End of Commitment Report – Equip government employees in the use of open source software.

Name of Evaluator

Open Government Committee

Email

gouvernement.ouvert@mcn.gouv.qc.ca

Member Name

Québec, Canada

Action PlanAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... Title

Action plan – Québec, Canada, 2021 – 2023

CommitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action...

Equip government employees with the use of open-source software.

Action

The Secrétariat du Conseil du trésor wishes to equip government employees with the use of open-source software, where applicable. Community establishment, experimentation with innovative solutions, and the use of forges to facilitate collaboration represent a significant part of these methods.

Problem

Best practices in the use of open-source software include setting up communities, experimenting with innovative solutions, and using forges to facilitate collaboration, however, these practices are not widely known among public bodies.

1.1 What was the overall level of progress in the commitment implementation at the time of this assessment?

Substantial

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

Two out of three milestones in the commitment have been reached.
– A new Open Source Software section is now available on Québec.ca to share information and best practices with public bodies.
– The Centre québécois d’excellence numérique (CQEN) has set up the Centre d’expertise appliqué en innovation, enabling public bodies to experiment with solutions in a laboratory environment, including open source solutions.
– A community participation guide is currently being developed, and support has been provided for two projects using open-source software.

Provide evidence that supports and justifies your answer:

• Website – Free software

1.2 Describe the main external or internal factors that impacted implementation of this commitment and how they were addressed (or not).

Internal expertise in the use of open-source software and participation in communities outside the government is being developed. The use of open-source software to set up government digital foundations for use by public bodies is helping to build this expertise.

1.3 Was the commitment implemented as originally planned?

All of the commitment milestones were implemented as planned

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

The milestones were well set in the context of digital best practices. It was possible to reach the milestones as planned.

Provide evidence for your answer:

• Good Government Digital Practices

2.1.1. – Did the government disclose more information; improve the quality of the information (new or existing); improve the value of the information; improve the channels to disclose or request information or improve accessibility to information?

Not Applicable

2.1.2. – Did the government create new opportunities to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation inform or influence decisions; improve existing channels or spaces to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation/ inform or influence decisions; create or improve capabilities in the government or the public aimed to improve how the government seeks feedback from citizens/enables participation/ or allows for the public to inform or influence decisions?

Not Applicable

2.1.3 Did the government create or improve channels, opportunities or capabilities to hold officials answerable to their actions?

Yes

Degree of result:

Marginal

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

The website and the reference framework have equipped government staff to use open-source software. As a result, the ability to collaborate with other administrations to provide solutions to common needs is growing. Numerous digital foundations use open-source software.

Provide evidence for your answer:

• Government Digital Foundations

2.1.4 Other Results

Not Applicable

2.2 Did the commitment address the public policy problem that it intended to address as described in the action plan?

Yes

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

To accelerate its digital transformationGovernments are working to increase access to and quality of government services, improve transparency, and create opportunities for participation by using information and communications technologies.... More, the Gouvernement du Québec wishes to promote the reuse and sharing of solutions. In this context, open-source software represents an opportunity to increase collaboration and sharing between organizations and civil society. The actions being implemented will enable public bodies to be better equipped to take advantage of this opportunity.

3. Provide at least one lesson or reflection relating to the implementation of this commitment. It can be the identification of key barriers to implementation, an unexpected help/hindrance, recommendations for future commitments, or if the commitment should be taken forward to the next action plan.

Community development represents an opportunity for sharing and collaboration between public bodies and civil society. To realize the full potential of this type of project, contributions are essential. However, most organizations are not accustomed to this way of proceeding, so mastering the process requires considerable change management.