The increased use of open source software represents a shift from product orientation to development orientation. The advantages are obvious: more digital sovereignty, open standards, interoperability and therefore better interaction between different IT systems. Nevertheless, comparatively few local authorities have used open source software to date. “Apart from geoinformation systems and IT infrastructure, German municipalities have so far been rather reluctant to use open source software,” says study author Sarah Brandt, research associate at Fraunhofer IESE and part of the Smart Cities Model Projects research cluster. “Smart City is a new field in which open source software can develop its potential and should be considered from the outset.” Against this background, the study supports municipal decision-makers in the planning, procurement and development of appropriate solutions.

The city of Freiburg im Breisgau, for example, has developed the xPlanBox solution based on the XPlanung standard. It has also switched from the ArcGIS geoinformation system to the open source version QGIS. The example of the Open Smart City app partnership developed in the city of Solingen clearly shows that open source software can significantly increase the transferability and scalability of smart city solutions.

For the future, the authors recommend establishing open source software primarily through inter-municipal partnerships: Municipalities jointly create service catalogs for public tenders, clarify legal and technical issues and operate software on a larger scale.

“Interoperable software components, i.e. solutions that are compatible with each other and can be used together, are an essential prerequisite for sustainably strengthening cooperation between municipalities in the field of digitalization without restricting the guarantee of municipal self-government,” explains Dr. Vilim Brezina, who provided scientific support for the study at the BBSR. “In this way, solutions are created that a municipality can use in several places and that other municipalities can use at the same time by adapting them to their needs.”

Smart City research

The publication “Open Source Software in Municipalities - Use and Interfaces in Municipal Planning Practice”, published by the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR), is the result of accompanying research by the Coordination and Transfer Office (KTS) of the Model Projects Smart Cities (MPSC) [in German]. The Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE compiled the study. 

Interested parties can access the new publication online here. Printed copies can be ordered free of charge here: publikationen.bbsr@bbr.bund.de.

Contact

Daniel Regnery
Bundesinstitut für Bau-, Stadt- und Raumforschung (BBSR)
T +49 (0) 228 99401-1594
daniel.regnery@bbr.bund.de