Politics | Steve Woods

What do citizens gain when the public sector switches to free software?

18/12/2014 Steve WoodsOpen Source, Politics, Tech

The use and promotion of free software is becoming increasingly established in our country, writes Spain’s tusmedios.com. Major companies have joined together to promote this system, but open source software is gradually also gaining ground in the public sector, meaning that the citizen is seeing the real benefits of this migration in his or her daily life.

In Spain, the Autonomous Community of Extremadura, the Junta of Andalusia and Zaragoza‘s city council are some examples of local and regional governments which have understood the advantages that come with the use of free software and the benefits it provides to society. Public sector organisations must be ready to respond to current challenges and needs, including the technological revolution. In addition to a costs saving, its implementation improves the quality of life of citizens, increases the efficiency and effectiveness of organisations and optimises productive processes.

Mario Gómez Molina, tutor and adviser for the university master’s course in free software at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) and project manager for the VASS consultancy explains that “the technological independence that free software assumes provides freedom of use, enables its tweaking, the incorporation of improvements and their unrestricted redistribution between citizens or employees. Besides providing greater security, it opens up the possibility of offering all citizens software that has been funded by public money and which can be useful, including for the private sector”.

“One of the main reasons for our country’s public sector migrating to free software is adherence to universal standards,” Mario Gómez Molina points out. Since the European Union is promoting this change, there will be the possibility for different public sector organisations to share software for common problems.

As Mr. Gómez explains, citizens have real life examples demonstrating the advantages to them from the use of this technology by public authorities. Education is a clear case. In a global economic environment in which the budget which families must allot is increasingly more restrictive, the use of this technology frees them from paying for proprietary software, but it also does so for schools, which are increasingly hit by budget cuts. On the other hand, there are already initiatives being put forward by certain autonomous communities where the free software to be used by schools has been agreed and that use has been supported so that its adoption has been widespread and both education departments and educational institutions has benefited, not just from a costs reduction, not solely from sharing the software itself, but the exchange of commonly-based experience that would otherwise have been very difficult to achieve”.

Another example of the benefits provided to citizens of this migration is the development of business and entrepreneurial opportunities. When a public sector organisation makes this change, the building, repair, adaptation and improvement of the software can be carried out by local companies; this work is not restricted to the software’s owner. The development of professional in this sector is thus promoted, new jobs are created and company competitiveness is increased. This directly affects growth, in addition to reducing costs due to competition.

The redistribution and optimum use of budgets is also an aspect that has a positive effect on society. It is estimated that with free software public sector organisations can save up to 70% on installation and licensing for computer applications. This assumes a better use of taxpayer’s money. For example, Zaragoza city council has estimated an annual saving of about €1 mn. per year due to the installation and use of free software.

“Both the lack of staff trained to handle this technology and lack of awareness by society and the power wielded by the major proprietary software companies make it very difficult for us to see a complete public sector migration, but we shall doubtless see bigger and bigger steps being taken in this direction. In fact, there are many niches dominated by free software, both in the public and private sectors. This is the case with web servers, application servers, server operating systems, software development environments and programming tools,” comments Mario Gómez Molina.

However, there is a need for public sector organisations themselves to promote the development and use of software to which they alone can contribute so there is an improvement in quality in this direction.
An idea from Yorkshire

17/12/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Politics

I’m indebted to Up Our Street for the picture below.

Picture courtesy of Up Our Street

It shows fly-tipping somewhere in Sheffield covered in tape bearing the wording “Enviro-crime scene“.

The tape is being used in Sheffield and Rotherham in Yorkshire.

According to the Rotherham Advertiser, the tape is being used to help make the public aware of the problem of illegal rubbish dumping.

According to the mandatory council spokesperson quoted by the Advertiser, use of the tape “lets residents know that the council has responded and reassures the public that the council is aware of the items and that they will soon be removed.

The spokesperson continues:

It has also been our experience that once people realise that the council is on top of the matter it encourages residents to let us know who has been causing the problem.

It also helps the cleaning team know that the item has been fully checked for evidence that could be used in prosecutions and indicates that it is ready to be removed.

Can we get hold of some of this tape for Bristol’s BS5 area?
TidyBS5 at the Neighbourhood Forum

12/12/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Politics

The regular meeting of the Easton & Lawrence Hill Neighbourhood Forum took place in Barton Hill yesterday evening and once again the problems of litter and fly-tipping were a prominent item.

I gave a brief summary of what had been happening campaign-wise over the last month and there were also some excellent contributions regarding future actions.

One new development was a cleanliness petition which attendees were encouraged to sign by local councillors Hibaq Jama and Marg Hickman. The petition will be going online shortly and a link to it will be posted here when it’s available.

