Romania's ICT Minister Valerian Vreme wants the country's public administrations to study the advantages of free and open source software. The minister, speaking to Adevărul, a Romanian daily newspaper, said this type of software should not be excluded.

However, the ministry can not force public administrations to use open source. "Implementation of such software depends on local authorities."

The newspaper writes that the Romanian government is picking up the hint from Vice-President of the European Commission Neelie Kroes, that being dependent on a single IT vendor is a waste of public money. According to Adevărul, most of the country's public administrations use desktop software from a single proprietary vendor, having purchased licences valid until 2012 for some 90 million Euro.

Minister Vreme announced that, within a month, the ministry will present a study that compares both this proprietary operating system and its free and open source alternatives.

That research is carried out by National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics, part of the ICT ministry. "Their report is as good as done", the newspaper quotes Vreme.

According to other sources, the institute is working on a collection of open source tools, and is managing some open source development projects. This 'open source library' will soon be unveiled officially. The research institute itself is using an open source office system.

More information:

Adevărul news item (in Romanian)

National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics