Open Source Government Policies: UK shadow chancellor criticised the government
Wether is true or not that government agencies tend to choose FLOSS strategically, it is definitely true that Government policies toward Open Source are pretty under the radar now. The shadow chancellor George Osborne criticised the government saying that most central government dipartments don’t take advantage of open source software.
Westminster – Big Ben by wallyg
Few months ago Osborne talking about Politics and Media in the Internet age spent some words for Linux, and more recently, speaking at a conference, he said:
In recent months, Conservative MPs have put down parliamentary questions that reveal most central government departments make use of no open source software whatsoever.
The problem is the cultural change has not taken place in government and, within government, the balance is weighted against open source. There isn’t a level playing field for open source software.
Too many companies are frozen out of government IT contracts, stifling competition and driving up costs. Not a single open source company is included in Catalyst, the government’s list of approved IT suppliers.One of the problems is that a government IT system is incompatible with other types of software, which stifles competition and hampers innovation.
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