Canton Zug launches eGovernment solution under Open Source License
PRESS RELEASE OF CANTON ZUG AND THE PARLIAMENTARY GROUP FOR DIGITAL SUSTAINABILITY
Bern, 8 March 2010
Canton Zug launches eGovernment solution under Open Source License
Canton Zug launches the recently developed collaboration solution "iZug" as open source under the GPL license of the SIK.
With this step federation, cantons and municipalities can utilise one of the most modern and effective eGovernment and intranet portal applications license-free, and customize it according to their requirements. Because of this time-consuming, expensive and risky WTO-Tenders become superfluous in many cases. In this way it is not only possible to achieve considerable savings on costs. It is also simpler and quicker to develop functional customizations than in most conventional projects.
Amongst other things iZug provides an effective WebCMS, an online shop, a virtual office, work spaces for internal and external collaboration, as well as task and event management. The solution has been operational in Canton Zug since June 2009, and is used daily by 1500 cantonal employees and over 400 external users. One of the main advantages is that the functions of eGovernment portal, extranet and intranet have the same appearance and have the same interaction parameters.
The solution integrates with Microsoft Office and OpenOffice.org and especially facilitates work from home. At its base lies the CMS Plone that is used internationally and is considered to be one of the most secure web applications. It therefore does not come as a surprise that the platform is used by the FBI and the CIA.
The PloneGov.ch Society was established to ensure continuous further high quality development. It is part of a world wide PloneGov community whose members contribute the knowledge gained from their daily work. The solution consists of 22 coordinated modules that extend the basic Plone functionality. Hanna Muralt Müller, President of the PloneGov Foundation, is very pleased with the realisation of the foundation's goals: "With the release of the software as open source Canton Zug supports the innovative abilities of the community. The modules can be further implemented by other foundation members. Maintenance and further development is coordinated and safeguarded by the PloneGov.ch Society".
Urs Fuchs, leader of the Zug State Chancellery: "With the launch of our solution we are changing the eGovernment strategy of the federal administration: Once developed it can be applied in various situations. Thanks to publication under the GPL license we can benefit automatically from further development in the future." Because of the open source license parts of the solution for Zug could be further developed from Plone projects created for the Canton Basel City. Only in recent weeks the Canton Basel City announced a new IT strategy that likewise promotes the collaborative development of open source solutions.
The National Councilor Edith Graf-Litscher, Co President of the Parliamentary Group for Digital Sustainability, welcomes the approach of the Canton Zug: "The Parliamentary Group is very pleased with positive development on cantonal level. While the Federal Administration rejected our group's proposal and persist in their dependence on proprietary software, more cantons veer towards sustainable open source eGovernment solutions."
The source code of the solution can be downloaded from the Plone provider 4teamwork, located in Bern. An online demo of the software is available at http://egov.4teamwork.ch.
Contact:
Bernhard Bühlmann, CEO
4teamwork GmbH
Engehaldenstrasse 53
3012 Bern
Tel. 031 305 90 24
b.buehlmann at 4teamwork.ch
