CommunesPlone: An Original Open Source Model of Resource Pooling in the Public Sector

This article studies the building of a successful open source project for the public sector, named CommunesPlones. It proposes an original institutional arrangement to onboard different users as an alternative to the classic free/libre and open source software (FLOSS) projects.

Modern software solutions, for obvious cost reasons, are shared by several users. This may be achieved by supply pooling (a publisher creates a solution and sells it to “clients”) or by demand pooling (a group of actors coordinates to develop a resource that addresses shared or complementary needs), with several intermediate solutions (e.g., a group of actors mandates a provider to develop a solution for them).