Public Administrations

From Document Freedom Day

Work with public administrations:

Public administrations exist to serve citizens, and citizens should be free to communicate with them. Nobody should be required to use proprietary software to exchange information with public bodies.

On Document Freedom Day 2010, pick a public body, find the right people there, and talk to them about Open Standards and open document formats. Explain to them why using these standards and formats is good both for the people they work for, and for the administration itself. Show them some examples - Osor.eu is a good place to start.

Or you know a public administration that is already doing a good job of using Open Standards and open document formats. Then give them some public recognition. Set up a meeting with a representative of the organisation for March 31, and award them a small prize. Invite the local press to report about it, and bring your friends to take pictures and blog!

What about those public administrations that simply say they aren't interested in the topic? What if they don't want to talk to you? Then you could inform their workers by handing out flyers about open document formats and Open Standards. How about taking a photo of yourself standing outside the building with a big sign saying "I can't read your documents!"? Be creative, but be polite. Dialogue is much more productive than confrontation.