Strengthening a community of expertise

Heide Grande Røys, Norway's Minister of Government Administration and Reform, opened the Tromsø office of Norway's National Competence Centre for Free Software where Morten Amundsen, (right) has been appointed as manager. Photo: Jarl-Stian Olsen, NST.

- "It is a great pleasure to open the Tromsø office of Friprogsenteret - the National Competence Centre for Free Software in Norway. With the county authority of Troms as one of the initiators of this centre, a local office here is absolutely fitting," says Heide Grande Røys, Norway's Minister of Government Administration and Reform.

The opening of the competence centre's Arctic office was strategically timed to coincide with the Tromsø Telemedicine and eHealth Conference held from 9-11 June. The manager in Tromsø, Morten Amundsen, was ceremoniously inaugurated and welcomed by Norway's IT minister, Heide Grande Røys.

- Linking the centre for free software to one of the world's best communities of expertise in health IT will further strengthen the environment in Tromsø, the Minister believes.

Co-located with the NST

In Tromsø the National Competence Centre for Free Software will be located together with the Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine precisely to benefit from a established knowledge bank. Specifically, the Minister expects that these two centres will together stimulate:

• better collaboration across the health regions
• better collaboration between the primary health service and the specialist health service
• cost cuts in the health sector
• networking and research collaboration

Documentation

- "In addition, there are no documented effects of the commitment to free software, so I hope that, with time, the link to the research community at the telemedicine centre will be able to give us some evidence-based answers," Heide Grande Røys adds.

Conference and platform for sharing

The national centre of expertise for free software was founded a year ago with the objective of stimulating public- and private-sector enterprises to establish a culture of sharing and to introduce free software. The centre is staffed with three people at the head office in Drammen as well as one person in Tromsø.

- We aim to promote sharing, reuse, and collaboration that give everyone true freedom of choice, and we will achieve this through initiatives including an annual conference, GoOpen, and a platform for sharing on the Internet called Delingsbazaren (the Bazaar for Sharing), says the centre's director, Heide Arnesen Austlid.