Barcelona Digital City

Barcelona City Council has joined the movement for open-source software and supports the use of open code technology with the aim of achieving full technological sovereignty. This choice allows the apparatus with which the City Council works every day to be audited publicly and in-depth. It also facilitates interaction between the local developer community and the public administration, which may lead to improvements in systems.

How is open-source software implemented in a city council? The software is published in public places, such as Github, with licences that allow third parties (councils, individuals or companies) to use it, expand on it or improve it. This new way of working also allows financial savings to be made, as it means no proprietary licences have to be paid. It means not having to depend on a technology multinational and it diversifies local procurement. It also helps to create a network with other administrations for sharing technology.

By far the biggest challenge of implementing open code, however, is the cultural change required within administrative bodies. The FlossBcn platform is a melting pot providing access to projects, job offers and events, and raising awareness about open-source software.

Barcelona is the first city to join the Free Software Foundation, Public Money, Public Code campaign, and is one of the case studies of the use of open-source software and open code to democratise cities.

Barcelona City Council’s Github includes the following:

• Decidim systems
• Ethical Mailbox
• BIMA
• Open Data BCN
• OSAM Modules
• PICS
• Sentilo
• Vincles BCN