The journalist Xavier Bern published in early April 2015 an article in which he discusses in detail the origins and goals of OpenFisca and My assistants that enable simulations of French tax-benefit system. When writing his article, Xavier Bern had contacted me to ask my opinion on these tools and this government initiative. Some of my comments were resumed in quotes in the article, I will develop here a little more me.
OpenFisca is “an open motor micro socio-fiscal system. It allows you to simply calculate many social benefits and taxes paid by households and to simulate the impact of reforms on their budget. “ This is a free software tax-benefit simulation carried by public institutions. Mes-aides.gouv.fr is a site that can simulate, in one survey, the main social benefits to which a household can claim. This is a construction in service. The source code for the tool is available under a free license.
OpenFisca software and the site My assistants finally initiate the development and provision by governments of tools for the general public and is dependent on free software. Let’s hope that this movement is engaged in a sustainable way!
The operation of the state and public services is becoming more complex. This is not unique to France, and it is certainly concurrent with advances in computer technology. But it leads to a situation where they are algorithms written by very small teams that define the law.
It is known that social agencies have their own interpretation of the law. This is inevitable, because the law can not define everything precisely. So more and more, “is law code” and only very few experts know, each in their narrow field, the rules applied. And if there is no access to source code, gradually nobody can control what is done.
The publication of the source code, and under a free license, is essential to the proper functioning of a modern democracy.
OpenFisca simulator is undeniable progress (still largely under construction). But it is paradoxically also a sign of failure: if the government had published their algorithms, such intiatives OpenFisca – which must rewrite the social rules and tax from zero-would not be necessary. It’s still amazing to think that the state (aided civil society) must rebuild from scratch an open and free simulator because it can not itself access to different computers and simulators developed by its services and social partners (taxes, Insee, CAF …).
That said, welcome this positive movement, indicating a clear change in philosophy. It is still too early to know whether this is just a flash in the pan and if this trend will spread, but small teams like Etalab do move the lines. It is no longer only use free software because they are better than proprietary software, we are now working to ensure the sustainability of the program we pampered its community of developers and users … This was also the direction of the circular Ayrault 2012 on the “good use of free software in the French administration,” which drew an IT management where the public actor is no longer confined to a single role as buyer but also by the positive effects of pooling induced by free software, a contributor role.
Of course, the state should establish a public policy in favor of free software by generalizing its use and spreading freely licensed internal developments. It should, at least, develop the minimum required to enable civil society to take over.
Instead of trying at great expense, to develop projects seeking to meet 100% of needs. .. and fail after spending hundreds of millions of euros (personal health record, Louvois project military payslip …), the state must first seek to develop programming interfaces (API) open . It can certainly develop a free user interface, but an open API allows well done to all involved in public life (enterprises, authorities, associations, individuals …) to develop specific applications for each need.
It is the State’s duty to use open standards and free software, but it must also be simple. The history of computers and the Internet shows that sustainable success in the form of successive iterations based on proven standards and bricks, and therefore free!
Finally, make a link with the recent opinion of the Commission on Access to Administrative Documents (Cada) favoring disclosure of the source code of the software simulating the calculation of the tax on personal income. This review has opened the way for setting free license software developed by an administration. The decision of the General Directorate of Public Finance (Tax Department) is eagerly awaited. The tax is one of the foundations of our republic, and transparency, a condition that allows citizens to accept it. So even if the opinion of the Cada is not binding, it would seem normal that the Tax Department shall grant the request and distributes the source code under a free license.
No comments:
Post a Comment