One new angle to the cleanliness campaign is the Tidy BS5 Volunteer of the Month. The December winner is Angela Smith, who organised a Sunday litter pick in November in Bloy Street with her neighbours.

Angela Smith receiving her award. PiEdcture courtesy of Stacy Yelland

The local police also support TidyBS, as can be seen from the photo below.

Police and local residents show support for TidyBS5. Picture courtesy of Stacy Yelland

Bristol Mayor George Ferguson will be visiting Easton & Lawrence Hill wards in January and his minders for that visit will be making sure that the litter and fly-tipping problems which residents and those working in the area have to endure daily are well and truly to the fore in his itinerary.

One related matter raised was recycling in the area’s high-rise flats. Young local people are trying to get then instated in some local tower blocks. At present, some blocks dating from the 1960s and with over 1,000 residents have no recycling facilities at all. (Not a very positive message or good example from a city that’s only a fortnight or so away from being European Green Capital for 2015. Ed.). However, Deputy Mayor Gus Hoyt has been talking to researchers at UWE about recycling in high-rise blocks. UWE’s researchers have found out that when flats are given recycling boxes, the average recycling rate is only about 10%. In reality it is more economical and efficient to collect rubbish together and then sort it at the waste depot. Gus’ research is continuing and will no doubt lead to changes in recycling practices sometime in the future
Gaunt’s Ham Park supports TidyBS5

08/12/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Politics, Social Media

This morning residents living around Gaunt’s Ham Park in Barton Hill became the latest to add their support for the TidyBS5 campaign to rid the streets of BS5 of litter and fly-tipping (posts passim).

The picture below was posted online earlier this morning by Up Our Street.

Picture courtesy of Stacy Yelland

The more support, the more chance there is that Bristol City Council will take the residents of East Bristol seriously when the raise their voices, something they have not always done in the past.
TidyBS5’s message spreads

07/12/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Politics

The message about residents wanting BS5 to be kept tidier is spreading. Pictured below are some of the residents of Easton’s Bloy Street calling for cleanliness. The picture is courtesy of Stacy Yelland of Up Our Street.

Bloy Street calls for a Tidy BS5

Last Friday, together with local councillor Marg Hickman, I attended a meeting with Up Our Street and Bristol City Council to discuss litter and fly-tipping in the area. Some very interesting facts came out.

To begin with, the Neighbourhood Partnership area covered by BS5, consisting of Ashley, Easton and Lawrence Hill wards, is the worst in Bristol for fly-tipping, with 560 reports in the last quarter alone.

Our old friends, the communal bins were discussed at length, particularly their role as a magnet for fly-tipping (posts passim).

The opportunities for basing action on Bristol’s forthcoming tenure as European Green Capital 2015 were raised too. (If Bristol cannot clean its act up in places like the inner city, it’s in very grave danger of being Greenwash Capital instead! Ed.)

Street clutter was also on the agenda, something the motorists’ friends, Bristol’s Tories, have noticed, particularly as regards the city’s proliferation of road signs.

Turning to actions, as a result of the meeting, Marg and I will be visiting local schools to discuss litter, recycling and the like with pupils next year, in addition to which I’ve been asked to write a regular piece on rubbish-related matters in the quarterly local news sheet (also called Up Our Street. Ed.) that goes to Easton and Lawrence residents.

As another way of publicising TidyBS5, Hannah Crudgington has suggested a monthly litter champion award for those public-spirited people out there who are prepared put themselves out to deal with what others have failed to put in bins or take home with them.

Finally, other parts of the city, such as St Paul’s and St George, now which to emulate what’s been started in BS5.
Pointless paving

01/12/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Oddities, Politics

One thing living in Bristol for nearly 4 decades has taught me is that Bristol City Council is profligate and lacks competence.

This was once again brought sharply into focus earlier this morning in a dead-end street called Clifton Street (map) leading to the back entrance of Easton CofE Primary School where I encountered the roadworks shown in the photograph below.

Bristol’s most pointless dropped kerbs?

The view shows the entrance into the staff car park of the school, the approach to which has just been enhanced by 2 dropped kerbs and textured paving on each of the street’s two footways as part of works to replace the street’s kerbstones.

There are only going to be two times in the day on weekdays when there is likely to be any traffic at all on Clifton Street – before and after the school day.

As for the use of textured paving, this is generally installed to assist the visually impaired and I cannot see many visually impaired people using dead-end streets in Easton anyway.

I wonder how much this municipal largesse by the city’s highways department has cost the public purse.

If the city council really wanted to spend money on roadworks in Easton, there’s plenty of other stuff that needs attention, as shown in the example below.

