Answers Minister of Communications to the questions of users: part 2
Hello! From the Ministry of Communications to us came the second batch of answers to the questions of users . You can get acquainted with them under the cut.
In this part, the answers to questions about free software ( OSS ) and the national software platform ( SPE ) (spelling and punctuation of authors is preserved). The adviser of the department of development of the field of information technology Sergey Negodyaev answers.
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Question 1. Why in the drafting of bills relating to it, the drafters do not have a drop of expert support? The last bill only confirmed it.
Answer: The informational openness and efficiency of decision-making increases when working with a pool of experts. Moreover, in many cases, the Ministry should not be the only decision-making and decision-making center; the center should be in the expert community, especially in such a modern and diversified industry as IT. We are constantly in contact with representatives of companies, the business community and industry associations. About two months ago, an expert council of the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of Russia on the development of the IT industry was created under the guidance of the relevant Deputy Minister, which included representatives of most segments of the Russian IT industry. By the way, we will adjust the composition of this council in the first half of 2013. Among other things, we are planning to introduce information security specialists to it.
As for the bills already developed in the Ministry, I ask you to concretize the bill that is being discussed in the question so that we can give a comment. On the draft laws that are being developed today and planned for future development, expert work is on and will continue. In particular, in relation to the draft law “On Communications”, lists of industry experts are being drawn up who will be brought to work.
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Question 2. 2. Will amendments to 94-FZ permit software purchases without a tender?
Answer: Of course, the mechanism for the implementation of public procurement procedures in accordance with the legislation in this area is not ideal.
But at present, 94-FZ is a tool to stimulate competition, increase procurement transparency and reduce the cost of services and products for the state customer. At present, the refusal of tenders in the purchase of software is not planned.
At the same time, the main criterion for evaluating the supplier’s offer in the existing competition legislation is price. This approach works great for simple products - paper, printers, and so on, which really manages to be purchased at low prices. And, unfortunately, this criterion does not work when creating complex integrated information systems: an organization that often does not have the necessary qualifications and, accordingly, cannot ensure the quality of the result, often becomes a performer. In order to avoid this situation, it is necessary to more thoroughly and in detail prepare a technical task for work, which many government customers do not, and they suffer from it.
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Question 3. Will there be benefits for software developers? To avoid, as it is now: it is cheaper to transfer the development to other countries.
Answer: For software developers there are already a number of benefits, the main of which is a benefit on insurance premiums in accordance with 212-FZ. Software developers in some cases may use other benefits, in particular, provided to residents of special economic zones (benefits for insurance premiums and income tax) and Skolkovo residents (benefits for insurance premiums, VAT, etc.).
We understand that for many software developers, insurance premiums are actually a “turnover tax” and constitute a significant item of expenditure.
The Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of Russia considers it important to extend benefits on insurance premiums in accordance with 212-FZ for the period after 2017 and reduce the number of employees required to receive benefits from 30 to 8 people.
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Question 4. A set of issues related to the use of free software ( OSS ) and the national software platform ( GMP ) on the following aspects: "the use of Microsoft products in public services"; “Confrontation“ national OS vs contract with Microsoft ”; licensing policy, standards for used formats and protocols.
Answer: There is no obvious successful practice in the world of the use of open source software in government agencies. So far, there has been no example of successful creation of a state operating system: the experience of China in implementing a similar project for the development of the state has not yet received positive feedback from experts. That is why we believe that it is necessary with the use of open government mechanisms, that is, with the involvement of all industry experts and stakeholders, to discuss the possibility of introducing open source software in government and creating the NPP with the use of open source software .
When discussing it is important to clarify the basic requirements for the use of open source software in government agencies, and also to discuss the safety of using open source software , its compatibility with software and hardware solutions that are already used in government agencies, and the compliance of open source software with current world practice.
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The ministry noted that there is a whole group of questions for which there is no concrete detailed answer yet, but there is a formed position. There are many difficult words, so it was decided to briefly identify the main points in a small answer, it is contained in the general list of questions and answers.
User questions on open source software and NPP .
1. Judging by the news feeds, you openly advocate the use of Microsoft products in government services. Do not you think that the transition to a single platform based on free technologies is better in the long term for the state and the development of IT in it?
