Guides for online activism
Five guides for online activism now available in Macedonian and Albanian language
New premises of the Metamorphosis Foundation
The Metamorphosis Foundation has a new address: ul. “Apostol Guslarot” 40, Skopje, near the elementary school “Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi”.Location of the Metamorphosis Foundation
Google Street View faces citizens' reservation in EUWhile Google intends to go on mapping localities in Europe through its Street View system, several EU countries continue to show reluctance to this service due to privacy issues. ЕДРИ | 2.9.2010 |
French authority wants users to install spyware on their computersFrench Internet users could soon be required to install spyware on their PCs tracking down their searching habits and analysing the applications installed on their PCs, in order to prevent "file-sha... ЕДРИ | 1.9.2010 |
International team developing open source hospital information systemAn international team of software developers specialising in medical systems is working on a hospital information system. Свет | 31.8.2010 |
Spain: Andalusia government studying switch to open source desktopThe government of Andalusia, one of Spain's autonomous regions, is preparing to use a complete open source desktop environment. Свет | 30.8.2010 |
Azeri bloggers appeal rejected by the Supreme CourtThe Azerbaijani Supreme Court took a disturbing decision on 19 August 2010 rejecting the appeal by bloggers and activists Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade thus upholding the previous decisions taken by t... Свет | 26.8.2010 |
Google Testing 'Instant Search' FeatureEver since Microsoft launched Bing last year, Google has been implementing search features at a fairly rapid pace. According to a number of online reports, the company is currently testing an "instant... Свет | 25.8.2010 |
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More in: EDRI, World, Macedonia
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| EU Competition Commissioner backs open standards in eGovernment |
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The EU Competition Commissioner, Neelie Kroes, publicly supported the
use of open source software in eGovernment, in a public speech at a
seminar hosted by OpenForum Europe in Brussels on 10 June 2008.
Kroes encouraged the public institutions to use open standards, underlining the positive example of Munich that have implemented open standards in their local eGovernment projects. She suggested a much more active role of the European Commission in promoting open standards in eGovernment applications, by adopting an internal policy not to buy proprietary software: "The Commission must do its part. It must not rely on one vendor, it must not accept closed standards and it must refuse to become locked into a particular technology." The EU Commissioner's speech shows an indirect support to the Open Parliament petition initiated in March 2008 by OpenForum Europe, The European Software Market Association and the Free Software Foundation Europe asking the European Parliament to change its ICT system in order to allow the adoption of open standards. Also Kroes praised the benefits of open standards: "No citizen or company should be forced or encouraged to choose a closed technology over an open one, through a government having made that choice first." She also encouraged the business customers to make a difference by promoting open standards: "I know a smart business decision when I see one. Choosing open standards is a very smart business decision indeed." Kroes mentioned a number of competition cases in ICT that are investigated by the Commission in relation with ICT standards, giving as examples Apple, the mobile phone company Qualcomm and chip maker Rambus. Also she clearly referred to Microsoft when she mentioned the problems with the well-known fines against the US software producer: "The Commission has never before had to issue two periodic penalty payments in a competition case." Some MEPs wanted to go further and asked the European Commission if Microsoft could not be banned from the European public procurements, since it has been fined by the Commission. Heide Rühle, internal market policy spokeswoman for the Greens in the European Parliament, explained that there were provisions of the public procurement EU Directive that allow the exclusion of applicants from public procurement procedures if "they have been convicted of an offence concerning their professional conduct by a judgement which has the force of res judicata or they have been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which the contracting authority can justify". But the European Commission rejected these arguments in its answer explaining that, according to the directive, the exclusion was not obligatory. EC claimed that the fine did not count as an "criminal conviction of a criminal offence by a final judgement from a Court". Also the second provision should "require a case-by-case assessment which can only be done in the framework of an on-going procurement procedure." Kroes calls for open standards in eGovernment (10.06.2008) EU's Kroes: open standards are smart business move (10.06.2008) European Commission won't exclude Microsoft from procurement procedures (13.06.2008) Written Question: Microsoft - Implementation of Article 93 of the Financial Regulation (21.04.2008) EDRi-gram: European Parliament criticized for not using open standards (12.03.2008)
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Our Activities
- “Digital repositories” website launched
- Distribution of the comic book on privacy "Under Surveillance"
- Training on use of DSpace held at the Institute of Economics
- DSpace Virtual Machine released in Macedonian and Albanian
- Project MEC: Public Relations Training Held
- 10 public debates throughout Macedonia for promotion of various causes
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Metamorphosis on Social Media Sites
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