Öppen I teorin men begränsad i praktiken : En kvalitativ fallstudie av användningen av öppen källkod i kommunal e-tjänsteutveckling

Sammanfattning

Open source software (OSS) is increasingly discussed and adopted in the public sector, including municipal e-service development, and is often associated with openness, collaboration, and shared value creation. However, prior research shows that these principles are not always realized in the public sector, where organizational structures, procurement practices, and technical dependencies may constrain their implementation. Despite this, there is limited understanding of how OSS-based e-service platforms are governed and implemented in practice within municipalities, particularly regarding development and collaboration. This study addresses this gap by examining the question: How do organizational and technical governance mechanisms shape the design and use of OSS in municipal e-service development? A qualitative case study was conducted in a northern Swedish municipality, focusing on an OSS-based e-service platform and based on semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal a clear tension between the formal openness of OSS and its practical implementation. Although the platform is technically open source, control is largely centralized with a single vendor, limiting opportunities for collaborative development, solution reusage, and external contributions. Furthermore, the platform’s low-code architecture enables rapid development of simple e-service solutions but creates constraints in more complex cases, leading to fragmented solutions distributed across multiple systems and integrations. Limited documentation and reliance on individual expertise further reinforce dependency. These challenges are amplified by procurement structures and technical barriers, which contribute to vendor dependency and a form of lock-in despite the use of OSS. Overall, the study shows that the potential benefits of OSS, such as flexibility, cost efficiency, and collaboration, largely remain unrealized due to organizational, technical, and cultural constraints. This study contributes by highlighting how governance mechanisms shape OSS in practice and emphasizing the need for structures that better support its core principles.