The UK Government will increase its use of open source software and open standards, it says in an action plan published yesterday. "Where there is no significant overall cost difference between open and non-open source products, open source will be selected on the basis of its additional inherent flexibility", is one of the new policies.
According to a spokesperson for the cabinet, the new policy reflects changes to both the open source market and the Government’s approach to IT. "In setting out this action we will make sure of a level playing field for open source software, and encourage the use of open standards and re-use of software the Government has already paid for."
The policy includes ten actions regarding open source, proprietary software, re-use of software and open standards.
Explicitly referring to open standards, the government writes it wants to ensure that systems are interoperable and that it wishes to avoid getting locked in to a particular product. The policy document says the government will specify requirements by reference to open standards and require compliance with open standards.
The government writes it will support the use of Open Document Format (ODF) as well as emerging open versions of previously proprietary standards, such as PDF, developed originally by Adobe, and OOXML, an alternative to ODF proposed by Microsoft. "The government works to ensure that government information is available in open formats, and it will make this a required standard for government websites."
The policy, published on the web site of the Cabinet's CIO, says the government will actively and fairly consider open source solutions alongside proprietary ones in making procurement decisions. When procuring software, it will take into account "total lifetime cost of ownership of the solution, including exit and transition costs."
"The government will, wherever possible, avoid becoming locked in to proprietary software. In particular it will take exit, rebid and rebuild costs into account in procurement decisions and will require those proposing proprietary software to specify how exit would be achieved."
"Open source has been one of the most significant cultural developments in IT and beyond over the last two decades: it has shown that individuals, working together over the Internet, can create products that rival and sometimes beat those of giant corporations",
Tom Watson, Minister for Digital Engagement, writes in an introduction to the policy.
More information:
Government Action Plan web site
Government Action Plan (pdf)