2. What is the news about the opposition “national OS vs contract with Microsoft”?
3. What is meant by the words “lack of a unified licensing policy”, “lack of uniform architectural, organizational and technical solutions” in relation to the NPP? Does the BSD, GPL license not define licensing? And RFC for pro forma?
4. Does it mean that during tenders, companies offering free software support services will not be able to compete based on the characteristics of the services provided and their prices? And what caused the words of Nikolai Nikiforov “It is necessary to understand what was spent and what should be spent on taxpayers' money in part of the NPP”? Does it mean that in the person of Minister Nikolai Nikiforov, the ministry will offer the next vendor-lock in software platforms (OS and supporting software) and technologies for the state?
5. Standards for formats and protocols. Why the ministry, in fact, does not regulate the standardization of protocols and data formats? Why do Russian standardizing groups participating in ISO, in fact, completely irresponsible approach to the adoption of international standards (bearing in mind the adoption of the standard on ooxml), and the ministry does not show controlling functions in relation to standardization? Today, confusion and reeling with standards for formats and protocols for data exchange is observed literally everywhere. From polyclinic and tax to air navigation and shipping. Well, GOST trade has become a parable in languages. First of all, shouldn't the Ministry of Communications and Mass Communications establish / define data exchange standards, check and bring these standards into conformity with realities (including international ones), make the standards completely open and free of charge available to any of any country? Is it in the light of accession to the WTO, are these not the right steps in the formation of a competitive environment in a market economy? Today there is a situation when, when choosing hardware and software solutions, only certain organizations and solutions of only certain suppliers and manufacturers are allowed in violation of the RF law on monopolies, very often. I would very much like something that the ministries of the Russian Federation would finally start working and eradicate this vicious practice that does not fit into normal market relations.
6. National software platform. Will a detailed analysis be published justifying the rejection of free software? Like that:
1. Free software
1.1. Pros:
- Savings, on the effect of scale, once paying for development / revision, you can use the software in an unlimited number of copies and unlimited time
- Security, open source codes allow you to do a security audit yourself and also lead to the fact that many experts conduct it around the world (even the American NSA uses Linux). Yes, and the likely opponent to introduce a bookmark with free software will be much more difficult, and with viruses tight - few of them.
- The development of its IT industry, under the proprietary system, you can also write application software, but we will lose specialists capable of developing operating systems.
- Full control over the directions of development of the necessary software, which we will order and that will be done, while the availability of source codes allows us to estimate development costs, and not just trust the supplier.
- Reliability, servers and supercomputers usually run under free OS.
- Openness - the return to the community of developments made at the expense of taxpayers, this is absolutely logical, it belongs to the people. The use of open formats is also important - it gives equal access to information to all citizens and solves many more problems (such as guaranteed long-term storage).
1.2. Minuses
- something does not work (it is cheaper to order a revision than to pay for a huge number of licenses)
- kickbacks will give little and not at that level
- will have to work, especially during the transition
2. Proprietary software
2.1. pros
- everything is ready only pay petrodollars
- kickbacks can give so much that not to carry
- what you can not change
2.2. Minuses
- described in the pros of STR: money goes to border specialists, the bookmarks are implemented by the NSA (and therefore do not use it themselves), the fight against viruses is a constant problem, etc.
7. What is your attitude towards free licenses (Creative Commons, BSD, GPL, MIT, etc.)? Is their final and solid legalization possible? Do not you think that the information created for budget funds should by default be made publicly available under a free license? (such as all NASA content).
Answer: The question of the feasibility and support measures for free software ( OSS ) is currently relevant for many countries around the world. Analysis of foreign experience shows a tendency to migrate part of the decisions of the public sector of some countries (including Brazil, South Korea, Switzerland) on open source software and the creation of complex multicomponent solutions.
At the same time, there are examples when the introduction of open source software was considered unsuccessful and decisions were made to abandon its use.
For example, in China, measures to support open source software , which include, in addition to direct support for developers, the creation of a state operating system, are not recognized by the expert community as having noticeable positive results for the development of the state.
In order to form a coordinated position in Russia between interested executive authorities, software development organizations and its end users, it seems appropriate to discuss issues using open source software using open government mechanisms. Including its effectiveness, competitiveness and safety.
