September 30, 2022
In September, the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building defined its specifications for the open source technology that German Smart Cities model projects are to use in more detail. The programming code of all applications of funded municipalities must be published on the OpenCode.de platform; a strict copyleft license is preferable. It was already known that the use of open source technology must be standard for the model municipalities. But what does that actually mean? What do the ministry’s specifications mean? And how can model municipalities with private platform providers such as DKSR still ensure that their implementations comply with the funding?
To anticipate one of the biggest prejudices: Open source does not mean that software is available free of charge. Depending on the complexity of the software and source code, the adaptation, application and further development of open source technology requires a great deal of resources. However, in contrast to the effort involved in the use of commercial software, this can be managed in-house if the necessary skills and expertise are available. Alternatively, it can be outsourced to specialized providers of open source solutions. The advantage of open source technology, even when services are outsourced, is that the providers are interchangeable in case of doubt, as the respective customers are not bound by licenses and usage rights, as is the case with proprietary technology. The ministry now specifies the technology used by the model municipalities: The programming code of the grantees’ open source implementations must be posted and published on OpenCode.de and be under one of the specified licenses permitted for this purpose. But for what? And why this trend towards open source use within the administration at all?
Open source as a building block set: lots of smart bricks for strong protection
Open source software in general is considered to be very secure, as many developers work on the (source) code and vulnerabilities can be quickly identified thanks to the public availability of the code through a community. Accordingly, various parties are investing in the security of the code. As far as the use of open source in the smart city sector is concerned, other advantages are of greater importance: as already mentioned above, there is the major issue of provider dependency. In 2020, a large majority of municipalities and municipal IT service providers rated their own dependence on software and cloud providers as critical. Market monopolies and a lack of compatibility of standards make it difficult to switch products and providers. If a proprietary application is used, this usually entails usage restrictions: if a public institution wants to use a solution from another provider, the change is quickly contractually associated with high costs. This also applies in the smart city sector. On the other hand, the more open source architectures are used, the easier it is to switch – and the greater the degree of self-determination for municipal stakeholders. This is particularly important in the public sector, which wants to build on democratic principles and dynamics that are as independent of the market as possible. In addition, the use of open source technology and open standards makes it easier for other municipalities and cities to adopt existing solutions or even develop them together from the outset. When using the same standards, open source modules have practically the same nubs and can be built on top of each other. A lack of common technological foundations and interfaces in combination with vendor dependency, on the other hand, is a major obstacle to the scaling and dissemination of smart city applications. However, the aim of German smart cities and regions should be to bring sustainable solutions to a wider area in order to reduce emissions, conserve resources and improve the quality of life of citizens in the long term. Isolated implementations, no matter how ingenious they may be, are only of limited help here: a more solid structure provides us with building blocks that build on each other and interlock well. And quite apart from that: joint implementation could save individual households money – because shared costs are half costs in many places.
One solution for all: through open approaches
This is exactly what DKSR is using its Open Urban Data Platform for: scalable, replicable solutions based on open approaches that can be applied everywhere through inter-municipal cooperation. We are convinced that municipalities and municipal companies can only choose and implement smart and sustainable solutions in a self-determined manner on the basis of open approaches. The use of platforms from external service providers also saves important resources, as their development requires an enormous amount of time and money, which is urgently needed in many areas given the current municipal challenges. An example calculation: while setting up and commissioning an open source urban data platform with in-house resources often takes four to five people up to two years, a municipality can purchase the platform directly from DKSR as a service at an entry-level price of less than EUR 15,000 and have its own specialists trained by DKSR experts. As a platform provider, DKSR can guarantee that data-based projects and implementations developed via the DKSR Open Urban Data Platform can be implemented in accordance with the guidelines of the Federal Ministry.
- The source code of the DKSR open urban data platform “Open Urban Pulse” is available on OpenCode.de. The source code of the platform is also still available on the DKSR Github under a strong copyleft license in accordance with the German Free Software License.
- Every product developed via the DKSR OUP and every use case can be published on OpenCoDE under this or another license (e.g. under the General Public License or European Union Public License). This is ensured by the “Derivate Works” clause of the German Free Software License. It is up to the commissioning cities and municipalities to determine what the corresponding license looks like.
The Github for community codes is curated by our lead architect Manas and our developer Vijay. Thanks to this, the Github has extensive documentation. This also means that the code is continuously maintained: This is of central importance for the up-to-dateness and security of the applications. If code repositories are not actively edited by developers, there is a risk that the code there will become outdated without being touched and the repository will become a pile of rubble.
Sharing code between cities and regions: For sustainable added value
The core members of the Urban Data Community can also become active themselves by sharing programming code in the community Github. The teams scattered throughout Germany can support each other and exchange ideas on an ongoing basis: Even cities and regions that are not funded as model municipalities have the opportunity to file their code here and work on it. What can the Open Urban Data Platform be used for – and which applications and existing solution products can be based on it? In addition to our references, you can also find out on DKSR.square. From current challenges facing local authorities to projects and open source and commercial smart city solutions, cities and municipal companies will find all the answers to their questions about urban data use there – and can get straight into implementation.
Do you still have questions? Do not hesitate to contact us!