Open Calculation Models and Simulators (FR0019)

STAKES Open data policies are supplemented by the opening of rules, algorithms and models that accompany it and support public decision-making. These algorithms and models are a powerful means of promoting independent points of view. When they are open (open source) and can be used through APIs, they also constitute a precious resource for developing numerous applications.

CONTEXT & AIM Public officials routinely use numerous models to calculate social benefits, taxes, pensions, economic growth, etc. Some of these are made available to citizens for calculations on eligibility for benefits or evaluations of forthcoming contributions. Too often, these models coexist within administrations, without being shared. The use of open models, for which the code is accessible, reusable, applicable and can be improved by a community as well as by the administrations themselves, can break down barriers within the administration and contribute to a process of cooperation and open innovation. In 2014, the Secretariat-General for Government Modernization and France Stratégie developed and made available to the community the OpenFisca platform, an open search engine and an open API allowing micro-simulation of the French tax and social benefit system. This is the first entirely-open model developed by the administration: it encodes, in a tool accessible to everyone, the principles of open government, since it serves:
• Transparency: each citizen can see the rules and parameters of the legislation, the distribution that she receives and the breakdown of her contribution to the system
• The stimulation of diverse points of view and the efficiency in public decision-making, because administrations, researchers and journalists, among others, can simulate the impact of reforms
• Government modernization, because the tool could be adapted to themed simulators, to facilitate the action of the administrations themselves. For instance, the portal https://mes-aides.gouv.fr/ was built from OpenFisca and provides a simulator on welfare and social benefits, which is particularly useful in ensuring all citizens can claim the benefits they are entitled to.

ROADMAP
• Extend the opening of models to other areas of public action
- Continue to work with the different administrations to support them in opening their calculation and simulation models
• Produce simulators from existing open models
- Leverage the OpenFisca platform to extend it to other areas of legislation and propose adaptations of simulators useful to citizens, economic players and public players. For example, simulation model for energy costs, extension of local taxation, pension calculations, etc.

16. Open Calculation Models and Simulators

Commitment Text:

PROMOTE THE OPENING OF CALCULATION MODELS AND SIMULATORS

ROADMAP

§ Extend the opening of models to other areas of public action

- Continue to work with the different administrations to support them in opening their calculation and simulation models  

§ Produce simulators from existing open models

- Leverage the OpenFisca platform to extend it to other areas of legislation and propose adaptations of simulators useful to citizens, economic players and public players. For example, simulation model for energy costs, extension of local taxation, pension calculations, etc.

Editorial Note: This is a partial version of the commitment text. For the full commitment text please see France's national action plan: https://bit.ly/2MTYhsR.

Responsible Institution: Ministry of State for State Reform and Simplification attached to the Prime Minister

Supporting Institution(s): N/A

Start Date:Not Specified

End Date:Not Specified

Commitment Aim

This commitment sought to open and develop calculation models currently used by many public services in open source, under a free license. The objective was to increase use of the models by different administrations, and ultimately develop simulation tools or platforms in different areas like social or education affairs. In the social field, this commitment aimed to continue the development and replication of OpenFisca, an open simulation of the socio-fiscal system, and build simulation tools or platforms.

Status

Midterm: Substantial

This commitment was substantially implemented by the midterm. Several new simulators were made available in open format, including the source code for the tax calculator of the Direction générale des finances publiques (DGFiP). The midterm IRM report also indicates that the source code for the Post-Bac Admission (PBA) platform, notably the algorithm that assigns prospective students to universities, of the National Education Ministry was expected to be opened during the second year of implementation.

OpenFisca was extended to other areas of legislation. Several versions and reuses of OpenFisca have emerged including: the mes-aides.gouv.fr platform, which calculates individuals' social benefits and provides information on how to access these benefits; a hiring cost simulator (http://embauche.sgmap.fr/) that allows companies to estimate the cost of hiring and the employee's net salary; the effective tax rate, which allows individuals to visualise the evolution of the effective tax rate according to salary and capital; and an alimony comparator for divorced couples. For more information, please see the IRM midterm report.^{[Note132: Independent Reporting Mechanism, France Rapport D'ètape (OGP, 2017), https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/France_Progress-Report_2015-2017.pdf.]}

End of Term: Substantial

The completion of this commitment is considered substantial, mostly due to the extension of OpenFisca and the publication of new codes. During the second year of implementation, the Department of public finances (Direction générale des Finances publiques) published the source code for the calculation of household income taxes for the years 2010 to 2015, in addition to the already-published code for 2014.^{[Note133: Etalab, Ouverture du code du calcul de l'impôt sur le revenu, années 2010 à 2015 (Etalab, Sept. 2017), https://www.etalab.gouv.fr/ouverture-du-code-du-calcul-de-limpot-sur-le-revenu (accessed 1 Nov. 2017).]}