Among the subjects of discussion may be a plan for the transition of federal executive authorities and federal budget institutions to the use of open source software , approved by the Government of the Russian Federation No. 2299-p dated December 17, 2010.
A related issue is the creation of a National Software Platform ( NPP ), which is planned to be created from components based both on domestic developments in the field of open source software and on domestic proprietary software.
It is also advisable to clarify the basic requirements for the use of open source software in government agencies.
In this regard, without expert discussion and subsequent analysis, without assessing compatibility with software and hardware used by authorities and other organizations, implementation of measures for switching to open source software and for creating NPPs may be ineffective.
No less important are the fundamental, policy questions: to what extent and in the interests of which consumers of open source software does it make sense for the state to support the development of open source software in Russia today, given the advantages and disadvantages of open source software ? What should the NPP be, and has the urgency of creating a NPP in Russia not decreased due to the existing trends in the software and information technology market as a whole? What sections of measures for the transition to the use of open source software and the creation of NPPs are most necessary for the population, business, and state? How can measures in the framework of supporting open source software and implementing NPPs help to increase the competitiveness of the Russian IT industry?
We emphasize that any artificial restriction of competition leads to a deterioration in quality and a slowdown in the creation of innovations. Separation of software according to the licensing method in some cases (but not all) is a limitation that may give unjustified, noncompetitive advantages to market players. In many countries, there is a Resolution on the inadmissibility of discrimination in the system of preference for public procurement or other similar legal act. The role of the regulator is to ensure the principles of fair competition, while ensuring the security interests in the areas where it is necessary.
We suggest attracting industry experts, including members of the Expert Council for the development of information technologies, specialists from the Russian Ministry of Communications and Mass Media , representatives of interested organizations, including members of the Russian Free Software Association ( RASPO ) and the NPP technology platform, as well as other interested parties.
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» Answers Minister of Communications to the questions of users: Part 1 (about informatization and public services)
» Full list of questions
Next on the list are questions on the development of the IT industry, then on communications and postal services, and the minister will answer the last 10 questions on the list. We look forward to - promised to manage before the end of the year.
In this part, the answers to questions about free software ( OSS ) and the national software platform ( SPE ) (spelling and punctuation of authors is preserved). The adviser of the department of development of the field of information technology Sergey Negodyaev answers.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
')
Question 1. Why in the drafting of bills relating to it, the drafters do not have a drop of expert support? The last bill only confirmed it.
Answer: The informational openness and efficiency of decision-making increases when working with a pool of experts. Moreover, in many cases, the Ministry should not be the only decision-making and decision-making center; the center should be in the expert community, especially in such a modern and diversified industry as IT. We are constantly in contact with representatives of companies, the business community and industry associations. About two months ago, an expert council of the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of Russia on the development of the IT industry was created under the guidance of the relevant Deputy Minister, which included representatives of most segments of the Russian IT industry. By the way, we will adjust the composition of this council in the first half of 2013. Among other things, we are planning to introduce information security specialists to it.
As for the bills already developed in the Ministry, I ask you to concretize the bill that is being discussed in the question so that we can give a comment. On the draft laws that are being developed today and planned for future development, expert work is on and will continue. In particular, in relation to the draft law “On Communications”, lists of industry experts are being drawn up who will be brought to work.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Question 2. 2. Will amendments to 94-FZ permit software purchases without a tender?
Answer: Of course, the mechanism for the implementation of public procurement procedures in accordance with the legislation in this area is not ideal.
But at present, 94-FZ is a tool to stimulate competition, increase procurement transparency and reduce the cost of services and products for the state customer. At present, the refusal of tenders in the purchase of software is not planned.
At the same time, the main criterion for evaluating the supplier’s offer in the existing competition legislation is price. This approach works great for simple products - paper, printers, and so on, which really manages to be purchased at low prices. And, unfortunately, this criterion does not work when creating complex integrated information systems: an organization that often does not have the necessary qualifications and, accordingly, cannot ensure the quality of the result, often becomes a performer. In order to avoid this situation, it is necessary to more thoroughly and in detail prepare a technical task for work, which many government customers do not, and they suffer from it.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Question 3. Will there be benefits for software developers? To avoid, as it is now: it is cheaper to transfer the development to other countries.
