Malta's Government wants its institutions to increase their use of open source software. In a directive published on 1 June 2010, the Government expresses its intention to share more of its own applications by publishing them using the European Union's open source licence (EUPL).

"Where it is not possible to make use of open source software in the implementation of solutions, appropriate evidence shall be made available." the Open Source Software Directive states.

In the directive, the government instructs its institutions to uptake open source application, and to re-use applications that are made available by other public administrations in the European Union. Malta refers specifically to the applications that are shared and developed on the European Union's Open Source Observatory and Repository (OSOR.EU).

Following what is mentioned in the directive, public institutions that want to develop and share their own open source applications should use the open source development website of Malta's government, or the OSOR.EU website.

Likewise, Government organisations should prefer to use open source applications that are available with menus and documentation in English and one other European language. If translation of these into Maltese in required, the organisation should consult the Government of Malta Open Source End User Group (Moseug) which was formed in April 2010.

Further Information:

• Original press release  - OSOR.EU
• Malta's Open Source Software Directive
• Government of Malta ICT  Policies, Directives, Standards and associated documents
• EUPL
• Related ePractice.eu news article - MT: Government starts Open Source end user group