In October 2017, the OpenFisca platform contained simulators on social assistance (mes-aides.gouv.fr), on hiring costs, effective tax rates, on the dependent spouse allowance reform, and on capital and labour tax rates. In the summer of 2016, the National Statistics Institute and the Ministry of Social Affairs published the source code for their microsimulation model Ines, which calculates social contributions and social assistance programmes.^{[Note134: NextImpact, Le modèle de simulation Ines, de l'INSEE et la DREES, passe en open source (NextImpact, Jun. 2016), https://www.nextinpact.com/news/100233-le-modele-simulation-ines-l-insee-et-drees-passe-en-open-source.html (accessed 1 Nov. 2017).]} The simulator code is available through a platform managed by the association Adullact, which requires the creation of an account.^{[Note135: Available here: https://adullact.net/projects/ines-libre.]} A journalist tried to access the source code and notes the response time from the platform administrator could be rather slow.^{[Note136: NextImpact, Le modèle de simulation Ines, de l'INSEE et la DREES, passe en open source (NextImpact, Jun. 2016), https://www.nextinpact.com/news/100233-le-modele-simulation-ines-l-insee-et-drees-passe-en-open-source.htm (accessed 1 Nov. 2017).]}

The issue of opaque models and algorithms gained notoriety in the second year of implementation when the Admission Post-Bac (APB) platform failed to find suitable university placements for thousands of students.^{[Note137: Camille Stromboni, “APB 2017 : plus de 65 000 jeunes toujours sans affectation dans l'enseignement supérieur” (Le Monde, 22 Jul. 2017), http://www.lemonde.fr/bac-lycee/article/2017/07/22/apb-2017-22-891-candidats-sont-d-ores-et-deja-inscrits-en-procedure-complementaire_5163736_4401499.html?xtmc=admission_post_bac&xtcr=66 (accessed 17 Dec. 2017).]} The Minister in charge, Ms. Frédérique Vidal announced that the APB platform would be replaced by a new platform backed by an ethics committee.^{[Note138: Séverin Graveleau, “La CNIL remet en cause le fonctionnement de la plate-forme APB” (Le Monde, 29 Sept. 2017), http://www.lemonde.fr/campus/article/2017/09/29/la-cnil-remet-en-cause-le-fonctionnement-de-la-plate-forme-apb_5193207_4401467.html#sjzCyY5TsG0kiX6c.99 (accessed 5 Oct. 2017).]} The previous Secretary of State for Higher Education and Research had commissioned Etalab to make recommendations on how to open the source code and data of the APB platform. Etalab published a report in April 2017 of their findings, including the need to publish the source code in an open format and develop future versions in a collaborative manner.^{[Note139: Etatlab, Rapport de la mission Etalab sur les conditions d'ouverture du système Admission Post-Bac (Etalab, 2017), https://www.data.gouv.fr/s/resources/rapport-sur-les-conditions-douverture-du-systeme-admission-post-bac/20170421-101632/20170420_Rapport-Etalab-missionAPB-VF.pdf (accessed 1 Nov. 2017).]} The APB platform was abandoned in October 2017 and will be replaced by a new platform called Parcoursup.^{[Note140: Ministère de l'éducation nationale, Plateforme d'admission dans l'enseignement supérieur : nouvelle formule, nouveau nom (2017), http://www.education.gouv.fr/cid122995/plateforme-d-admission-dans-l-enseignement-superieur-nouvelle-formule-nouveau-nom.html (accessed 17 Dec. 2017).]} The IRM researcher could not find sufficient information to gauge if Etalab's recommendations were considered in developing the new platform.

Did It Open Government?

Access to Information: Marginal

Prior to this commitment, only limited information was provided regarding the source codes of public services, calculations and simulations. The opacity and complexity of the procedure related to social benefits resulted in people not using these rights. As the midterm assessment reports, there was traffic to the simulators developed under this commitment – an average 300,000 visits per day in July 2016 on mes-aides.gouv.fr, suggesting that these simulators meet a real demand. However, given the few source codes and simulation models that have been opened, this commitment remains limited in scope and scale. As such, it marginally opened government with respect to access to information.

Carried Forward?

This commitment was carried over to the next action plan. In the new action plan, the commitment focusses on evaluating existing algorithms in collaboration with civil society; on providing recommendations to public administrations on the use of algorithms; on developing a guide on open source code; and on organising hackathons on the opening of algorithms.