On Monday the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice (KIM) and the local council of Budapest’s District XI signed a cooperation agreement, according to which several hundred of the local council’s employees will receive training related to open-source software.

In 2013 the Open-Source Software Competence Centre created by KIM will coordinate the training programme, as part of e-public administration development. The programme – which has a budget of more than HUF 200 million – will promote the use of open-source applications, with encouragement and support from the European Union.

Marcell Biró, State Secretary for Public Administration at KIM, and Tamás Hoffmann, the Mayor of Újbuda (District XI), signed a cooperation agreement on Monday, according to which the local council will be the first in the country to take part in the Open-source Software Competency Centre’s e-public administration initiative. The centre has made contact with several Hungarian institutions and potential foreign partners, and so after Újbuda an increasing number of local councils and public administration bodies can take part in similar programmes. International experience shows that the introduction of open-source software results in significant savings. The aim of the programme is promotion of open-source applications and open standards, with the provision of Hungarian and international experience and vital specialist knowledge.  In one of the first trial projects, from December system administrators, executives and staff will be trained to enable them to serve the public with greater security, speed and effectiveness.

(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)