Picture courtesy of Hannah Crudgington

The damaged pedestrian refuge shown above is on Stapleton Road, just a couple of hundred metres away from Clifton Street. Local residents have been attempting to get the council to repair it for over 6 months, after it was damaged by a bus driver with delusions of driving competence. These efforts have so far come to nought.

In the recent TidyBS5 residents’ rubbish summit (posts passim), it was stated that council officers frequently intone the words “It’s the inner city” as an excuse for lack of action. Clearly this only works one way, i.e. when the lack of action concerns something either highlighted or desired by residents; when the initiative comes from within the council, there’s apparently no object, no matter how pointless what is proposed. I’ve encountered this ‘not invented here’ syndrome before in local authorities.

It’s normal to see a spate of daft council spending in March each year, just before the municipal financial year runs out. This year it seems that Bristol City Council is providing the residents of Easton with an early Christmas present in the form of dumb expenditure.
Skip Bins of Easton – the extended version

29/11/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Politics

An extended version of the original Skip Bins of Easton was produced for screening at last Monday’s Tidy BS5 Residents’ Rubbish Summit (posts passim).

The summit itself was attended by 26 residents plus 2 local councillors, Marg Hickman and Hibaq Jama, as well as the city council’s neighbourhood manager, Kurt James. Some very clear messages came out of the summit about (the lack of) enforcement and the abuse and unpopularity of the area’s communal bins (aka skip bins. Ed.).

Residents spell out their message at the TidyBS5 summit

Another message that came out clearly was highlighted by Councillor Jama. She’s challenged council officers about the substandard level of service received by the residents of BS5 (principally Easton, Lawrence Hill and Barton Hill) and BS2 (principally St Pauls and St Werburghs). She related that officers use the mantra “It’s the inner city” as an excuse for their lack of action. The meeting also gave a clear message that this attitude is also not acceptable.
TidyBS5: the word is spreading

21/11/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Politics

Down in untidy BS5, the fly-tipping is still continuing, as shown by this fine example of that environmental crime from Heron Road, Easton reported to the council this very morning.

However, word of this informal campaign by residents is spreading. Just ahead of Monday’s TidyBS5 residents’ summit (posts passim), news reaches my inbox that the litter picket organised in conjunction with the last Easton & Lawrence Hill Neighbourhood Forum (posts passim) has been discovered by CleanupUK.

CleanupUK is a charity whose main focus is on helping those who are most in need, usually in areas of deprivation, to combat the litter problem where they are. Through involvement in this activity, people feel their communities are safer, more welcoming and friendlier.

Read CleanupUK’s post on the TidyBS5 litter picket.
Save Avonmouth station building

20/11/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Politics

Living as I do near the Severn Beach line, I was pleased to read in the Bristol Post that the Victorian railway station building at Avonmouth has been given a temporary reprieve from demolition after campaigners lobbied the city council.

Network Rail wants to demolish the building, but this seems a daft move given the huge increases in passenger numbers on the Severn Beach line in the last few years. As the building is not currently protected by listing or is in a conservation area, a full planning application would normally not be needed for demolition.

Council officers say Network Rail has failed to give enough detail about their plans and have refused the demolition application, but could very well approve a new application.

A petition has been set up asking both the city council and Network Rail to reconsider the future of the station building.

Until quite recently the building was used as a hairdressers and there is no good reason – apart from the destructive intentions of Network Rail – why it should not be used for commercial purposes again (or even as a station building. Ed.).

Avonmouth’s Victorian station building. Image courtesy of mattbuck/ Wikimedia Commons

Local MP Charlotte Leslie has joined the ranks of campaigners trying to save it, remarking, “Avonmouth railway station is an irreplaceable part of our heritage and planning officers have a duty to ensure that our future generations benefit from its preservation. Indeed, it is my belief that the building should be subject to a Conservation Order or Listed status – owing to its local historical importance and obvious aesthetical [sic] qualities”.

Charlotte has been a passionate campaigner throughout her term of office for local rail, including the reopening of the Henbury Loop (posts passim).
Tidy BS5 residents’ summit

19/11/2014 Steve WoodsBristol, Media, Politics
On Monday 24th November, a Tidy BS5 summit is being held for residents at Felix Road Adventure Playground, Felix Road, Easton, Bristol, BS5 0JW (map) from 6.45 to 8.45 pm.

The aims of this meeting are:
- To bring together residents who are concerned about fly-tipping, littering and rubbish and want to work together to do something about it;
- To identify exactly what the problems are and generate ideas for how to solve them; and
- To officially launch the Tidy BS5 campaign and a year of action to tackle these problems.
The meeting is being organised by residents, councillors and Up Our Street and will be chaired by local resident Liz Jones.

All are welcome and the local media have been invited.

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