Open source gets Cabinet approval

Lisa Kelly and Steve RangerPlans to promote the use of open source software in the public sector have been rubber stamped by the Cabinet Office.

The 'Open Source Software within UK Government' report published this week ends a three month public consultation with the conclusion that the government should 'seek to avoid lock-in to proprietary IT products and services.'

The report advocates departments should consider the use of open source solutions along side proprietary ones, awarding on a value for money basis.

The aim is to make the government less reliant on individual suppliers, but OSS accounts for only one per cent of software currently used in the public sector.

Douglas Alexander, Cabinet Office Minister of State, said: 'This government is intent on securing the best value for money in its IT procurements by encouraging the development of a flourishing IT industry which supplies both proprietary and OSS solutions to the public sector.'

The report also highlighted the possibility of the government obtaining full rights to bespoke software code and exploring the use of the open source model for applications developed by the public sector.

It also made a commitment to only use products for interoperability that support open standards and specifications in all future IT developments.

But there is a mammoth task ahead, according to Labour MP Brian White.

'I hope the OSS policy will increase the use of OSS to something meaningful. One per cent is not meaningful. Following the events of September 11, we can't afford to be reliant on a single piece of proprietary software if we are to take security seriously,' he said.

White blamed fear of the Public Accounts Committee preventing departments opting for OSS. 'You don't get sacked for choosing Microsoft,' he said. 'Fear leads people to take the easy option. I'm not saying the Microsoft option is wrong but there needs to be a balance.'

Last year central government IT spend reached £3.4bn and open source supporters argue this figure could be reduced by considering open source.

'The problem is not that the government isn't using open source but that it is totally favouring proprietary software and relying on Microsoft,' said Eddie Bleasdale, director of Linux consultancy netproject. 'Laziness has prevented it from thinking outside the box.'

He said using open source software could achieve ?massive savings, cutting IT costs to less than 30 per cent.?