Answer: For software developers there are already a number of benefits, the main of which is a benefit on insurance premiums in accordance with 212-FZ. Software developers in some cases may use other benefits, in particular, provided to residents of special economic zones (benefits for insurance premiums and income tax) and Skolkovo residents (benefits for insurance premiums, VAT, etc.).
We understand that for many software developers, insurance premiums are actually a “turnover tax” and constitute a significant item of expenditure.
The Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of Russia considers it important to extend benefits on insurance premiums in accordance with 212-FZ for the period after 2017 and reduce the number of employees required to receive benefits from 30 to 8 people.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Question 4. A set of issues related to the use of free software ( OSS ) and the national software platform ( GMP ) on the following aspects: "the use of Microsoft products in public services"; “Confrontation“ national OS vs contract with Microsoft ”; licensing policy, standards for used formats and protocols.
Answer: There is no obvious successful practice in the world of the use of open source software in government agencies. So far, there has been no example of successful creation of a state operating system: the experience of China in implementing a similar project for the development of the state has not yet received positive feedback from experts. That is why we believe that it is necessary with the use of open government mechanisms, that is, with the involvement of all industry experts and stakeholders, to discuss the possibility of introducing open source software in government and creating the NPP with the use of open source software .
When discussing it is important to clarify the basic requirements for the use of open source software in government agencies, and also to discuss the safety of using open source software , its compatibility with software and hardware solutions that are already used in government agencies, and the compliance of open source software with current world practice.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The ministry noted that there is a whole group of questions for which there is no concrete detailed answer yet, but there is a formed position. There are many difficult words, so it was decided to briefly identify the main points in a small answer, it is contained in the general list of questions and answers.
User questions on open source software and NPP .
1. Judging by the news feeds, you openly advocate the use of Microsoft products in government services. Do not you think that the transition to a single platform based on free technologies is better in the long term for the state and the development of IT in it?
2. What is the news about the opposition “national OS vs contract with Microsoft”?
3. What is meant by the words “lack of a unified licensing policy”, “lack of uniform architectural, organizational and technical solutions” in relation to the NPP? Does the BSD, GPL license not define licensing? And RFC for pro forma?
4. Does it mean that during tenders, companies offering free software support services will not be able to compete based on the characteristics of the services provided and their prices? And what caused the words of Nikolai Nikiforov “It is necessary to understand what was spent and what should be spent on taxpayers' money in part of the NPP”? Does it mean that in the person of Minister Nikolai Nikiforov, the ministry will offer the next vendor-lock in software platforms (OS and supporting software) and technologies for the state?
5. Standards for formats and protocols. Why the ministry, in fact, does not regulate the standardization of protocols and data formats? Why do Russian standardizing groups participating in ISO, in fact, completely irresponsible approach to the adoption of international standards (bearing in mind the adoption of the standard on ooxml), and the ministry does not show controlling functions in relation to standardization? Today, confusion and reeling with standards for formats and protocols for data exchange is observed literally everywhere. From polyclinic and tax to air navigation and shipping. Well, GOST trade has become a parable in languages. First of all, shouldn't the Ministry of Communications and Mass Communications establish / define data exchange standards, check and bring these standards into conformity with realities (including international ones), make the standards completely open and free of charge available to any of any country? Is it in the light of accession to the WTO, are these not the right steps in the formation of a competitive environment in a market economy? Today there is a situation when, when choosing hardware and software solutions, only certain organizations and solutions of only certain suppliers and manufacturers are allowed in violation of the RF law on monopolies, very often. I would very much like something that the ministries of the Russian Federation would finally start working and eradicate this vicious practice that does not fit into normal market relations.
6. National software platform. Will a detailed analysis be published justifying the rejection of free software? Like that:
1. Free software
1.1. Pros:
- Savings, on the effect of scale, once paying for development / revision, you can use the software in an unlimited number of copies and unlimited time
- Security, open source codes allow you to do a security audit yourself and also lead to the fact that many experts conduct it around the world (even the American NSA uses Linux). Yes, and the likely opponent to introduce a bookmark with free software will be much more difficult, and with viruses tight - few of them.
