Store, but due to the code and Our community have been able to also put it to F to it. So it was also possible for Yeah, people not using Google or Apple phones to download these apps and to use these apps on phones without any proper terror software So here we can see that even a community can step in in terms of health use the code and make sure That's yeah, people can have to control over their technology and therefore also their data and also what they have seen Later on is that back in October 20 20 the European Commission then came up with a general open source strategy So this is also the first time that the European Commission Had this strong saying on Open source and that they want to go into the direction in the next three years to sync open and To use more free software. However, and this document is full of loopholes. We criticize it a lot So they for example said they want to use open source when there are good reasons to do so Whatever this means Wherever it makes sense. They want to use open source. So nobody knows what this means and They also want to set up a small program office. So they are in the end. There's no budget. There are no persons assigned to sit But still we have this document as a first step where the European Commission after this specific Outreach on these tracing apps came up as a document where they said for our own administrations We need to make sure that we use more free software and Because being figured out that it might be a good idea during the crisis and that's why yeah We also run this campaign also mentioned by Italo Public money public code where we say publicly finance software must be made publicly available under a free software license so whenever it's public money should be public code as well and so our learning from this crisis that it's more important than ever before and therefore I skipped some slides and Want to show you this campaign it is also already as supported by many organizations also some administrations supported like in Spain the city of Barcelona or the parliament in Asturias support our campaign So if you haven't signed this campaign for free to do so you can do it individually But also visit organization and if you want to learn more in general about the campaign We are giving the night me tomorrow a workshop at 12 Story, I think Maybe tell you what we are doing this complaint campaign concretely how we reach out to administrations how we convince them which wording we are using which tone and Yeah, how we make sure that Administrations governments are using free software not only in crisis but also in general and spend our money taxpayers money To invest in free software and not in proprietary software And so on and with this I'm going to end this talk and I have one minute left for questions Hey Awesome. Yeah, also Lina speaks Spanish. So if you don't want to do it in English you can reach out to her in Spanish Thanks a lot