- The development of its IT industry, under the proprietary system, you can also write application software, but we will lose specialists capable of developing operating systems.
- Full control over the directions of development of the necessary software, which we will order and that will be done, while the availability of source codes allows us to estimate development costs, and not just trust the supplier.
- Reliability, servers and supercomputers usually run under free OS.
- Openness - the return to the community of developments made at the expense of taxpayers, this is absolutely logical, it belongs to the people. The use of open formats is also important - it gives equal access to information to all citizens and solves many more problems (such as guaranteed long-term storage).
1.2. Minuses
- something does not work (it is cheaper to order a revision than to pay for a huge number of licenses)
- kickbacks will give little and not at that level
- will have to work, especially during the transition
2. Proprietary software
2.1. pros
- everything is ready only pay petrodollars
- kickbacks can give so much that not to carry
- what you can not change
2.2. Minuses
- described in the pros of STR: money goes to border specialists, the bookmarks are implemented by the NSA (and therefore do not use it themselves), the fight against viruses is a constant problem, etc.
7. What is your attitude towards free licenses (Creative Commons, BSD, GPL, MIT, etc.)? Is their final and solid legalization possible? Do not you think that the information created for budget funds should by default be made publicly available under a free license? (such as all NASA content).
Answer: The question of the feasibility and support measures for free software ( OSS ) is currently relevant for many countries around the world. Analysis of foreign experience shows a tendency to migrate part of the decisions of the public sector of some countries (including Brazil, South Korea, Switzerland) on open source software and the creation of complex multicomponent solutions.
At the same time, there are examples when the introduction of open source software was considered unsuccessful and decisions were made to abandon its use.
For example, in China, measures to support open source software , which include, in addition to direct support for developers, the creation of a state operating system, are not recognized by the expert community as having noticeable positive results for the development of the state.
In order to form a coordinated position in Russia between interested executive authorities, software development organizations and its end users, it seems appropriate to discuss issues using open source software using open government mechanisms. Including its effectiveness, competitiveness and safety.
Among the subjects of discussion may be a plan for the transition of federal executive authorities and federal budget institutions to the use of open source software , approved by the Government of the Russian Federation No. 2299-p dated December 17, 2010.
A related issue is the creation of a National Software Platform ( NPP ), which is planned to be created from components based both on domestic developments in the field of open source software and on domestic proprietary software.
It is also advisable to clarify the basic requirements for the use of open source software in government agencies.
In this regard, without expert discussion and subsequent analysis, without assessing compatibility with software and hardware used by authorities and other organizations, implementation of measures for switching to open source software and for creating NPPs may be ineffective.
No less important are the fundamental, policy questions: to what extent and in the interests of which consumers of open source software does it make sense for the state to support the development of open source software in Russia today, given the advantages and disadvantages of open source software ? What should the NPP be, and has the urgency of creating a NPP in Russia not decreased due to the existing trends in the software and information technology market as a whole? What sections of measures for the transition to the use of open source software and the creation of NPPs are most necessary for the population, business, and state? How can measures in the framework of supporting open source software and implementing NPPs help to increase the competitiveness of the Russian IT industry?
We emphasize that any artificial restriction of competition leads to a deterioration in quality and a slowdown in the creation of innovations. Separation of software according to the licensing method in some cases (but not all) is a limitation that may give unjustified, noncompetitive advantages to market players. In many countries, there is a Resolution on the inadmissibility of discrimination in the system of preference for public procurement or other similar legal act. The role of the regulator is to ensure the principles of fair competition, while ensuring the security interests in the areas where it is necessary.
We suggest attracting industry experts, including members of the Expert Council for the development of information technologies, specialists from the Russian Ministry of Communications and Mass Media , representatives of interested organizations, including members of the Russian Free Software Association ( RASPO ) and the NPP technology platform, as well as other interested parties.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
» Answers Minister of Communications to the questions of users: Part 1 (about informatization and public services)
» Full list of questions
Next on the list are questions on the development of the IT industry, then on communications and postal services, and the minister will answer the last 10 questions on the list. We look forward to - promised to manage before the end of the year.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/163331/
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